Windows 10: Please help, mmc.exe is inaccesable and DISM has problems

Okay so I have been working on this for close to 10 hours between last night and today and it is way beyond old. I discovered last night that I was unable to access device manager and upon further inspection can not access most administrative tools that worked fine a few weeks ago; most of those use mmc.exe. When attempting to access them the user account control tells me the app has been blocked for my protection and to contact the administrator. Being the administrator I was a little irked. This is what I see when I try to run them. I do not need a work around I have one of those already I just need it to work.



In attempting fixes I did a system file scan and then started to run DISM /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth to see if that helps. Everywhere I look people have pictures uploaded that show a progress bar below the image version... well i let it run for an hour and got no progress bar...



I am running out of ideas and it is totally stressing me out. Please help

:)

 

Can't open device manager?

Having this issue when opening device manager.

ran sfc/scannow. several times then Dism /Online /Cleanup-Image /ScanHealth in safe mode with networking.. than sfc/scannow.

still getting

"This app has been blocked for your protection." under that it says "mmc.exe" and below that it says Publisher: Unknown, File origin: Hard drive on this computer, Program location: "C:\WINDOWS\system32\mmc.exe"
"C:\WINDOWS\system32\devmgmt.msc"

any help would be appreciated

 

windows 10 access denied to mmc.exe

Hello.

I have a sight problem - I reinstalled my intel SATA AHCI controller, and since then I cannot access the device manager - each time i try I get a messege saying I was blocked out of mmc.exe.

I checked the mmc.exe file - only TrustedInstaller has full access; neither my admin account or SYSTEM have access and I'm not allowed to change the premissions (everithing is greyed out).

Restarting didn't help.

How might I get back the access to mmc.exe?

How might I rollback on that driver update?

 

Welcome to the TenForums.

Have you considered system restore to a point in time where all was working. Say in the December 6th range. (Hoping system restore is enabled and not blocked.)

If blocked inside current windows may have to try through troubleshooting menu. Hold shift key down and reboot to access.

If this works please consider Macrium Reflect. Its free and it ability to save an image and get you back to where you were is invaluable.

 

So I did not have system restore set up.... it is set up now but that option is out.

 

Are you running the Home or Pro version of Windows 10? That block for MMC & Devmgmt could be a malware file if you downloaded it from the Internet. Those warnings come up from the protection layers that are built into Windows 10 to protect the OS from the bad habits of the user.

 

I am running Home and I have run multiple malware cleaners in the last 2 days and I have not found anything that would cause this. It is like windows not not recognize the certificates for those tools.

 

You downloaded a malware disguised as MMC is why you are getting that error. Home does not come with mmc, also depending on what you used to scan, would not find the malware if it is disguising itself as a real process.

Go through the steps at: Read & Run Me First Malware Removal Guide (incl. Spyware, Virus, Trojan, Hijacker) | MajorGeeks.Com Support Forums

 

So I have run everything there and A bunch more as well. I don't think this is a malware problem, I have not downloaded anything in the last 26 days aside from the last 2 days. Also MMC is what controls administrative tools like device manager and firewall settings and stuff I don't see how it could even be left out of the home version.

 

You need to go through the steps spelled out in that Link I posted. You computer is infected as the screenshot shows. MMC.exe is known to be used by Malware in an attempt to disguise malware. Also Home does not come with MMC, there is no need to have MMC on Windows 10 Home or Pro. It is now a Domain only feature on Enterprise editions.

The built in Firewall allows you to set rules in it. You do not need the Firewall enabled when on your own network. The firewall is not going to stop you from being infected. It just allows you to block requests like Cortona from calling home.

 

Well I ran another of the cleaners from the link although that one was just for adware. It said it needed a restart and while restarting it crashed and went through a memory check. When I was able to log in again both problems were solved. Well I have a new problem with DISM but I am working on that.

 

As long as you went through step by step, you should not have had a DISM error, unless the infection was deeper than you thought.

 

It says 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.

In looking into the original error this was common for other people so I am not too worried but I will continue to look at it and work on it tomorrow.

 

You may have to do an in place repair. It will not delete stuff, it will just replace the files that are missing and the ones that are not supposed to be there. Also wipe out your Temp files and run Cleaner for Windows. CCleaner is a great tool to have, same as MBAM. I keep the tools that are portable from the Majorgeeks link so that I do not have to always download them when someone asks me to look at their computer it they bring it by my house.

Even a Windows update can cause issues, along with if you did an in place upgrade to Windows 10 from a previous OS, instead of a Clean install, with no previous OS on the hard drive.

 

Well I bought the computer new a few months ago with windows 10 but in looking through stuff I think they may have just installed 7 and then put 10 on it but I am not sure. I have CCleaner as well as a number of other tools I do stuff like this oftenish. I may do a reinstall but I think I will leave it for now it was just taking too much time and stressing me out. Like 30+hours, as long as the other stuff is working I am happy.