Blank Windows Features

A lot of times, you would find a blank Windows features box when you try to add or remove a feature OR try to repair it.

I have tested this one on several machines and found out that the solution provided below worked on all affected machines.

Steps to follow:-

1. Download System Update Readiness Tool from Microsoft. Make sure you select correct Readiness tool according to your OS.

Readiness Tool for Vista 64 Bit OS
Readiness Tool for Vista 32 Bit OS
Readiness Tool for Win7 64 Bit OS
Readiness Tool for Win7 32 Bit OS

2. Once finished downloading, close all running programs and run the downloaded file. Click OK to install the update. The Readiness tool will take some time to complete. A lot of times you may find that it stops on a particular location but do not worry, it will complete.

3. After the update has been installed, restart the computer.

4. Once Windows is booted up, try running Windows Features and see if the list is loaded or not. IF not, continue with the next steps.

5. Go to Windows\Logs\CBS\ and open CheckSUR.log file with notepad. Results may vary from system to system.

6. Take note of the part that says “Checking Package Manifests and catalogs” in the CheckSUR.log file. If there are errors, you will see a line with (f) followed by error code and path. If you see (fix), it means the tool manage to fix that particular error.

7. You will now require removing the registry entry for the corrupt kb update. Launch registry editor and go to the following location:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Component Based Servicing\Packages\

We need to look for this update in the registry editor in the above opened location. Whole line should match with the update listed in log file.

8. Sometimes, you may find hard to remove the registry key as it would end up giving an error. In such situation you would require to give permissions to that registry key. In order to provide permissions, follow the steps provided here.