Fixed! Vista SP1 Error 0x800F0826 Occurs During Service Pack Installation
One of the requirements to upgrade your Microsoft Vista Home Basic system to Microsoft Vista Home Premium is that you install Vista Service Pack 1 (SP1). That is when all the problems started.
The first problem that I had when working on my dad's Vostro 1400 is that the Dell installed Operating System was not picking up Service Pack 1 (SP1) Windows Update automatically. That immediately meant we spent the next 20 minutes waiting for 434.5MB SP1 standalone installation (Windows6.0-KB936330-X86-wave0.exe) to download.
After the machine download the information the entire package, I thought I was in the clear. I started the installation process for Windows Vista Service Pack 1 and everything was moving along smoothly. Then the system rebooted and started the 3 stages of "Configuring updates". Then almost immediately I was greeted with the wonderful message:
Installation was not successful
Windows Vista Service Pack 1 was not installed on your computer.
Error code 0800F0826. See http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=10139 for details.
Nice, just what I needed. Some random unknown error from an Microsoft installation package. I had been a little aggressive during the initial install and had been busy applying several other 3rd party software updates on the Dell Vostro 1400. I thought that might be the problem.
I rebooted and shut down just about every possible service and application that was running on the machine. Surely the installation would work. Nope. Once again, during the 3rd stage of configuring updates the install bombed out with the exact same error message. Strike two.
I did some Google searching and found several references to this problem being related to a missing patch from Microsoft, KB947821 -- the system update readiness tool for Microsoft Windows Vista. I downloaded the installer (from here), applied it to see if it would make a difference.
3rd strike, same 0X800F0826 -- I was beginning to really hate this error.
Then I stumbled on a couple of messages that referenced Microsoft Support the recommendation was to change the following two services to "Automatic Startup" in the Windows Services area. You can get there by going to Start --> Control Panel --> Administrative Tools --> Services. Then find the two services "Windows Event Collector" and "Windows Module Installer" and change their startup type from Manual to Automatic.
Now when try to initiate the installation I get another error:
An internal error occured when installing the service pack.
Error code 0x80070005 see
http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?linkid=101139 for details.
Argh. Time to reboot as a last ditch effort. I think restarted the machine and finally, success on the installation of Service Pack 1 for Vista.
First the installation.
And now success!This was great news, by changing the start up of the two services, Windows Event Collector and Windows Module Installer to Automatic from Manual, it fixed the problem. Too bad it only took 4 hours and several retries of the installation routine. Did this fix work for you? If so, let me know with a comment below!
Furthermore, this is the type of error that should never happen. The installer should be smart enough to check all the setting required to complete the service pack. My guess is that in this Dell specific installation, for some reason Dell did not configure these as Automatic (Dell's fault) and rather as dependent services. Then, when rebooting the machine the services that start up Windows Event Collector and Windows Module Installer do not start up for the installation (Windows Fault). In any case, it was a nightmare to get through -- but I was glad I was able to. Oddly enough, I have not ran into this problem on other Vista installations including Vista Home Premium and Vista Ultimate -- both 32-bit (x86) and 64-bit (x64) varieties.
Now it was on to install the upgrade from Windows Vista Home Basic to Windows Vista Home Premium.
20 comments:
Very frustrating patch. This is the most educated try at it. While I was reading this and doin what it said I also ran a virus scan and did have a trojan so when this attempt is final I can't say which fixed it. And yes I uninstalled the anti virus software before installing pack. I'll repost if it worked tho. bottom line thank you for the knowledge on the services.
Thanks for that info, I have the same problem on my laptop and the two services you mentioned were set to manual. No use blaming Dell, Microsoft should pick these things up, there is no excuses!! Oh yeah, my laptop is an Acer!!!
Thanks for letting me know. I wrongly gave Microsoft the benefit of the doubt and blamed Dell. I wonder if mainly OEM installations suffer from this? Either way, you're right -- Microsoft should have been all over this.
-Ken
I dont understand a detail. I have to set the two services to Manual or Automatic??
Gump,
The two services must be set to AUTOMATIC in order for it to install properly.
-Ken
Every time I set the Windows Modules Installer to automatic it resets to manual the next reboot. Any ideas how to keep it to auto?
I think this is not Dell-related. I had the same problem on an Acer machine, and used the same resolution (provided Microsoft Support) to get SP1 installed.
You're right, an earlier commented mentioned the same problem with another brand. Microsoft should have clearly caught this Service Pack 1 for Vista issue!
Frank -- are you running Vista in the Administrator / Elevated permissions mode?
If not, to do that, right click on the services setting and select run as Administrator for the changes you make to be saved.
-Ken
Frank, I am having the same problem. I tried to run as administrator but it dont solve the problem. This service always resets to manual.
damn, man! i've been fooling around since a couple of months ago because of this damn error! and now, following your instructions i completed the installation succecefully. thanks!
Hello,
I encountered the same problem posted by leonardo na franck. Every time I try to turn "Windows Module Installer" to automatic, it flips back to manual... (i tried this several times as administrator).
the update is always failing at the very end, step 3 of 3 from the sp1 installation pack...
thank you to indicate if you find a solution.
Hi,
I also got the problem that the Module Installer switches to "manual" again and again.
Has anyone found a solution?
Hi,
Thanks for your help. It worked for me and i was able to install service pack 1 on the computer.
Many Many Thanks again
Kundan Tripathi
hey ken, I tried switching the Module thing to automatic under "as administrator" but it still switches back each time I reboot. I was wondering if you have any other advice. You'd think by now MS would've fixed this. Apparently this error is also whats causing my camera to malfunction.
hi,
i have the same problem with switching the Module Installer to automatic.. it always come back to manual.. than i swithed to Automatic (late start) - sorry i have hungarian Win and don't know the exact english... but the point is that it worked for me, it stayed automatic and i managed to apply SP1 finally (i took about 5 hours).
Thank's for this manual, really.
flerd
I also had the problem of Windows Modules Installer reverting to manual. Here's what finally worked for me, as I just posted at the Dell forums:
In services (as administrator), I right clicked on "Windows Modules Installer" and clicked on Properties. In the Recovery Tab, the original settings were First Failure - Restart the Service, Second Failure - Restart the Service, Subsequent Failures: Take No Action. What I did was to change the Subsequent Failures setting to Restart the Service. It was totally a guess on my part, but I figured that if the problem was that WMI wasn't staying automatic, perhaps the service was turning off during installation. I hoped this would force a restart. Now, I could possibly be blowing smoke on this one, but it did work for me.
-- Attila
Thanks for the great info!
It was the auto enabling of those services that fixed it.
Many thanks from www.repaircomputers.co.uk
I go to Start --> Control Panel --> Administrative Tools --> Services and I can't see "Windows Event Collector" and "Windows Module Installer" Help please!!
I have the problem where the Windows Module Installer won't stay manual. It reverts back to Automatic whenever i restart my laptop. Anyone know any solutions to this?
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