How to repair corrupted Component Store on Windows 8.1?

[Tech Tweaker]

I have a serious issue here.

I have a PC that came to me from a friend with Windows 8.1 on it and I've been working on this issue for nearly four days now to no avail. The friend asked me if I could possibly fix their PC.

When it first came to me it was infected by malware and spyware, and I was able to remove all of that. However, when I went to check for updates I discovered that there were a dozen or so available, and so I chose to install them. But Windows Update quickly stops the update process and comes back with error code 80073712. Upon further research I discovered that it hasn't been able to successfully install any updates since March of 2015.

Running SFC /scannow returns saying there is file system corruption, but it is unable to fix it.

After researching that a bit I came to the conclusion that I was supposed to run something called DISM.exe from an Administrator-level of access at the command line to fix this issue. That however quickly returned another error message, Error: 14098, The component store has been corrupted. https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/957310

https://social.technet.microsoft.co...alth-returns-error-14098?forum=w8itprogeneral

https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/hh824869.aspx

Running CHKDSK.exe returns and also says there is file system corruption. But when I attempt to run CHKDSK /R or /F the scan stops at 10% and never proceeds beyond that point (I left it running for two hours and it never got any further).

I read somewhere that I could use an MS 8.1 installation disk to help with repairs, but setting the disk drive as the source for the DISM seems to have no effect. Like it can't even see that the disk is in there, or it just can't locate the proper files to repair the installation.

Does ANYONE have any suggestions for how to repair this system image? I'm at my whit's end here and frankly I'm about out of ideas on how to deal with this issue. I'm afraid I'm going to have to reload this POS, which won't exactly be easy since it came with Windows 8 and I don't currently have an installation disk for 8 (that, and I don't know if I can back up the files from this drive to a Windows 7 machine (don't they have different filesystems?)). Do have an installation disk for 8.1, but I don't know if it can be used with a key for Windows 8 when going for a fresh install.

I HATE Windows 8 and 8.1 SO much right now.

 

[EarthDog]

Have you tried a repair install of Windows (your wording took me to you were trying to find DISM.exe on there not a full Windows repair)?

 

[Tech Tweaker]

Have you tried a repair install of Windows (your wording took me to you were trying to find DISM.exe on there not a full Windows repair)?

How would I go about that?

I know basically nothing about 8.1 (other than it's really frustrating to use and has a confusing interface), so this whole process is new to me.

 

[EarthDog]

Same way as W7/W10?

Insert the disk, boot from it and instead of clicking install, on the bottom left there is 'Repair this Computer' option.

 

[Tech Tweaker]

Same way as W7/W10?

Insert the disk, boot from it and instead of clicking install, on the bottom left there is 'Repair this Computer' option.

I have honestly never seen that option. But then I've never run into this type of problem before.

Guess I need to see if I can find that.

Okay, I found that.

The menu that comes up gives me options of Continue to Windows 8.1, Turn off your PC, Use a device (USB drive, network connection, or Windows recovery DVD), or Troubleshoot.

I'm assuming I should go with Troubleshoot.

Troubleshoot gives the options of "Refresh your PC" (which fails immediately and gives me an error message), "Reset your PC" (which I don't particularly want to do, as I haven't backed up any files yet), and "Advanced Options".

 

[EarthDog]

Heh, of course Windows 8 is different, LOL

This is what W7 shows: http://malwaretips.com/blogs/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/windows-7-repair-your-computer.jpg

 

[Dlaw]

You'll likely need to backup his data and reinstall Windows. I don't know the fix to that specific problem, but you can be reasonably sure that it's going to be a long, involved process, and will likely leave broken registry keys and messed up system files.

Many OEM systems have a "factory reset" system that will fresh install for you from a partition on the hard disk, making it digitally the same as the day it was purchased. I would look up the make and model of the PC on Google, and try to find the process for that.

If it's a custom build, reinstalling from scratch will likely be the only option.

 

[EarthDog]

Spot on. I would imagine this is leftover virus crap still mucking things up. Its not worth the time or effort to go deeper down the rabbit hole.

 

[Tech Tweaker]

Tired of fighting with this thing.

Backing up files now.

Now, big very important question. Does anyone know if a Windows 8 license key can be used to install with a Windows 8.1 installation disk?

 

[RJARRRPCGP]

Looks like a bad HDD.

 

[Dlaw]

Tired of fighting with this thing.

Backing up files now.

Now, big very important question. Does anyone know if a Windows 8 license key can be used to install with a Windows 8.1 installation disk?

No, you will need to either use a generic key to install 8.1, and then once installed change the key to the valid one for activation, or install from a Win8 disk and then upgrade to 8.1.

One side note though: If it's an OEM machine, you will need to pull the licence key from either the previous install, or from UEFI. The best tool I've found for the job is this.

 

[Tech Tweaker]

I'll just leave this here. Apparently you can install 8.1 with an 8.0 key now.

http://www.howtogeek.com/187525/how-to-perform-a-clean-install-of-windows-8.1-with-a-windows-8-key/

Looks like a bad HDD.

Nope, drive health is 100% with 0 bad sectors. I checked that as well.

System is up and running normally now. I managed to reinstall 8.1 from the installation disk without losing any personal files, it just rewrote the base Operating System files.

Did have to reinstall one program though, as the reinstall of the OS messed up the anti-virus program in some fashion. That, and reload the audio driver, as there is no updated driver for 8.1 for this system (Lenovo G780 laptop).

And a ton of Windows updates. Spent probably eight hours working on it yesterday between the reinstall of the OS and the installation of the updates. Still probably not done with the updates yet.

 

[Dlaw]

I'll just leave this here. Apparently you can install 8.1 with an 8.0 key now.

http://www.howtogeek.com/187525/how-to-perform-a-clean-install-of-windows-8.1-with-a-windows-8-key/

Really!? Why didn't they just do that in the first place? I've fixed a few machines that shipped with 8, and got upgraded to 8.1, and needed to be fresh installed. I had to use my method each time to get the install to go through.