Trying to fix windows not being able to install update file KB5005033 - DISM Restore Health source files not found (Error 0x800f081F) -

Question

Hello,

Windows 10 has pushed an update( KB5005033) for me that refuses to install. This is the error that I get:

Some update files are missing or have problems. We'll try to download the update again later. Error code: (0x80073712)

As a result, I ran a SFC /scannow and determined that there was files that needed to be repaired.

I then used DISM to repair the image using restorehealth.

I have used a Windows10 ISO that I downloaded. It is the same exact version and build number of my current Windows 10 version.

However when I run the following command:

DISM /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth /Source:M\Sources\install.wim /LimitAccess

I get this error:

Error: 0x800f081f

The source files could not be found.
Use the "Source" option to specify the location of the files that are required to restore the feature. For more information on specifying a source location, see https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=243077.

The DISM log file can be found at C:\Windows\Logs\DISM\dism.log

To try and repair this, I was told it could be an issue with .Net framework not being installed, so I used optional features to install that.

I've tried many different things and still get the same error Error: 0x800f081f

Basically, I want my computer to be able to install that original update I mentioned at the top of my post. Reinstalling Windows and letting it update from the boot menu is not an option (even though I chose to keep all apps and files), as it crashed my computer the last time (I entered a never ending bootloop) I had to do it, and I had to do a clean install of Windows.

Any help on this would be greatly appreciated.

Answer 1

Hi, I'm back as promised, I found time this evening to repair W10 using the ESD-USB key, pepared yesterday by Media Creation Tool, X64 Italian version of course.
Following ur suggestions, I tried keeping my settings, performing a fresh install without loosing my personal files. More, I chose to install updates during the W10 install... this is the result I got :

Unbelievable, it was successful...
Many restarts, keeping my fingers crossed anytime, but... at the end all was running fine !
I lost some customizations, it doesn't matter, I will restore all thru a free utility I use since many years, that's Winaero tweaker, especially for font sizes... my eyes aren't working anymore as I was young ;-)
All programs and other small things are working.
I checked WU and it just dowloaded and correctly installed a NetFramework update only.
The funny thing is, there is no mention anywhere on WU about KB5005033 installed, I don't care, Winver version showed is .1165 finally. Looking at WU the 21H1 install date remains 2021 May 19th as it was before.
Let see what will happen with the next "Tuesday patches"...
I'm thinking I will perform a clean install only with Windows 11 when it will be available.
I didn't try yet DISM or SFC checks, BTW the OS seems more responsive now than before.
It was great to be in touch with you all, hope again in the future for further interesting and less complicates adventures :-D
Oh... last but not least... a "special" thanks to all Microsoft guys for their kind and prompt support, please don't waste ur fingertips answering your customers. :LOL:

Answer 2

Soooo, any other solution Jeremy? The Net framework was already installed for me, and BITS was set to manual, after I set it to automatic. Ran everything, and the same issue popped up. Should I just leave it, and eventually another update will take over and install, or is there anything I can do? I just don't want to have to format the computer, if I can't continue to get updates. That's my main fear lol.

Answer 3

I understand. The amount of work in re-building a system is staggering, a fact that MS blithely chooses to ignore ... "Just do a reset recovery/restore. Be sure to select check 'Keep my data and files' " or whatever it's called. Sure, no worries, thanks MS. As if there's no work to do after that. That's only the case if you have a nice EaseUS or Macrium or Acronis bit-for-bit image as your backup. Anything else, even if you've saved your personal files, requires a rebuild. There goes a week's work to get it right. MS seems to forget the we have and use computers to get stuff done, not to spend all day/week fighting with their Updates and their update process that has become so 'granny-fied' (with apologies to actual grannies) that all control over the process has been removed from us. And they're our computers for goodness' sake! The other annoying thing being that even after you've battled for a week to get a major update installed, with all the stress associated with the knowledge that at any moment, you could lose everything, you don't actually get anything (noticeable) from it - if you're lucky your computer will look pretty much like it used to, despite all the new-fangled 'features' MS thinks we need and want, not to mention the so-called 'security updates' which is a scary-enough term to make us think we need them. I'm writing this from a new 11th gen 19043.1165 machine (sorry, I notice I missed the last 5 out of the number above), and I also have a WinXP SP3 machine that is just as secure and a damn-sight easier to use. (please, no one come back and tell me it's not secure and why it's not. It'll be like teaching a pig to sing - it's a waste of your time and it angers the pig.) I'm about to sign off for the night but I'll leave you with something to try if you haven't already done so. I have had some success with this. It basically comes under the heading of 'system requirements' for 5005033. In addition to making sure you have KB4023057 installed .....

