Are you seeing “Service registration is missing or corrupt” error message while trying to run the Windows update troubleshooter? This troubleshooter is meant to fix the issues related to Windows update services but, in some cases, it shows the above message.
The issue is quite common amongst the Windows 7 OS users and in some cases, the message comes with an error code. This is mainly a service-related problem but, there could be several other reasons for this corrupted or missing service registration.
How to Troubleshoot when Service Registration is Missing or Corrupt on Windows 7?
All the Windows Update services are installed automatically. However, if there is any problems with the system files, the update may slow down. That’s why you would need to run the update troubleshooter.
But, if there is any corrupted files in the system or the Windows Services is malfunctioned somehow, the troubleshooter would not able to fix the error. In addition, it will show up “Service registration is missing or corrupt” as a result. Fortunately, there are certain methods by which you can fix the issue in an effective way.
Method 1: Run an SFC Scan
System File Checker (SFC) is a utility tool that scans your computer for corrupted system files and fix them automatically. If any of the system files get corrupted and be the reason for this missing or corrupted service registration, the SFC scan will probably solve the issue.
Here are the instructions by which you can do that.
- From the Start menu, open Command Prompt in Administrative mode. Thereafter, right-click on the option and choose “Run as administrator”.
- Type “sfc/scannow” and hit Enter.
- The scanning process will take a while to finish and don’t close the window until it shows 100% complete.
Restart your PC and run the update troubleshooter to see if the problem still persists.
Method 2: Check Windows Update Service
Windows Services let the device run programs smoothly and also controls many system settings. If the Windows Update service is not started, you can check the same in the “Services” window.
We have instructed the steps below on how you can do that.
- Press Windows+R to launch the Run dialog box and type “services.msc” in it. Hit “OK” to proceed further.
- Look for the “Windows Update” in the service list and double-click on the item to open the “Properties” window.
- In the General tab, set the “Startup type” as “Automatic” but, before that make sure the Service status is shown as “Started”.
- Tap on the Apply button and hit OK.
After that, search “Background Intelligent Transfer Service” and “Cryptographic Services” on the list and set their “Startup type” as Automatic.
Method 3: Reset Windows Update Configuration using Command Prompt
If the above methods do not work, you can try this one, as it might fix the “Service registration is missing or corrupt” issue. Besides, it will reset some of the update settings as well.
To do so, you need to open the Command Prompt in Administrative mode and then type the following commands one by one. Make sure to hit Enter after each command. We have also mentioned the reason for which you are typing these commands.
- Stop Windows Update services : “net stop wuauserv”
- Stop Cryptographic services : “net stop cryptsvc”
- End Background Intelligent Transfer Services : “net stop bits”
- Stop MSI server service : “net stop msiserver”
- Rename the Folders : “ren C: Windows\SoftwareDistribution SoftwareDistribution.old”
: “ren C: Windows\System32\ catroot2 catroot2.old”
- Start Windows Update services : “net start wuauserv”
- Start Cryptographic services : “net start cryptsvc”
- Begin Background Intelligent Transfer Services : “net start bits”
- Start MSI server service : “net start msiserver”
After that, exit from the Command Prompt window and start the Windows Troubleshooter.
Method 4: Modify Windows Registry
In this method, we will introduce you to the way to delete a certain registry key from the Windows Registry. So, follow the below steps in order to do the same.
- Press Window+R to launch the Run dialog box.
- Type “regedit” and hit OK to open the Registry Editor window.
- Navigate through the following path: “HKEY_-LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\WindowsSelfHost\Applicability”
- Look for the “ThresholdOptedIn” registry value in the right panel. Then right-click on the item and choose “Delete” from the menu.
Note: If there is another folder named “Recovery From” inside the Applicability folder, delete the folder and restart the system.
If the “Default” key in the Applicability folder does not have any value set, you can fix the problem by manually adding “BranchName” and “Ring” values. For that, right-click on the blank space and click on “New” followed by “String Value”.
Now, double-click on that key to edit the string. Set the Value name as “BranchName” and Value data as “fbl_impressive”. Hit OK to save the changes. In the same way, create another string named “Ring” and Value data as “low”.
Method 5: Restore the System to a Previous Restore Point
If you have made any recent change in the system’s settings or service, Windows Update troubleshooter may show “Service registration is missing or corrupt” error note. In such a case, you can restore the system to a previous system restore point by the following method.
- Launch the Run dialog box and type “rstrui.exe” in the space. Hit Enter.
- When the System Restore window will prompt, click on “Next”.
- In the next screen, choose the most recently created restore point and press the “Next” button.
- Follow the on-screen instructions until you finish the restoration process.
After restarting the system, try running the update troubleshooter and see if the problem is still there.
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Apart from all the methods discussed above, you can also try uninstalling any third-party antivirus software temporarily from the system. Sometimes, this method really works in order to solve the missing or corrupted service registration.
