Unable to turn on/off automatic updates

I wanted to update from Windows 8 to 8.1 but got an error message that it couldn't complete. I researched that, and found I needed to do Windows Updates. Went to the control panel to do that, and got this error box. Used Microsoft Chat support, but no help. Can anyone help? And I'm not very computer savvy, so if you have an answer, please use small words that I can understand!

The error is:

'::{26EE0668-A00A-44D7-9371-BEB064C98683}\5\::{36EEF7DB-88AD-4E81-AD4...\pageSettings'

Thank you!

Start with running sfc /scannow from an elevated command prompt (Start > All Programs > Accessories, right-click Command Prompt and from the menu click Run as administrator).

Hi softwaremaniac! Thank you for the help. I did what you suggested and got the following:

Windows Resource Protection found corrupt files but was unable to fix some of them. Details are included in the CBS.Log windir\Logs\CBS\CBS.Log. For example C:\Windows\Logs\CBS.log. Note that logging is currently not supported in offline servicing scenarios.

What do I do now?

Run SFC several times if needed. Run this also: http://www.eightforums.com/tutorials/26512-dism-fixing-component-store-corruption-windows-8-a.html

Trying the DISM restore health option now. Hope this works! Thank you so much for your help. I'll let you know what happens after this runs.

Okay, that just ran and I got the following:

Error: 193
%1 is not a valid Win32 application.

I'm going to run the sfc again now.

Where did you get this message?

That's the message I got after I ran the DISM restore health option. I also ran the sfc scannow several more times, but nothing is working.

I just ran Dism /Online /Cleanup-Image /Restorehealth in an elevated command prompt again, and I got the same thing. The Error: 193 message. Apparently I'm doomed to not be able to perform Windows updates and never upgrade to 8.1. I just don't understand. I've been nice to the computer. I haven't called it any names, I haven't overworked it, I'm gentle with it, and it still hates me. What am I doing wrong???? Oh, in case it matters, I did a system restore to try and fix this also, and that didn't work either.

1. Type Notepad on start screen, and press enter.
2. Copy the following text, and then paste the text into Notepad.

net stop wuauserv
cd %systemroot%\SoftwareDistribution
ren Download Download.old
net start wuauserv
net stop bits
net start bits
net stop cryptsvc
cd %systemroot%\system32
ren catroot2 catroot2old
net start cryptsvc

3. Click File, click Save As, and then type Repair.bat.
4. In the Save as type box, click All Files.
5. In the Save in box, click Desktop, and then click Save.
6. On the File menu, click Exit.
7. Double-click the Repair.bat file that you saved in step 5.

Try to install the updates again. If you can install the updates, delete the Repair.bat file. To do this, right-click Repair.bat, click Delete, and then click Yes.

Please follow all the steps and report back.

No luck. I still get the original error box when I go to the control panel and try and click on windows updates.

Option three please: Windows Update - Reset - Windows 7 Help Forums

That didn't work either.

I found the directions to "manually reset windows update components." I'm copying the link below. I think I can follow these directions and do this, but I don't know how to back up the registry. Is that hard to do? Is this even something I should attempt? I ran the "fix it" tool on the page, but it couldn't fix the problem. Here's the link where I found this info.

How do I reset Windows Update components?

That's from the link I gave you. No, it's not hard. Here are the instructions: How to back up and restore the registry in Windows

You have to be very careful while doing this, as it can cause serious problems if not done right.

Try running, in an administrator CMD prompt---

Dism.exe /online /Cleanup-Image /StartComponentCleanup

Then run---


Dism /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth

Then run sfc /scannow

& reboot.

Okay, that's it. It's over. Not even going through all those steps fixed the problem. It's still giving me the same stupid error. I can't get in to perform Windows 8 updates so I can't upgrade to Windows 8.1. There's a corrupt file somewhere that's just not going to let itself be fixed. I give up. Thanks for all the help though.