Okay, so I ran into a bit of a snag today with my Windows machine. I was trying to fix some other issue by running the good old System File Checker. You know, the usual “sfc /scannow” command in the command prompt. But this time, it didn’t go as smoothly as I hoped.
Instead of fixing things, I got this message: “Windows Resource Protection could not start the repair service.” I scratched my head, thinking, “What’s going on here?” I’ve used this command a bunch of times before, and it usually just works.
First thing I did was make sure I was running the command prompt as an administrator. Because, you know, sometimes that’s all it takes. So, I closed the command prompt, right-clicked on it, and chose “Run as administrator.” Typed in “sfc /scannow” again, hit enter, and… same error. Bummer.
Next, I thought maybe the Windows Modules Installer service was acting up. This service is needed for SFC to do its thing. So, I opened up the Services window. You can do this by searching for “*” in the start menu. I scrolled down until I found “Windows Modules Installer.” The status column was blank. Then I checked the “Startup type” it is “Manual”. I double-clicked on it to open its properties.
In the properties window, I saw that the service wasn’t running. I clicked the “Start” button, and it fired right up. I thought, “Great, maybe that was it!” I then set up the “Startup type” to “Automatic”.
Headed back to the command prompt, ran “sfc /scannow” one more time, and… success! It started scanning, and I crossed my fingers that it would fix whatever was going on with my system.
After a little while, the scan finished, and it said it found and repaired some corrupted files. Whew! I felt a bit relieved. I restarted my computer, just to be safe, and so far, so good.
Summary of What I Did:
- Ran Command Prompt as Administrator: Right-click on Command Prompt, choose “Run as administrator.”
- Checked Windows Modules Installer Service:
- Opened Services (search for “*”).
- Found “Windows Modules Installer.”
- Started the service if it wasn’t running.
- Set up “Startup type” to “Automatic”.
- Re-ran SFC Scan: Typed “sfc /scannow” in the elevated Command Prompt.
- Restarted Computer: Gave the machine a fresh start after the scan.
So, that’s my little adventure for today. Hopefully, this helps someone else out there who might run into the same “Windows Resource Protection could not start the repair service” error. Just remember to check that service, and you might be back on track in no time!
