The message “Service registration is missing or corrupted” can be found in the Windows Update troubleshooter window. Of course, the latter is used by users who have encountered some problems while updating their copy of Windows.
What can be causing the message and problems when updating?
- The services involved in updating the Windows OS are disabled or not working correctly;
- Antivirus or firewall is preventing Windows from updating.
- The system files or the Windows Component Store are damaged.
How to get rid of “Service registration is missing or corrupted”?
As you can imagine, the message “Service registration is missing or corrupted” is just the tip of the iceberg. Something is interfering with the normal update of your system, otherwise you would not have started the troubleshooter. In this article, we will show you how to get rid of this message and regain the ability to update the system.
Solution # 1 Disable antivirus
Let’s start with something trivial. Some antiviruses, for some unknown reason, may interfere with the normal updating of Windows. They suddenly begin to think that the files downloaded from Microsoft servers pose a threat to the entire system – files are blocked, after which further updates are impossible.
If you have some third-party antivirus installed on Windows, for example, Norton, McAfee or even Kaspersky, we recommend that you disable its active protection for a while and try to update the OS again. Did everything go well? Then you have found the source of all problems – antivirus!
Solution # 2 Disable Firewall
Here everything is about the same principle as with antivirus, but only the connection to Microsoft servers is blocked. Again, if something third-party is installed in the system, turn it off and check. In some cases, the Windows Defender System Firewall can also “get pissed off”. Disabling it is done as follows:
- press Win + R;
- write down control panel and press Enter;
- select large icons in the view and open the “Windows Defender Firewall” section;
- click on the line “Turn Windows Defender Firewall on or off”;
- set all parameters to disable the firewall and save the changes;
- try updating the OS again (you can also rerun the troubleshooter).
This is unlikely to be a firewall, but some users manage to solve the problem just like that.
Solution # 3 Checking the required services
There are several services in Windows that are actively involved in the process of updating the system, namely:
- Windows Update;
- Background Intelligent Transfer Service;
- Windows Installer;
- Cryptography services.
You need to check the correctness of the settings specified for them, and put them into operation if, for some reason, they are deactivated. Let’s take a look at an example on Windows Update so you have an idea of what to do next:
- press Win + R;
- write services.msc and press Enter;
- find the service “Windows Update” in the list and double-click on it;
- select “Automatic” in the startup type and save the changes.
Do the same for each service from the above list, then restart your computer and check if you can update. You can also check for “Service registration is missing or corrupted.”
Solution # 4 Removing the Update Center “cache”
Your problem may be due to cache files located in the SoftwareDistribution and catroot2 folders. You need to get rid of the contents of these folders and then see if the problem has been resolved. To remove the Update Center cache, do this:
- press Win + R;
- write in the value cmd and press Ctrl + Shift + Enter;
- do the following in the Command Prompt:
- net stop wuauserv
- net stop cryptSvc
- net stop bits
- net stop msiserver
- ren C: Windows SoftwareDistribution SoftwareDistribution.old
- ren C: Windows System32 catroot2 catroot2.old
- net start wuauserv
- net start cryptSvc
- net start bits
- net start msiserver pause
- close Command Prompt and restart your computer.
We try to update Windows again and check for the message “Service registration is missing or corrupted.”
Solution # 5 Recovering system files
Problems with the “operating system” update can arise due to the fault of damaged system files and storage of Windows components. You can try to restore it all with useful tools like DIMS and SFC. Try the following:
- press Win + R →cmd→ Ctrl + Shift + Enter;
- run these commands:
- DISM / Online / Cleanup-Image / CheckHealth
- DISM / Online / Cleanup-Image / ScanHealth
- DISM / Online / Cleanup-Image / RestoreHealth
- sfc / scannow;
- restart your computer and check for the problem.
Wait for each individual command to complete, of course, and preferably if you restart your computer after running DISM.
Solution # 6 Installing updates manually
Why not try installing Windows updates manually? Go to Microsoft Update Catalog page and download the updates we need. To understand which updates for Windows you need to download, you need to go to the update log (Options → Update and Security → Windows Update).