"WMI has encountered a problem and needs to close"

[Dean C]

So I booted up this morning to be faced with this error. It keeps happening repatedly, every minute or so. I've trawled through every suggestion on google and can't find one that fixes the problem. I can't access services to disable the service temporarily. It gives me this error "Snap-in failed to initialize[newline]Name: Services extension".

Now the only thing noticably I did yesterday was install MS's latest updates. Any ideas how I can fix this problem ?

[Neal-UK]

Reinstall?

[Wayne Luke]

Do a system restore to before the updates were installed.

[Dean C]

I've tried the two system restore points that are available before the updates were installed, and after it's done restoring it says "Windows cannot be restored to this point", or something along those lines. I'm stumped

[simsim]

I hope this can be helpful.

[Dean C]

I've ran the tool and tried rebuilding the repository with no luck I'm afraid.

[TTG]

This should solve the problem :-

1.) Click Start, and then right-click My Computer.
2.) On the shortcut menu, click Manage.
3.) In the left pane of the Computer Management console, double-click Services and
Applications.
4.) Under Services and Applications, click Services.
5.) In the right pane of the Computer Management console, locate and then right-click
Windows Management Instrumentation.
6.) On the shortcut menu, click Stop.
7.) Start Windows Explorer, and then locate the %SystemRoot%\System32\Wbem\Repository
folder. ( you can also simply do a search )
8.) Delete all of the files in the %SystemRoot%\System32\Wbem\Repository folder.
9.) Restart the computer.

The files that were deleted are re-created when the computer restarts.

[Dean C]

Already tried this solution TTG. I couldn't even stop the service through the GUI so I had to stop it via command line and problem persists after a reboot and deleted of the current repository. I can't access services.msc due to some snap-in problem amongst other things. Next step is a windows repair which I'll have to go back to uni for a day or two to get my disk

[the Sandman]

Did you try checking for corrupted WinXP system files? Start > Run, type in sfc /scannow and hit 'OK'. You'll probably need to have your WinXP installation disk handy.

[Joe Gronlund]

Symptom
When you attempt to start the Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI) service, you may receive the following error message, and the service does not start:
Could not start the windows management instrumentation service on local computer.
Error 1068: The dependency service or group failed to start

Resolution
First, verify the number of dependencies attached to the WMI service. This can be viewed by running the following command from Start, Run:
CMD /K SC QC WINMGMT

The output should exactly as given below.
[SC] GetServiceConfig SUCCESS
SERVICE_NAME: winmgmt
TYPE : 20 WIN32_SHARE_PROCESS
START_TYPE : 2 AUTO_START
ERROR_CONTROL : 0 IGNORE
BINARY_PATH_NAME : C:\WINDOWS\system32\svchost.exe -k netsvcs
LOAD_ORDER_GROUP :
TAG : 0
DISPLAY_NAME : Windows Management Instrumentation
DEPENDENCIES : RPCSS
SERVICE_START_NAME : LocalSystem
*See attachment*

The only dependency is the RPCSS service, and it does run by default whenever you start Windows. If you have any other dependencies listed, then it may be the causing the problem. To remove the additional Dependencies, follow this:

WARNING: If you use Registry Editor incorrectly, you may cause serious problems that may require you to reinstall your operating system. Before you modify the registry, backup the registry key by exporting the corresponding branch. Also, see here to learn how to perform a complete registry backup.

Click Start, Run and type Regedit.exe
Navigate to the following location
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\winmgmt
Double-click DependOnService, and set it's Value data to RPCSS

Close Regedit and restart Windows

If this fails, you will need to do a repair installation..

[Fusion]

I shudder at the thought of having this forum reduced to a MS support/repair forum.

Nice hint tho, Jon.

[Dean C]

I've already tried that one too Joe I'm back at uni now and will be returning home soon to attempt a repair installation. I've read through the docs at MS (as i've never done a repair before), is there anything I should be aware of?

[Joe Gronlund]

I've read through the docs at MS (as i've never done a repair before), is there anything I should be aware of?

Not really, just that i would back up all information from the OS partition that is needed, just incase.
Better safe then sorry later..

[bigdogs79]

Thanks

This should solve the problem :-

1.) Click Start, and then right-click My Computer.
2.) On the shortcut menu, click Manage.
3.) In the left pane of the Computer Management console, double-click Services and
Applications.
4.) Under Services and Applications, click Services.
5.) In the right pane of the Computer Management console, locate and then right-click
Windows Management Instrumentation.
6.) On the shortcut menu, click Stop.
7.) Start Windows Explorer, and then locate the %SystemRoot%\System32\Wbem\Repository
folder. ( you can also simply do a search )
8.) Delete all of the files in the %SystemRoot%\System32\Wbem\Repository folder.
9.) Restart the computer.

The files that were deleted are re-created when the computer restarts.

I have had this problem for a couple of weeks now and have not had the time to track it down till today. I followed these directions till I got to the part where you had to stop the service. At this point I noticed mine was not running. After I clicked start I restarted and everything was fixed. Once again I fixed something without knowing why I fixed it. I do this a lot and I ask other people who things work when I do this and there like I have no clue but at least it fixed it. I am guessing that when you start the service and restart that it load into memory when you reboot. Fixing the path that caused this error to happen. I also got a different error after the WMI error before talking about not being able to find the right path associated with this service. I do not think that getting the updates from windows caused this problem for the one that stated this. I only received this error on one of my computers and it was my laptop I had installed a speedsteper, a third party software to control power management. I recently had upgraded to 2 GB of ram and I was having a problem on battery mode with the CPU being stepped down from 1.6 GHZ to 200 MHZ. This program allows me to change the CPU stepping to whatever I want which I choose to never speed step it. I figure if I ever have problems with low battery I can change it later. Hope this helps.......

[zeegi]

WMI error

Hi,

Try going to services and ensure that the WMI service is started. That's how i resolved it