Turn windows features on or off - blank list

I have Vista Home Premium SP2 on a desktop, fully updated.

When I open "Control Panel > Programs and Features > Turn Windows features
on or off" the list is empty. It momentarily says "Please Wait...", then
never populates the list.

I read that it may have something to do with Windows Updates errors, so I
checked my history. I found 9 failed ones from 10-15 and 10-14. I went to the
windows download site and tried to manually install them. Every one I tried
ended with a message: "This update does not apply to your machine." I didn't
bother to try a couple of them since I do not use Windows mail. Maybe updates
had nothing to do with it. The problem persists.

I ran sfc /scannow and after completion it said corrupt files were found but
was unable to fix some of them. I don't have a Vista CD but I do have all of
the recovery disks I made when it was new, however I'm not sure how to
proceed.

Am I on the right track?

Thanks,
Rusty

Hello Rusty,

You might see if this may be able to help you get this fixed.

'The "Windows Features" dialog box is empty in Windows 7 or
Windows Vista, or you receive an error message that includes the
following code when you try to use Windows Update:
"0x80073712"' (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/931712)

Hope this helps,
Shawn

Rusty;1189476 Wrote:
> I have Vista Home Premium SP2 on a desktop, fully updated.
>
> When I open "Control Panel > Programs and Features > Turn Windows
> features
> on or off" the list is empty. It momentarily says "Please Wait...",
> then
> never populates the list.
>
> I read that it may have something to do with Windows Updates errors, so
> I
> checked my history. I found 9 failed ones from 10-15 and 10-14. I went
> to the
> windows download site and tried to manually install them. Every one I
> tried
> ended with a message: "This update does not apply to your machine." I
> didn't
> bother to try a couple of them since I do not use Windows mail. Maybe
> updates
> had nothing to do with it. The problem persists.
>
> I ran sfc /scannow and after completion it said corrupt files were
> found but
> was unable to fix some of them. I don't have a Vista CD but I do have
> all of
> the recovery disks I made when it was new, however I'm not sure how to
> proceed.
>
> Am I on the right track?
>
> Thanks,
> Rusty


--
Brink

'*MS MVP - Windows Desktop Experience*'
(https://mvp.support.microsoft.com/pr...5-AD617AF3D511)
*There are no dumb questions, just the people that do not ask
them.*
'*Windows 7 Forums*'
'*Windows Vista Forums*'

*Please post feedback to help others.*

Mr. Arnold, yes my OS is an OEM installation.

Brink, That link is where I was reading and following to get to this point.
I've had no problem installing Microsoft updates, other than the failed ones
I mentioned in my original post.

When I ran sfc and it reported some files could not be repaired, I looked at
the recovery disk I made when the system was new. It does not have a folder
full of anything that looks like system files, such as the old i386 folder in
XP. All I see is a folder with SWM files and a folder with DLLs. I'm
thinking this disk is just to restore to out-of-box condition.

So my question is; how to repair system files with sfc. Is there a folder
within Vista with a copy of all system files that can be used to fix the
system. I used to keep a protected copy of them with XP, but I'm new at
Vista.

I hope I'm making sense. Thanks,
Rusty

"Brink" wrote:

>
> Hello Rusty,
>
> You might see if this may be able to help you get this fixed.
>
> 'The "Windows Features" dialog box is empty in Windows 7 or
> Windows Vista, or you receive an error message that includes the
> following code when you try to use Windows Update:
> "0x80073712"' (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/931712)
>
> Hope this helps,
> Shawn
>
> Rusty;1189476 Wrote:
> > I have Vista Home Premium SP2 on a desktop, fully updated.
> >
> > When I open "Control Panel > Programs and Features > Turn Windows
> > features
> > on or off" the list is empty. It momentarily says "Please Wait...",
> > then
> > never populates the list.
> >
> > I read that it may have something to do with Windows Updates errors, so
> > I
> > checked my history. I found 9 failed ones from 10-15 and 10-14. I went
> > to the
> > windows download site and tried to manually install them. Every one I
> > tried
> > ended with a message: "This update does not apply to your machine." I
> > didn't
> > bother to try a couple of them since I do not use Windows mail. Maybe
> > updates
> > had nothing to do with it. The problem persists.
> >
> > I ran sfc /scannow and after completion it said corrupt files were
> > found but
> > was unable to fix some of them. I don't have a Vista CD but I do have
> > all of
> > the recovery disks I made when it was new, however I'm not sure how to
> > proceed.
> >
> > Am I on the right track?
> >
> > Thanks,
> > Rusty
>
>
> --
> Brink
>
> '*MS MVP - Windows Desktop Experience*'
> (https://mvp.support.microsoft.com/pr...5-AD617AF3D511)
> *There are no dumb questions, just the people that do not ask
> them.*
> '*Windows 7 Forums*'
> '*Windows Vista Forums*'
>
> *Please post feedback to help others.*
> .
>

Yeah, their favorite cookbook reply is to reset it to its original setup. I
think I'll keep trying to fix it. I won't learn a thing from gutting it and
rebuilding it. I think I just need to figure out how to restore the corrupt
system files. It can't be too corrupt because the machine works flawlessly
other than that missing menu.
Thanks

"Mr. Arnold" wrote:

> Rusty wrote:
> > Mr. Arnold, yes my OS is an OEM installation.
> >
> > Brink, That link is where I was reading and following to get to this point.
> > I've had no problem installing Microsoft updates, other than the failed ones
> > I mentioned in my original post.
> >
> > When I ran sfc and it reported some files could not be repaired, I looked at
> > the recovery disk I made when the system was new. It does not have a folder
> > full of anything that looks like system files, such as the old i386 folder in
> > XP. All I see is a folder with SWM files and a folder with DLLs. I'm
> > thinking this disk is just to restore to out-of-box condition.
> >
> > So my question is; how to repair system files with sfc. Is there a folder
> > within Vista with a copy of all system files that can be used to fix the
> > system. I used to keep a protected copy of them with XP, but I'm new at
> > Vista.
> >
>
> I would suggest that you call the manufacture of the computer's tech
> support that installed the OEM O/S on the machine for support. They
> should be able to help you in this situation.
> .
>