Problems with Windows Update, running sfc /scannow, and booting in Safe Mode.

Hello everyone,


Please bear with me here as I attempt to explain all of the issues I'm having with my computer right now. I'll try to explain everything as throroughly as possible, but if you need more information and/or log files to provide a more accurate solution, just let me know.


For starters, I am running an HP Pavilion dv6000 series (dv6748us to be exact) with Windows Vista Home Premium (32-bit) installed. (Service pack 2.) About 6 months ago, I recovered this laptop from what I believe was the conflicker virus (kept redirecting pages, stopped updates and antivirus programs, etc.) and I managed to get Windows Update up and running again. My Help and Support wasn't working though, it was only working in Safe Mode, so I did some research and tried a bunch of suggested fixes (updating the registry, etc) and got that to work again as well. I am not sure if one of the diagnostic tools that I used while fixing Help & Support might have caused the problems I am having now (as I literally tried everything under the sun until I got it to work), but my Windows Update is not functioning correctly again, amongst other things.


A couple of weeks ago, I installed some updates and restarted the computer, but the updates didn't finish installing during reboot. It said the usual "Configuring Updates, do not turn off your computer," but never showed percentage complete or anything. It restarted, and when I opened Windows Update, it said the last time I checked for updates was never (obviously not true), and when I did attempt to check for updates, it skipped right to the message that tells me I need to restart my computer to finish installing updates. It continues to do this every time I open Windows Update. Once in a while, I try to restart it, just to see if it will work, and it never does.


I spent hours trying all of the solutions that I could find in Google. I tried running the System Update Readiness Tool, which seemed to run successfully (but did not solve the problem). I then tried the Fix It for Windows Update, and that didn't solve the problem. (It might be important for me to mention that I am also having problems with the Fix It Center itself, too. The individual tools like the one for Windows Update will run, but the Fix It Center program keeps giving me the error message that "A problem is preventing the troubleshooter from starting.") I also tried renaming the pending.xml file, then later I deleted it, after reading in another forum that renaming the file could cause system instabillity or something like that.


Unfortunately, I cannot use System Restore to fix any of my problems, because all of my earlier restore points are gone (I'm not sure if the virus wiped them out, or if the computer deleted them on it's own) but the only restore points I have stored are ones that were created recently, during the time I have been having these problems.


I tried running sfc /scannow to no avail, as it keeps telling me that there is a pending repair, but the pending repair never completes. I tried using the dism.exe/image:C\/cleanup-image /revertpendingactions command in the recovery center command prompt to stop this pending repair, and that didn't work because it claims that dism.exe does not exist/is not a valid command. No matter what I try, I cannot get this pending repair or my pending updates to complete.


I tried booting into Safe Mode several times as well, and it hangs up at crcdisk.sys while booting every time.


Being that I cannot use system restore, sfc /scannow, or get into Safe Mode, I am truly lost as to what I should do next. I am honestly unsure if the problems are related, but I just thought it would be logical to list all of them in one place.


Please note that I do not want to re-install Windows Vista, nor do I think that I need to, because the computer is functioning just fine for the most part.(I am using it to type this right now). I'd much rather bring it back to full functionality on my own, which I believe can be achieved with the help of the right person.


If anyone could provide any suggestions/solutions for me, it would be greatly appreciated! It would certainly relieve a lot of stress for me!

 

I know you don't want to reinstall but that's about all I can think of as it sounds like you've tried everything else that I know of. Painful yes, but it would give you a nice, clean start without any problems. Something to think about.

You could give tweaking.com's Windows Repair All-In-One a try, see if that helps. Takes awhile to run so you need to be patient and please do all the steps.

I have a short tutorial for WRAIO here: How to repair many areas of XP, Vista and Windows 7 automatically, Windows XP, 2003, Vista, 2008, 7 & 8 (32 & 64 Bit)