[Win10] MMC cannot open the file C:\WINDOWS\system32\services.msc

Hello Microsoft lads,

How's your day? Hope it's good =)
Recently, I was trying to disable some services, and while browsing multiple tabs in Firefox, my computer froze. After a while I managed to open Task Manager and eliminate Firefox, then attempted to run services again (I forgot how the services window closed) but experienced a window with the following error message:

MMC cannot open the file C:\WINDOWS\system32\services.msc

This may be because the file does not exist, is not an MMC console, or was created by a later version of MMC. This may also be because you do not have sufficient access rights to the file.

I need your help because not being able to access the services is not nice :(

{ SFC Scan Log (CBS.log) }

Thanks in advance.

Ahmad Al Towaileb
Microsoft Windows
Happy Customer

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A. User

Hello Ahmad,

Let’s run the Deployment Image Servicing and Management (DISM) tool and check if it fixes the issue. This tool will try to fix the corrupt operating system files.

1. Open an elevated command prompt. To do this, Right click on Start and select Command Prompt (Admin). If you are prompted for an administrator password or for a confirmation, type the password, or click Allow.
2. Type the following commands. Press Enter after each command.

DISM.exe /Online /Cleanup-image /Scanhealth
DISM.exe /Online /Cleanup-image /Restorehealth

3. Close the command prompt then check if it fixes the issue.

Do let us know the result. We will be glad to help if you need further assistance.

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Kepitano

Hello Anju,

To ensure proper investigation of the issue, I will provide the results:

DISM.exe /Online /Cleanup-image /Scanhealth

C:\WINDOWS\system32>DISM.exe /Online /Cleanup-image /Scanhealth

Deployment Image Servicing and Management tool
Version: 10.0.10586.0

Image Version: 10.0.10586.0

[==========================100.0%==========================]
The component store is repairable.
The operation completed successfully.

DISM.exe /Online /Cleanup-image /Restorehealth

C:\WINDOWS\system32>DISM.exe /Online /Cleanup-image /Restorehealth

Deployment Image Servicing and Management tool
Version: 10.0.10586.0

Image Version: 10.0.10586.0

[==========================100.0%==========================]

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, see http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=243077.

The DISM log file can be found at C:\WINDOWS\Logs\DISM\dism.log

As you can see, I'm getting Error: 0x800f081f

{ DISM log file (dism.log) }

In case you didn't notice, I have also provided an SFC scan log file that was done after the issue in the original post.

The result is no change, still the same error when trying to open services. Seems like I'm gonna need further assistance, sorry :/

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Kepitano

I resolved the issue by doing a reset and choosing to remove apps. If anyone has the same problem, you can choose to keep your personal files, but you must remove apps.

[Win10] MMC cannot open the file C:\WINDOWS\system32\services.msc

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