Windows 10: Cannot Assign Owner to a MachineKey File Needed to Start Windows Process Activation Service...

Hello,

I am trying to start World Wide Web Publishing Service W3SVC, but it cannot start because Windows Process Activation cannot start. I've read everything I could find on the error Error 15: The system cannot find the drive specified, and I've tried just about every solution available.


As specified in the below Question and answer, I believe the issue is that 3 machinekeys are without an owner, so they cannot be used:


https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/all/windows-activation-service-fails-to-start-after/e0164f10-47df-4c53-99ea-01ba9b6e47fb


The problem is that some files that WAS uses do not have SYSTEM as user anymore.

You have to open the properties of files with administrator elevation. That seems not to be possible with Windows Explorer. I am doing it from Total Commander run as administrator. There may be other ways.

The steps are:

1. Go to c:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Crypto\RSA\MachineKeys\
2. You should see 3 files there:
   d6d986f09a1ee04e24c949879fdb506c_*
   76944fb33636aeddb9590521c2e8815a_*
   6de9cb26d2b98c01ec4e9e8b34824aa2_*
3. Do the following steps for each of these files:
4. Go to properties > Security tap
5. You will not see properties because you do not have read-access.
6. Click the Advanced button
7. Change ownership to yourself
8. Then you can add SYSTEM to the list ACL and give it full access.

After these steps you should be able to start WAS again.


**

The problem is that no matter what I do, I cannot add an owner to those 3 machine key files. I've tried following the steps there and I've tried using takeown from the command prompt. No matter what I do, the file always returns to this state:






I also tried to isolate the error using process monitor, and here are all of the problems when I tried to change ownership of one of the machinekey files:




Because there is no owner, I also can't delete the files.


I'm really at a loss of how I can either delete or change the owner of these files. Any help would be appreciated..thanks.

:)

 

Not able to Start Windows Process Activation Service

C:\Windows\system32\svchost.exe -k iissvcs file missing in Windows 10. Due to this not able start Windows Process Activation service. Kindly guide

 

Stopping Windows Services and Processes

Thanks, DaveM, help always appreciated, I'm following through with an earlier suggestion at this time and it's looking good, but, if it's not successful I will gladly give your suggestion a try, kind regards.

 

Windows Updates failed to instal

I'm not sure how differant XP media center Edition is but you could clear the history \ cache if these folders are there.

Step 1 Register DLL files.

=================

By trying this step, we can check if the update engines are working properly.



1. Close all instances of Internet Explorer.

2. Click Start and Run, type "Regsvr32 atl.dll" (without quotes) in the Open box and click OK.



Note: There is a space between regsvr32 and atl.dll



3. Similarly, one by one, register the files listed below:



Regsvr32 msxml3.dll

Regsvr32 wuapi.dll

Regsvr32 wuaueng.dll

Regsvr32 wuaueng1.dll

Regsvr32 wups2.dll

Regsvr32 wucltui.dll

Regsvr32 wups.dll

Regsvr32 wuweb.dll

Regsvr32 qmgr.dll

Regsvr32 qmgrprxy.dll

Regsvr32 jscript.dll



Note: If you encounter errors while registering any of these files then skip that file and continue with the next one.



If the issue persists, let's move on to the steps below to verify Windows Update services and temporary folders.



Step 2 Verify the relevant Windows Update services.

=========================================

1. Click Start->Run, type "services.msc" (without quotation marks) in the open box and click OK.

2. Double click the service "Automatic Updates".

3. Click on the Log On tab, please ensure the option "Local System account" is selected and the option "Allow service to interact with desktop" is unchecked.

4. Check if this service has been enabled on the listed Hardware Profile. If not, please click the Enable button to enable it.

5. Click on the tab "General "; make sure the "Startup Type" is "Automatic" or "Manual". Then please click the button "Stop" under "Service Status" to stop the service.

6. Then please click the button "Start" under "Service Status" to start the service.

7. Please repeat the above steps with the other services:



Background Intelligent Transfer Service

Event Log

Remote Procedure Call (RPC)



Note: Event log service is enabled on all of the hardware profiles; this service does not have an option to enable or disable on certain hardware profile.



If it still does not help, let's proceed to step 3.



Step 3 Reload the Update temporary folders.

===================================

One possible cause is that the temporary folder for Windows Update is containing corrupted files. Let's erase all the files there to get the system clean.



1. Click Start, Run, type: cmd and press Enter. Please run the following command in the opened window.



Net stop WuAuServ



2. Click Start, Run, type: %windir% and press Enter.

3. In the opened folder, rename the folder SoftwareDistribution to Sdold.

4. Click Start, Run, type: cmd and press Enter. Please run the following command in the opened window.



Net start WuAuServ



Please test the Windows Update website and let me know the result. If the issue persists, to clarify the issue and provide more accurate troubleshooting steps, please assist me in collecting the following information.