SOLVED Firewall can't start after KB3116908 update re-start

[wegmand]

Today's update required a restart, after which I got an error message that Windows Firewall can't start (error code 0c8007045b). I'm offered the chance to start it manually but that doesn't work either. The event log reports that the "Firewall with advanced Security Snap-in failed to load (error code 0x6D9)."

I'm NOT running any third-party firewall/malware protection. Whatever comes with Windows 10 (Defender) is what I've been using.

I shutdown & restarted with the same results, so I guess I'm currently running without the firewall protection. Any ideas about how to solve this one?

 

[Trouble]

See if the commands in Method 2 in this article helps
http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/...s-i-cant/98d602f9-6a24-4f64-8d97-a43ae590e596
there for Windows 8 so ignore the instructions for opening an Admin Command prompt, just right click the start button and choose Command Prompt (Admin)

 

[wegmand]

I tried those commands but the firewall service still didn't start. Here's what I got:

In the command shell type the following command and press Enter after each command.

netsh advfirewall reset
An error occurred while attempting to contact the Microsoft Firewall service. Make sure that the service is running and try your request again.

net start mpsdrv
The requested services has already been started.

More help is available by typing NET HELPMSG 2182.

net start bfe
The requested services has already been started.

More help is available by typing NET HELPMSG 2182.

net start mpssvc
The Windows Firewall service is starting.
The Windows Firewall service could not be started.

A service specific error occurred: 193.

More help is available by typing NET HELPMSG 3547.

regsvr32 firewallapi.dll
<return to cmd prompt>

Typing those HELPMSG commands told me nothing useful so I went through each of the commands again with the same results as the first time.

I also tried to start the firewall service via the services.msc route. The Windows Firewall service is set to Automatic but not running. So I tried to START it. It seems like it tries to start but then stops after about 1 second. Repeated attempts yield the same results.

 

[Trouble]

Have you considered possibly uninstalling KB3116908 to see if that alleviates the issue.
If so, then you might want to use Internet explorer and download the update from here http://catalog.update.microsoft.com/v7/site/Search.aspx?q=KB3116908
Make sure you get the correct one for your system architecture 32 or 64 bit.

 

[wegmand]

I'll give that a try tomorrow and report back. Plus, I took your advice on a previous post regarding bad clusters on my hard drive and I'm planning to clone it to a new one. (A Cyber Monday deal couldn't have come at a better time!) Whatever happens, I think I see another round of clean re-installing Windows 10. It's become my new hobby!

 

[Trouble]

Cloning a hard disk with bad sectors may not be the best choice.
Consider using Acronis True Image, I believe the still offer a free trial.
Install it, use it to create the bootable rescue media, boot from the media and do a Disk Image and use the Error Handling options to tell it to ignore bad sectors.

 

[wegmand]

Uninstalled the update this morning. Firewall still can't start. Also, now I can't open 'Settings' and MS Edge doesn't work. I went to the link you provided to re-download the update but couldn't do that either. When trying to download, the Progress status remains 'Waiting' and an error window appears saying that I can try re-adding the download to my basket.

This system is in trouble.

My current OS drive has 3 data partitions on it in addition to the C: partition. I keep My Documents and program installation files on those other data partitions which makes for a less stressful Windows re-installation.

The new drive should arrive this afternoon. It's a WD Blue and I've already downloaded the latest version of Acronis True Image WD Edition and I intend to image my current drive to the new one after running chkdsk /r on my current C: drive. I expect the Acronis image/clone wizard to step me through the cloning process. I'm not sure if it will suggest creating bootable rescue media or not. The user guide doesn't mention that step but I'll do it if offered.

I expect Acronis to ignore the bad blocks/clusters during the cloning process.

After that, with the image on the new drive, I'll test boot from it. If the new drive works properly, I intend to remove it, put the old drive back in, wipe the old C: partition and clean install Windows 10 on it again. My intention is to make sure that I can wipe the C: partition during the installation process without losing the other 3 data partitions I have on the drive. I don't want to do that until I first clone the old drive to the new one. If that goes well, I'll put the new drive in and repeat the Windows re-install process in the same manner. From that point on I'll use the new drive - hopefully with zero bad blocks/clusters.

 

[wegmand]

Re-installed Windows 10 this morning on a new cloned drive, installed all updates including KB3116908 and my system seems to be error free. I did this re-install a little differently than the previous ones. This time, instead of re-installing over the C: drive partition, I first DELETED that partition during the install process. This then showed up as 'unallocated space' to which I installed Windows 10. Now Disk Management shows an additional small partition (500MB) on the drive - in front of the C: partition named "System Reserved" and there's no drive letter assigned.

I suspect the lack of this little partition after previous installations may have been the root of some of my troubles with Windows 10. Comments welcome!

 

[Trouble]

I suspect the lack of this little partition after previous installations may have been the root of some of my troubles with Windows 10. Comments welcome!

I wouldn't think so. I always use diskpart in advance of my installations to create, format (ntfs, quick) and label my drive / partition in advance of my installs specifically to avoid having one and do not have any problems.
The only thing you lose by doing that is the ability to use Bitlocker, which I would never consider using on my system drive anyway.
http://www.howtogeek.com/192772/what-is-the-system-reserved-partition-and-can-you-delete-it/