RonnieJP

Before I installed yesterday's updates, I looked at the Knowledge Base articles for each one. I noticed that one of the updates KB2969339 was "allegedly" to fix an issue "Error 0x80073712 when you install update 2919355 in Windows 8.1 or Windows Server 2012 R2". It said This issue occurs because a new component in update 2919355 contains a file version that is later than the file version that was already installed on the computer and that Microsoft has confirmed that this is a problem in the Microsoft products that are listed in the "Applies to" section. Of course it said nothing about the DISM issues, but here is the link to the article: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2969339http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2969339 Several users on a Microsoft forum http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows...e85e7bc3?page=8 are reporting that this was the update that fixed the problem.

Thanks for posting this cgthamm. It boggles my mind how MS can so casually tell us to reformat. Don't they have a clue as to how time consuming this can be? Especially finding and reinstalling all of a user's programs and their key codes. They do not even appear to admit any culpability, let alone an apology or some compensation. It's unbelievable! There is no doubt in my mind that this whole issue was precipitated by the update. When I restored my system from a pre-update disk image for testing, I had no problem running DISM /online /cleanup-image /startcomponentcleanup without any errors. When I did the inplace re-install it was over the updated image (that had the DISM issue) and everything now works fine, including all the DISM commands. So, I'm not so sure that a complete reformat is always necessary.

I ended up doing an inplace repair install from a Windows 8.1 ISO download and was able to successfully install all the updates (including KB2919355) without any corruption to the component store. I was able to run disk cleanup with system files, including previous Windows installations and Windows update files. Afterwards, I was able to run all the DISM cleanup-image commands without error. So, I hope this alleged "new update" doesn't break things again!

Thanks for your advice xable. I know that I can reproduce the issue 100% of the time following these steps: I restore an uncorrupted Win 8.1 disk image with KB2919355 update. Run DISM /online /cleanup-image /scanhealth (or checkhealth or restorehealth). "DISM found no corruption" Run DISM /online /cleanup-image /startcomponentcleanup Fails with error 14098 - "the component store has been corrupted" Run DISM /online /cleanup-image /scanhealth Says "component store is repairable" Run DISM /online /cleanup-image /restorehealth Fails with error 0x800f081f - "The restore operation failed. Either the repair source could not be found or the component store corruption cannot be repaired" At this point, I restore the good disk image again and I can repeat the process. I know that this issue has not been reported on a widespread basis, at least according to Microsoft, but I have seen quite a few posts among several boards. It only seems to affect users who try to reclaim disk space after the update by either running Disk Cleanup w/System Files (including Windows Update) Or by running DISM /online /cleanup-image /startcomponentcleanup. And apparently not 100% of the users who do that experience the problem. Hopefully enough people will report this so that MS will take serious note of it.

Sorry for truncating your post quote to save space, but since running the Disk Cleanup or DISM Start Component Cleanup commands did not cause any component store corruption on the restored image I had made just minutes before the update, I have to strongly suspect that the update is what initiated the problem. And it appears perhaps the Windows Update server files may be incomplete, or at least unusable to use as a source file for the DISM source. Or, it may even be that the error message itself is just bogus and there is truly no component store corruption. I think that perhaps this problem is not widely reported since most users probably aren't even aware of the DISM commands, let alone run them, and few are likely to run a full disk cleanup. In any case, I did send you that e-mail requesting support ticket. I understand your directness and appreciate it. Please keep us posted. Thanks again.

Susan, Has there been any progress on this issue? I have close to 800MB of leftover files from this update that I'd like to clean from my SSD drive. But I know that if I run Disk Cleanup w/System Files or DISM /online /cleanup-image /startcomponentcleanup it will corrupt the component store, or at least "tell me" that it's corrupted. If this issue fails to get resolved, then it appears that I will never be able to run these utilities without a repair install, which I cannot even do since my retail disk is Windows Pro 8.0 and it won't let me install over a newer version. I've been "riding the coattails" of the support case that was opened for cgthamm in the hopes that this will be resolved for me (and others) as well. Do you think it would help if another support case for myself is opened with Microsoft? If so, would you be able to do it, or tell me how? Thanks for any update (no pun intended) you can share.