From MS:

Prerequisite for KB5005003:

For Windows Server Update Services (WSUS) deployment or when installing the standalone package from Microsoft Update Catalog:

If your devices do not have the May 11, 2021 update (KB5003173) or later LCU, you must install the special standalone August 10, 2021 SSU (KB5005260).

Answer 4

Searched, and noticed that don't have KB5003173. Downloaded and tried to install it. Ofcourse, it didn't work. Update can't install. FML.

Answer 5

Good morning (my time) to both - RamuIndrasimhan and  Silbian, you both mention 5003173.  One has it and the other can't install it. I don't think (I might have missed) either of you commented on 5005260.  Have you checked for the existence of this one on your computer using    wmic qfe list   ?  Both these KB's are what MS refers to as 'Servicing Stack' updates/fixes/whatever.  Servicing Stack is MS code for "You may never be able to update your computer from this point onwards."  I suggest you also run   wmic qfe list   on the computer which is successfully on 1165 (Silbian) and check what KB's installed at (around) the same time as 5005033, then try to do that - get them from the Update Catalogue or any other MS KB source if you don't find what you need in the Catalogue.  BTW, I think someone mentioned in here (might have been somewhere else) that they successfully installed 5005033 and the update process didn't require a restart and they thought that was strange.  That would be strange under normal circumstances, but in this case it points absolutely to the fact that 5005033 was already installed and wuau just decided to phone home and pull it down again.  See in my previous post - this can go on ad infinitum.  Watch out for my new book with the short-and-catchy title  'If Your Computer Still Works After A Major Update, Don't Blame Microsoft - That Was Certainly Not Their Intention, Nor How It Worked In Their Testing'.  And whilst I'm already off-topic, let me stay there for a bit longer.   I always have Updates turned off on my computers and only turn them on on Patch Tuesday to see what exciting stuff MS has in store for us this month.  95, 98, XP, Vista were easy to turn off (pre granny-fy days). By 7 it was getting harder but still do-able. 8 harder still. 10 impossible.  That's all using the usual means.  So with 10, some companies, recognising the problem, went about fixing it.  The main one, the only one that has a product specifically designed to turn off wuau in 10 to my knowledge, is a software co. called Greatis and it is perhaps the best ally in this process. They have several products and one of them is StopUpdates10.  It is small, simple, totally safe and ... worth its weight in gold.  It does about ten or fifteen things, some of which are buried so deep you'd never find them on your own unless you were Mark Russinovich or in this case Dmitry Sokolov who is the chief developer at Greatis, and totally, safely, turns off all Windows Updates settings, services and processes in 10.  With a click of a button, you can turn them back on.  Greatis is simply the best s/w co. you've probably never heard of.  I should also mention O & O Software's ShutUp10.  It has about 180 (yes, 180) settings in which 10 continually tries to phone home. It can disable them all.  You choose what you want to do - O & O makes it easy.  I choose all of them with the exception of about 6 - app. access to microphone and camera and a couple of others.  StopUpdates10 and ShutUp10 are probably the most useful, powerful, easy-to-use, safe and just plain old fashioned make-you-feel-good pieces of s/w I've come across in ten years.