DISM Error 1009, The configuration registry database is corrupt

If when you attempt running the DISM command on your Windows 11/10 device and you encounter Error 1009, The configuration registry database is corrupt, then this post is intended to help you. In this post, we will provide the most suitable solutions you can try to successfully resolve this issue. The solutions in this post applies to other DISM errors in the 10xx series. Let’s know in the comment section after the post if that’s not the case.

The DISM error 1009 can appear when you try to repair a Windows image with a damaged (corrupted) registry, by using one of the following DISM commands in command prompt:

Dism /Online /Cleanup-Image /Restorehealth

Dism /Online /Cleanup-image /Restorehealth /source:wim:X:\sources\install.wim:1 /LimitAccess

You may also encounter this error when running the DISM command below in Windows Recovery Environment (WinRE).

Dism.exe /Image:X:\ /Cleanup-Image /Restorehealth

The second scenario that triggers this error is when the Windows update failed on Windows 10. Generally, the error code indicates an error caused by corrupt registry files and they have to be fixed to solve the problem.

DISM Error 1009, The configuration registry database is corrupt

If you’re faced with this issue, you can try our recommended solutions below in no particular order and see if that helps to resolve the issue.

Remove Windows update
Restore registry from backup
Perform System Restore
Perform Windows in-place upgrade repair

Let’s take a look at the description of the process involved concerning each of the listed solutions.

Before solving the error, you need to have your Windows Installation Media – that’s either a DVD or USB. If you don’t have it handy, then you can create the installation media on a working Windows PC or create the installation media on a Linux or Mac computer if that’s what you have available.

1] Remove Windows update

If you started experiencing the problem after installing updates, you need to remove these updates from your Windows PC using the installation media. Here’s how:

Boot your computer with Windows installation media.
On the boot screen, open Command Prompt by pressing Shift + F10, or alternatively, you can click on Next and then select Repair your computer > Troubleshoot > Command Prompt.
In the CMD prompt, type the command below and hit Enter:

wmic logicaldisk get name

Next, type dir C: in the command prompt to locate the drive that has the Windows folder. It’s the drive that has Windows installation. Replace C with the alphabet of your drive where Windows is installed.
Once you identify the drive that contains the Windows folder. you can then type C: and hit Enter. If it’s not C, input the appropriate letter.
Next, you should create a scratch folder on your drive by typing the command below and hit Enter:

mkdir C:\Scratch

Now, run the command below to roll back the updates you have installed.

DISM /Image:C:\ /ScratchDir:C:\Scratch /Cleanup-Image /RevertPendingActions

Once the command executes, you’ll get the following message;

Reverting pending actions from the image….

The operation was completed. Any revert of pending actions will be attempted after the reboot

The operation completed successfully.

After receiving the above message, you can exit Command Prompt and restart your PC.

If Windows boots successfully, it’s all fine and good. But if it fails to boot and is attempting to install the updates again, do the following:

Restart your PC and boot using the installation media as you did previously.
Launch the command prompt following the steps above.
You now run the following three commands in that order and hit Enter after each line. Replace C: with your drive letter.

del C:\Windows\SoftwareDistribution

del C:\Windows\WinSxS\cleanup.xml

del C:\Windows\WinSxS\pending.xml

After you execute the commands, restart your PC.

If the system still fails to boot again, you should boot again from installation media and open the command prompt, then run the following set of commands. Replace C: with your drive as in the previous steps.

chkdsk /f C:

sfc /scannow /offbootdir=C:\ /offwindir=C:\windows

dism /image:C:\ /cleanup-image /restorehealth

After you execute the commands, restart your computer.

The DISM Error 1009 – The configuration registry database is corrupt error should be resolved now. If not, try the next fix.

Read: The scratch directory size might be insufficient to perform this operation DISM Error

2] Restore registry from backup

This solution requires you to restore the Windows registry using the RegBack folder. Here’s how:

Boot your computer with Windows installation media and access the Command Prompt as shown above.
Type C: and hit Enter to open the Windows folder on the drive. Replace C: with your drive letter.
Next, in the CMD prompt, type the command below and hit Enter after each line:

cd \windows\system32\config
md Backup
copy *.* Backup

Now, navigate to the RegBack folder by running the command cd RegBack in the command prompt.

There would be two scenarios: first, there would be a list of files, and their sizes will be displayed in bytes, you might notice files that have zero bytes (0). This shows that such registry files are either corrupt or empty and that should be the cause of the problem. You should now stop here because the best thing to do here is to restore Windows 10 to a previous working state which we’ll outline in Solution 3 below.

The second scenario is that when none of the files displayed have zero bytes (0). In this case, you need to run the command below:

copy *.* ..

Executing this command will copy registry files from Windows\System32\Config\RegBack folder to Windows\System32\Config\ folder.
If you’re prompted, you should press the letter A on your keyboard to overwrite the files in the destination folder.
Once the files have finished copying, you now type exit and hit Enter to exit the command prompt.
Restart your PC.

If you’re not able to boot successfully to the desktop, you should boot again with installation media and open the command prompt and run these commands one by one:

chkdsk /f C:
sfc /scannow /offbootdir=C:\ /offwindir=C:\windows
dism /image:C:\ /cleanup-image /restorehealth

After you execute the commands, restart your PC. It should boot to the desktop without issues. Otherwise, try the next solution.

3] Perform System Restore

As mentioned in the fix above, if you received a Zero (0) value in some of the files listed earlier. You need to restore Windows 11/10 because it shows that the registry is seriously damaged.

Note: If you can boot to the desktop, you can follow the instructions in this guide to perform the System Restore – otherwise, follow the instructions below.

Boot your computer with Windows installation media.
On the boot screen, click on Next and then select Repair your computer > Troubleshoot > Advanced Options.
Next, choose System Restore, or in some PC’s you’ll see the option Go back to a previous build.
Now, select your operating system in the next screen.
Click Next at the System Restore Wizard.
Select the restore point. You need to select a date when your system was working normally.
Click Next to start the system restore process. When finished you’ll be prompted to restart your PC, or in most cases, it will restart automatically.

If the issue is still unresolved, try the next solution.

Related: Fix The configuration registry database is corrupt error when you try to open a program

4] Perform Windows in-place upgrade repair

If this error couldn’t be fixed with system restore, the final solution is to perform Windows In-Place Upgrade Repair and if that’s unsuccessful, you can back up your files and then clean install Windows.

Hope this helps!