Welcome to Sysnative's Windows Update forum.
In this post I will be examining Windows Update error code 0x80073712, covering Windows Vista, Windows 7, and Windows 8/8.1.
This error code maps to error message ERROR_SXS_COMPONENT_STORE_CORRUPT, but what does it actually mean?
With most Windows Update error codes, some file or registry key somewhere on your system is corrupt. We have available to us a whole range of tools to track down this corruption, then once it's found we can perform a repair on that file or registry key. Exactly how we do this varies greatly, but the overall principal is the same for almost all error codes.
Error code 0x80073712, by contrast, is fundamentally different. This error code is not saying that one particular file or registry key is corrupt. It's saying that a whole group of files or registry keys is corrupt (actually, it's a little bit more complicated than that, this error code's really saying that the component store cannot be opened, but that's usually caused by the corruption of most of the registry keys in the components store, so it boils down to the same thing).
This is, as you can probably imagine, not a particular good situation to be in. All hope is not yet lost, however.
Whilst the large majority of cases of this error are caused by catastrophic corruption of the components store (repair options are discussed later in this post), a few cases are easily fixable. These cases are as a result of other factors which cause the components store to fail to open correctly, or by a single corruption which causes the components store to fail to open, both of which are usually easy to fix. Neither of these situations can be correctly detected by any currently available automated tools, however, which tend to deliver an unnecessarily bleak outcome. The only way these situations can be picked up is by a human analyst.
Here at Sysnative we offer such an analysis service completely free of charge (indeed, absolutely all the help we offer here is completely free of charge) if you would like to determine whether more drastic action is actually necessary before reinstalling your PC/whatever. But we need a specific file from your computer to make that diagnosis.
Export COMPONENTS hive (temporary instructions)
Please download the Freeware RegBak from here: Acelogix Software - Download products
Navigate to C:\Windows\RegBak\{Date}\ and copy the COMPONENTS file to your Desktop. If the COMPONENTS file does not exist, please fetch it instead from C:\Windows\System32\config\COMPONENTS.
Now right click on it > Send to > Compressed (zipped) folder.
Then please upload it to your favourite file sharing website (it will be too big to upload here). If you have a Microsoft Account, OneDrive could be a good choice: https://onedrive.live.com/, but any other will do just fine. Make sure to set the file as publicly accessible.
Then send me a link to the file in your new thread (outlined below)
Create Topic
One of us will then analyse your file and get back to you. Please understand, however, that we will still not be able to repair some instances of this error, no matter how hard we try. In these cases, we may have to restore an earlier backup of your registry and update it for your computer, or perform a non-destructive repair install.
[this post is considered a first draft, and further details will be added in due course].
In this post I will be examining Windows Update error code 0x80073712, covering Windows Vista, Windows 7, and Windows 8/8.1.
This error code maps to error message ERROR_SXS_COMPONENT_STORE_CORRUPT, but what does it actually mean?
With most Windows Update error codes, some file or registry key somewhere on your system is corrupt. We have available to us a whole range of tools to track down this corruption, then once it's found we can perform a repair on that file or registry key. Exactly how we do this varies greatly, but the overall principal is the same for almost all error codes.
Error code 0x80073712, by contrast, is fundamentally different. This error code is not saying that one particular file or registry key is corrupt. It's saying that a whole group of files or registry keys is corrupt (actually, it's a little bit more complicated than that, this error code's really saying that the component store cannot be opened, but that's usually caused by the corruption of most of the registry keys in the components store, so it boils down to the same thing).
This is, as you can probably imagine, not a particular good situation to be in. All hope is not yet lost, however.
Whilst the large majority of cases of this error are caused by catastrophic corruption of the components store (repair options are discussed later in this post), a few cases are easily fixable. These cases are as a result of other factors which cause the components store to fail to open correctly, or by a single corruption which causes the components store to fail to open, both of which are usually easy to fix. Neither of these situations can be correctly detected by any currently available automated tools, however, which tend to deliver an unnecessarily bleak outcome. The only way these situations can be picked up is by a human analyst.
Here at Sysnative we offer such an analysis service completely free of charge (indeed, absolutely all the help we offer here is completely free of charge) if you would like to determine whether more drastic action is actually necessary before reinstalling your PC/whatever. But we need a specific file from your computer to make that diagnosis.
Export COMPONENTS hive (temporary instructions)
Please download the Freeware RegBak from here: Acelogix Software - Download products
Navigate to C:\Windows\RegBak\{Date}\ and copy the COMPONENTS file to your Desktop. If the COMPONENTS file does not exist, please fetch it instead from C:\Windows\System32\config\COMPONENTS.
Now right click on it > Send to > Compressed (zipped) folder.
Then please upload it to your favourite file sharing website (it will be too big to upload here). If you have a Microsoft Account, OneDrive could be a good choice: https://onedrive.live.com/, but any other will do just fine. Make sure to set the file as publicly accessible.
Then send me a link to the file in your new thread (outlined below)
Create Topic
- If you have not already done so, you will need to complete a brief and free registration form here: Register at Sysnative Forums
- Click the New Topic link.
- Add a title that describes your problem.
- Please start your topic with a brief explanation of what is happening to your PC and any steps you may have taken on your own. If applicable, please include any error codes or error messages you are receiving. Remember to include the link to the file you uploaded above.
One of us will then analyse your file and get back to you. Please understand, however, that we will still not be able to repair some instances of this error, no matter how hard we try. In these cases, we may have to restore an earlier backup of your registry and update it for your computer, or perform a non-destructive repair install.
[this post is considered a first draft, and further details will be added in due course].
