Intel Matrix Storage Manager disables Windows Update and Windows Validation on Windows 7 64-bit

[PCMartinSeattle]

I have a Lenovo ThinkPad R61 8918CTO on which I did a clean install of Windows 7 Ultimate SP1 (64-bit) on a new Seagate Momentus XT 750GB drive. The installation was trouble-free, as were all of the post-install Windows Updates.

Then I installed ThinkVantage System Update 4.03 and used it to install most of the available Lenovo updates. Big mistake. I'll spare you a detailed account of the hours I wasted troubleshooting, rolling back to previous restore points, and doing more troubleshooting, but it turns out that installing Intel Matrix Storage Manager driver v. 8.9.2.1002 caused Windows Update and Windows Validation to fail.

Symptoms: Windows Update control panel can't check for updates and reports that the Windows Update service isn't running when it actually is. Online Windows Validation fails and the standalone Windows Validation utility won't install. Microsoft programs that require a validated copy of Windows (e.g., Microsoft Security Essentials) won't install. 

Solution: Roll back the driver for the relevant SATA controller to the previous driver.

I've reinstalled ThinkVantage System Update 4.03 and hidden the proposed Intel Matrix Storage Manager update; since then, I've used it to complete my Lenovo updates without issue.

I hope this post will help other people with this problem find the solution a lot faster than it took me!

[countrywise]

Hi Martin,

very thoughtful and considered of you.

İ'm sure it'll benefit someone.

Thanks.

[HaraldJ]

Thanks a lot for your efforts and that you posted your experiance also on 32bit.

rolled back the driver IDE ATA/ATAP controllers/Intel(R) ICH9M-E/M SATA AHCI controller from version 8.9.2.1002 to version 6.1.7601.17514.

Now updates and installations e.g. .net 4 works!

Brgds,

Harald

[PCMartinSeattle]

Thanks, Harald -- it's gratifying to hear that my post helped someone. I hope you don't run into any other Windows 7 problems!

[Psota]

I had the same problem with my Lenovo T60 Windows 7 Enterprise 64 bit.

But you Martin wrote about it in 2 of May 2012. I used Lenovo ThinkVantage System Update (v4.03.0012) in 8 of September  and I installed 'Intel Matrix Storage Manager Driver'.

Why it is not replaced by Lenovo guys ?

[zoltanthegypsy]

This happened after installing a new advanced format drive with 4k-byte sectors, I'd guess.  If the storage driver doesn't report the physical sector size to Windows, update fails.

I just ran across this myself (again) putting Win 7 on a T400.

I don't know why this is still going on.  It may be that the update lists for older machines still have pre-AF-drive drivers listed.

FYI, another fix is going to the Intel site and installing the latest Matrix Storage Manager AHCI driver.  This may be more desirable than rolling back to an older driver in some cases.

Z.

[PCMartinSeattle]

Thanks, Zoltan. I'm a little skittish about trying to fix something that's no longer obviously broken, but I'll think about trying out the latest Intel driver when I have a little time to kill. (Who knows? Maybe my hybrid drive will turn out to be even snappier than I think it is now...)

By the way, it's nice to hear from someone who's just a hop, skip and a very cold swim across Puget Sound from me!

I really appreciate your post; all the best.