[tombaychaos]

Hi there!
As of a few weeks back, I noticed I was no longer able to install some programs. This was due to the 'Windows Installer Service could not be accessed' error, and was usually accompanied by a 1601 or 1708 error code. I tried many methods to try and resolve this issue (Re-registering the installer service, cleaning the registry values etc) but was to no avail. I began to delay this issue, and more problems rose to my attention. These included the 'The ordinal 304 could not be located in the dynamic link library iertutil.dll' error, that is alerted to my computer several times upon opening a program. Besides the Installer Service issue, the other problems seemed to arise after I had began downloading updates for Windows, despite the fact I am now also unable to scan for windows updates. I came to the conclusion that a windows repair from a usb boot drive might be the best option here, unfortunately I was unable to select an operating system in the system recovery section despite activating the correct partition via cmd.
Any help would be much appreciated!

 

[spunk.funk]

If you can boot into Windows, go to Start/Search and type CMD, Right click the CMD results and Run As Administrator. In the Elevated Command Prompt type SFC /scannow and press enter. This will replace any missing system files. If it says it can't fix all files, then download and run SFCFix.exe, then run SFC /scannow again.
You can also Try a Startup Repair. Boot off of the Windows installer USB, choose Repair Your Computer. It should show you the Windows OS. If that does not work then do a offline System Restore. Press Shift+F10 at the install screen to take you to the RE (Recovery Environment) Choose Command Prompt
At command prompt (x: sources) type this exactly as written:
bcdedit |find “osdevice” (Must inc ” and the |), the | before Find is the Upper case \ key) press enter. This will tell you what drive letter the OS is on.It may not be on the C: drive.
Now use the returned as the drive letter for OS, for this example, assume C: or whatever drive letter is the os device.
At the x sources type: chkdsk c: /r press enter, 5 stages of check disk will run. It will test the HDD for errors. it may take a while.

To run sfc/scannow from the Install Media

at the x: sources type:
sfc/scannow /offbootdir=c:\ /offwindir=c:\windows press enter
sfc will run, it can take awhile

 

[tombaychaos]

Hi, thanks for the response
I tried running /scannow before hand and it responded with that it couldnt fix some files. After using the fix you linked, which completed almost instantly saying there were no corrupted files, the scan in the command prompt still remained the same.
I then proceeded to enter the bcdedit into the x:sources command window in the system repair section, which although recognised the command, did not respond to it. However, I am fairly certain my OS is on my D: drive (ssd). I attempted to do the check disk command on the D: drive, and it responded with no errors. The "sfc/scannow /offbootdir=c:\ /offwindir=c:\windows" prompt also was unsuccessful at completing a scan. This brought up 'help' screen of sorts, which listed all the different lines that can be added onto /scannow (e.g, /offbootdir which will scan off the boot directory. Nevertheless, I ran a regular /scannow from that command prompt window and was told that another scan was had taken place and required a restart before this scan could begin. I restarted my computer and attempted the same scan again, only to be shown the same message.

 

[spunk.funk]

You have scheduled a SFC /scannow from the RE, which is waiting to start. You have to change the drive letter in the Command to your OS Drive letter in the Command Prompt in the RE, it may be different then the drive letter in Windows.
If that command does not work, then at the RE command prompt type the drive letter that you think the OS is on (eg) D: and press enter, now type DIR and press enter. If you do not see a Windows directory there, then Windows is not on the D: drive, so, try any other drive letters, using the instructions above. Once you have the correct drive, try the Check Disk command, and try the SFC off line command changing the drive letter(eg) offbootdir=D:\ /offwindir=D: or whatever drive letter Windows OS is on. Be sure to include the blanks in the command.
If it can't fix all the files, run SFCFix.exe again, then SFC /scannow again.