Windows Updates stopped installing, tons of Event ID 447 Database Corruption errors

[link470]

I've got a rather annoying issue that I'm working on with a Windows 7 Professional x64 install I did on a standalone computer last year. The machine was working perfectly fine for months, and in fact, is still working fine. But I recently found out that the machine hasn't been running any updates from Windows Update. I tried the usual Windows Update component fixes and running the Windows Update troubleshooting/fix utility built in to Windows 7 troubleshooting and they don't fix the issue.

 

When I checked event viewer, I discovered a stream of Event ID 447 errors in the Application log:

Catalog Database (1320) Catalog Database: A bad page link (error -338) has been detected in a B-Tree (ObjectId: 9, PgnoRoot: 39) of database C:\Windows\system32\CatRoot2\{F750E6C3-38EE-11D1-85E5-00C04FC295EE}\catdb (6312 => 6134, 10).

 

Looking at the history of the Application log, I discovered that this error has been occurring regularly since around November 2012. I do seem to remember that machine having issues with updating at the time, and I managed to get the updates installed by installing them either 1 or a few at a time, and eventually they all went. But now I can't get a single update to run, not even by searching Microsoft Downloads for the KB number and downloading the update standalone. It fails to install as well.

 

I've ran a full chkdsk /r, I've ran ViVARD hard disk diagnostics from a Ultimate Boot CD, and I've ran MemTest+ overnight on the machine for a full 8 passes of the 8GB of RAM. No errors in anything. Windows continues to perform great and work perfectly fine in everything else. Any ideas of what could be causing this and how to fix it? About the only things I can think of left are a repair install of Windows 7, or a complete reinstall, which I'm trying to avoid as everything else works so well.

 

Thanks in advance!

[ZeroHour]

First I would verify all your windows files using the system checker.

Run CMD as admin/elevated then run sfc /scannow which will check the windows system files for corruption and repair where necessary.

 

Also have you tried resetting the windows update client store?

NOTE: I used to do this to fix XP clients who updated via WSUS but I have also done it on standalones to fix windows update after malware etc.

 

Stop automatic updates service, go to c:\windows and rename the folder SoftwareDistribution to SoftwareDistrubution_old.

Start the service then run wuauclt /resetauthorization (more for WSUS) followed by wuauclt /updatenow and see how it goes.

 

I *think* that should work under w7 and I am pretty sure I have done it on 7 before but its been awhile so its up to you.

 

Has the machine ever had a malware infection?

Its possible it has a file permissions issue in the windows directory area. You can reset all windows system files back to the default/recommended permissions using this tutorial (for vista but should be fine in w7) http://support.microsoft.com/kb/313222?wa=wsignin1.0

I would handle that one with added care.

Edited May 10, 2013 by ZeroHour

[link470]

First I would verify all your windows files using the system checker.

Run CMD as admin/elevated then run sfc /scannow which will check the windows system files for corruption and repair where necessary.

Sorry, I totally forgot to mention that I had tried this as well. The results came up clean.

 

Also have you tried resetting the windows update client store?

I haven't, but I'll try that later on.

 

Has the machine ever had a malware infection?

Not that I know of, but a malware check with several applications [MSE/MalwareBytes/etc.] is on the todo list.

 

I'll let you know how things go. The real thing that kept throwing me off was that ESENT error that repeatedly showed up, and I couldn't help but think that maybe that and Windows Update not installing updates would be related. Right now the system says it has 20 important updates and 4 other updates. I was able to hide the Bing Desktop updates, and that worked, it no longer shows up in the lists. I can also check for updates, and select one, and see it try to download the update, and even look like it's going through the installation. Then at the end it fails with the good ol red X shield and ever so conveniently, a different error code almost every time.

 

Thanks again for your suggestions, I'll try the client store reset tonight.

Edited May 10, 2013 by link470

[link470]

I just tried resetting the Windows Update client store, as well as checking the machine for malware, and the reset didn't work and the system scans were clean. The system appears to be very clean too, nothing else installed since I originally built it. The only thing I found was the Ask Toolbar, and I removed that as it must have come in with an installer. Otherwise, everything else is as it should be and very clean. I can install other software and run Apple Software Update to update Quicktime perfectly fine.

 

Any other suggestions?

 

:: EDIT ::

 

Partially fixed...I managed to get a large amount of the updates installed after performing the steps labled as "Answer" here.

 

Now I'm down to only 3 updates, and unfortunately, those ones are failing with a nasty error 80070490. I've checked the Microsoft article on this and they say the only 2 things to do are to install the System Update Readiness Tool, or to do a repair install. I've already tried the first option, and that didn't work, and I've seen from a lot of people online that the repair install doesn't work either. Anyone have any good fixes for Windows Update error 80070490? I was SO close! Updates were working great until these last 3. I've also tried installing them from the standalone KB file from Microsoft Downloads too, of course. That also didn't work.

Edited May 14, 2013 by link470