Susan, By the way, I copied the DISM.log file (renamed it to .old) to my OneDrive public folder from an image I mounted from when I first installed the updates and ran the Disk Cleanup w/System File and/or DISM /online /cleanup-image /startcomponentcleanup utilities that appeared to have corrupted the component store. Note all the Asian (Chinese?) characters that fill the last 90% or so of the log. Please have a look at it: Corrupted DISM log file My current log (after restoring the pre-update image and installing the updates w/o running any cleanup commands) looks fine and does not have these strange characters. Also, I've seen some other posts mentioning these Chinese (?) characters in their DISM logs after running the cleanup commands as well.

Not surprising since this issue apparently does not affect all users, and/or it's likely most users did not run Disk Cleanup or DISM Component Store Cleanup. My system was an upgrade from Windows 7 Ultimate using retail version of Windows 8 Pro X86, no Media Center. Upgraded To 8.1 last October with no issues. I do have Office 2013 installed. I am using a local account, but I am not on a domain. Hardware is somewhat older, Intel X3230 Xeon 2.67Ghz Quad-Core CPU w/4GB DDR2 RAM, NVidia GT-240 graphics, but with new Dell P2714T touchscreen monitor No unusual software installed. A/V is Webroot Secure Anywhere (cloud-based) and on-demand Hitman Pro (also cloud-based). I had no problems installing the 8.1 April update, but it introduced the component store corruption issue if I run Disk Cleanup w/System Files or DISM Start Component Cleanup. As long as I don't run these, both SFC /SCANNOW and DISM ScanHealth indicate no component store corruption.

Here's another thread with the same issue posted on one of the Microsoft Community forums: http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows...7d-298be85e7bc3 See the post by TusoraKsijveu (2nd on the page)

I think that you were responding to the OP. I am not cgthamm, but I have had the exact same experience as the OP, except my system is 32-bit. I do not personally have a case number with Microsoft, but I have seen your posts on the Microsoft Windows 8.1 forum, specifically the one I pasted here: In addition to what I posted above on this thread, I would be happy to provide you any additional specifics of my situation if you think it will help.

Sorry for truncating your post to save space, but Thank You, Thank You, Thank You! for being one of the few to recognize this very serious issue. I had no problem installing the 8.1 update per se, however shortly afterwards I ran Disk Cleanup including system files with windows updates. Then when I ran DISM /online /cleanup-image /scanhealth (or restorehealth), it said DISM failed with error 0x800f081f. After much reading of various forums, and trying most everything to no avail, I restored my PC to a pre-update image and installed the updates again. This time I did not run Disk Cleanup, and the DISM commands showed no component store corruption. I then ran DISM /online /cleanup-image /analyzecomponentstore and it suggested that I do a cleanup. So, I ran DISM /online /cleanup-image/startcomponentcleanup and it failed saying the component store was corrupted. The DISM scanhealth or restorehealth gave me the same 0x800f081f error again. So, I again restored my pre-update image, ran windows update again. This time I only ran the DISM check, scan or restore health commands and they all completed without error. So, it appears that if any command is run that tries to cleanup the component store, it corrupts it. By the way, when I ran either Disk Cleanup or the DISM cleanup on my pre-update restored image, they ran fine and did not corrupt the component store. So, while most of the posts seem to deal with the inability to install the KB2919355 updates, I believe that the component store corruption issue may be at the root of the problem and I'm very concerned that MS will recognize this and fix it. Like may others, I do NOT want to have to do a clean install or even a repair install. Microsoft should steer clear from these suggestions as it is clearly their fault. If a re-install is required, they'd better prepare to compensate their users for all the time they'll spend on re-installing all their programs and updates.