prashantd

[SOLVED] Preparing to configure Windows. Do not turn off your computer….

After uninstalling SMTP server feature on windows 2008 R2 Server, asked for restart, so restarted the Server and after long time ( approx 1 Hour wait) server has not restarted.

Ping was working fine, but RDP was not working.

On the server console below text was getting displayed.

Preparing to configure Windows. Do not turn off your computer.

 

 

So done below tricks to make server operational.

  1. Taken remote of another server of which user name and password is same as of SERVER A
  2. Opened services.msc , connected to server A
  3. Come to know WINDOWS MODULES INSTALLER Service is in Stopping mode

    And was not allowing to stop or start from services.msc of Server B

     

     

  4. If we hardboot server , there was chance of windows OS crash.
  5. Opened properties of WINDOWS MODULES INSTALLER service to check for the command getting executed for this service

     

  1. The executable for the service was

    C:\windows\servicing\trustedinstaller.exe

  2. Now searched for remote task manager and downloaded from

    http://lizardsystems.com/remote-process-explorer/

    this tool allows to connect to remote system task manager

     

     

  3. Right click on the above executable and select option kill
  4. The server was shown below screen

 

10 ) And restarted the server J

 

Thanks

Prashant Deshpande

 

 

 

120 comments

  2. Damn, that’s my exact problem, only thing is I get access denied on trying to kill the trustedinstaller.exe! Logged on as domain admin… Hmm, not sure what I can do now. It’s a SQL box, really don’t wanna just cold reset.

    Reply

  3. I kept trying to kill the process, used taskkill and pskill also… Everything reported an error but something must have worked as it’s now working normally again, unless it timed out!

    Reply

  5. Thanks. Just the post I needed. Server was stuck on update 1 of 3 and process was stopping but hung there. I killed the Windows Module Installer process with the remote process tool and the server rebooted immediately. Upon reboot it came up to the installing 3 of 3 screen which counted up to 100%, rebooted itself then back to the installing 3 of 3 screen again which hit 100% then ended up to a login.

    Remote Process tool just went into my library of network tools. Thanks again

    Reply

  7. Thank youuu!
    Also can be done by running taskkill (sysinternals):
    taskkill /S hostname /IM trustedinstaller.exe

    Reply

  8. This was a boom !! i was dealing with an Exchange Server hosting 800 mailboxes..This was super awesome and loved it 🙂

    Reply

  11. Thank you so much. This helped a stressful situation be resolved with no problem, and helped me to know that it was time to take action once I saw the service was in “stopping” status. Also, “pslist” and “pskill” are the remote tools I used (PSTOOLS from Sysinternals way back, now MS I believe) to kill off the correct process for TrustedInstaller.

    Reply

  12. Thank you!! Had the same problem here. From another computer used “taskkill /S hostname /IM trustedinstaller.exe”. When the Windows Modules Installer service stopped, the server shutdown, restarted, and detected the failure and automatically restarted again. Two restarts. But then everything was okay.

    Reply

  13. Thanks Prashant Deshpande, this was very useful…I killed the Windows Module Installer process with the remote process tool and the server rebooted immediately. Upon reboot it came up to the installing 3 of 3 screen which counted up to 100%, rebooted itself then back to the installing 3 of 3 screen again which hit 100% then ended up to a login !!!!

    Reply

  15. Thank you! That worked for me. I had a remote server that was stuck like this. After checking in services that the Windows Modules Installer was stuck indeed, I applied the command that George mentioned here “taskkill /S hostname /IM trustedinstaller.exe”

    Reply

  17. I was waiting for over an hour thinking it was legitimately doing something before I figured something was wrong. I googled searched the problem, found your blog post, tried your suggestions and the machine rebooted. Thanks!

    Reply

  20. SOLVED my problem on a Windows Server 2011 SBS after installing 61 Windows Updates and rebooted the server. Actualy i used the Kaseya portal we have to manage this server, to kill the process……… (C:\windows\servicing\trustedinstaller.exe was not able to kill the process)

    Reply

  27. Nicely Done.. Just did this for a server.. I did not want to have to rebuild it, and this saved my behind.

    Reply

  28. Thanks for taking the time to write your solution, helped me tonight. Glad there is people like you!
    Marc

    Reply

  39. After a full day of research on this issue due to a Windows update, your article saved the day for me!!! In my case, it wasn’t the Windows Modules Installer process that was stuck in the starting state, but a third part database tool (Pervasive SQL 11) that was stuck due to a dot net upgrade from Microsoft on the pile of updates the previous day. I was able to kill the process as you described, completely remove the database tool, and reinstall it with the correct patch.

    Reply

  40. Thank you really, it was great, but only I want to know if I am starting this service again, what will happened, many updates are failed and I want to know how can I run this service and update my server,
    Thanks again

    Reply

  46. Fantastic article, that was my exact problem. Followed your instruction and my server restarted and finished installing the updates.

    Reply

  49. Thanks Man. Worked for me too. In Remote Process Explorer, We were able to right click on the computer and change credentials using the Edit option. which took care of Access Denied Error. Thanks again…

    Reply

  51. Simply perfect. Thanks for the post! I had to turn off the “Check state” of Remote Process Tool on Preferences > General, because my server wasn’t responding to ping anymore and the tool refused to connect. Best regards

    Reply

  53. Came into work in the morning and thought I would reboot the database server since it has needed a few updates for a while. Had about a 20 minute ideal interval to do so, and of course it freezes. After about 40 minutes of watching the console, I decided to look for other options. Had to get it back up before 8am when other people start. Followed the step by step instructions, within about 60 seconds the server reboots and after about 5 minutes the server is back up. This saved me! Thank you for posting this!

    Reply

  57. This can be done without installing external software as well as follows:

    sc \\computername queryex TrustedInstaller

    taskkill /s computername /pid /f

    Reply

  59. Great Prasahant, Its worked for me ,stand into the same situation while upgrading integration tools on hyper v 2012.
    You same saved my time.
    Thanks

    Reply

  61. Exactly my issue and worked perfectly on 2 2008R2 Datacenter servers I was patching tonight. Thanks much!

    Reply

  87. This post is still saving people 🙂 This time it was my main file server, looks like I’m going to get home in time for supper thanks to you!

    Reply

  101. Saved , ! Would have had to drive 1 hour to reboot the server, instead did it remotely with your instructions Prashant.

    Reply

  104. Brilliant!!! Worked from a domain connected workstation. For those getting access denied errors either logon that workstation as a domain admin or run the the program as another (shift + right click – Run as another user)

    Reply

  109. Awesome. Hard to believe your article was posted in 2011 and that this issue is still biting people. You saved me from a 2 hour drive and not having to hard reset a Windows Server 2016. I was able to use sysinternals pskill to stop the offending task. Thank you!

    Reply

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