0xE0000003 Error when installing Microsoft Windows cumulative updates

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The advice offered here is general in nature. Any damage to your system is at your own risk, and you are solely responsible for the outcome of this procedure.

You are probably encountering issues with an error 0xE0000003 when installing the latest cumulative update for Windows 8/8.1/10/11. This error is suggesting you have a missing/broken driver in Windows. The file size is probably 0kb, or is corrupted for the affected driver

If that's the case, here's what you should do. Please note, the file name affected is just an example (mdmvv.inf). Your file name affected will probably be different. Do not blindly just type the same file commands/location in.

Here we go:

Start by opening Command Prompt in Administrative Mode. If its not in Admin Mode, right click on Command Prompt and choose Run as Administrator.
Type: sfc /scannow
This will run a scan across the protected files and will attempt to fix it automatically for you. If it finishes successfully (it will say so), you can reboot and try your patch again.
- If it didn't work, it will likely indicate you have "Corrupt Files" it couldn't fix. This is ok. Open up C:\Windows\Inf\setupapi.dev.log in Notepad.
Look for something like this


>>>  [Stage Driver Updates]

>>>  Section start 2022/11/11 02:44:40.385

      cmd: C:\Windows\winsxs\amd64_microsoft-windows-servicingstack_31bf3856ad364e35_10.0.19041.2180_none_7e328fe47c714aab\TiWorker.exe -Embedding

     sto: Image State        = Specialized

     sto: Image Architecture = amd64

     sto: Image OS Version   = 10.0.19044

     sto: Image Product Type = WinNT

     sto: Driver Updates     = 646

!    inf: Unable to load INF: 'C:\Windows\WinSxS\amd64_dual_mdmvv.inf_31bf3856ad364e35_10.0.19041.1_none_2953bb07ac56ddcf\mdmvv.inf'(e0000003)

!    inf: Error 0xe0000003: The syntax of the INF is invalid.

!!!  inf: Invalid INF 'C:\Windows\WinSxS\amd64_dual_mdmvv.inf_31bf3856ad364e35_10.0.19041.1_none_2953bb07ac56ddcf\mdmvv.inf', parsing error on line 0. Code = 1002

!!!  sto: Failed to get version info for driver update 'C:\Windows\WinSxS\amd64_dual_mdmvv.inf_31bf3856ad364e35_10.0.19041.1_none_2953bb07ac56ddcf\mdmvv.inf'. Error = 0xE0000003

<<<  Section end 2022/11/11 02:44:41.307

<<<  [Exit status: FAILURE(0xe0000003)]

Open the file C:\Windows\logs\CBS\CBS.log
Look for something like this

2022-11-12 22:53:37, Info CSI 00000026 Hashes for file member [l:9]'mdmvv.inf' do not match. Expected: {l:32 ml:33 b:c41f7d1792de3496486d6cd4592697c3d1ebf355256365f4aea6f28a0c7ba740}. Actual: {l:33 ml:4096 b:d34d34d34d34d34d34d34d34d34d34d34d34d34d34d34d34d34d34d34d34d34d34}. 2022-11-12 22:53:37, Info CSI 00000027 [SR] Cannot repair member file [l:9]'mdmvv.inf' of dual_mdmvv.inf, version 10.0.19041.1, arch amd64, nonSxS, pkt {l:8 b:31bf3856ad364e35}, type [l:14]'dualModeDriver' in the store, hash mismatch 2022-11-12 22:53:38, Info CSI 00000028 Hashes for file member [l:9]'mdmvv.inf' do not match. Expected: {l:32 ml:33 b:c41f7d1792de3496486d6cd4592697c3d1ebf355256365f4aea6f28a0c7ba740}. Actual: {l:33 ml:4096 b:d34d34d34d34d34d34d34d34d34d34d34d34d34d34d34d34d34d34d34d34d34d34}. 2022-11-12 22:53:38, Info CSI 00000029 [SR] Cannot repair member file [l:9]'mdmvv.inf' of dual_mdmvv.inf, version 10.0.19041.1, arch amd64, nonSxS, pkt {l:8 b:31bf3856ad364e35}, type [l:14]'dualModeDriver' in the store, hash mismatch

So, this is telling us that the file mdmvv.inf has some problems. If you look at that file location C:\Windows\WinSxS\amd64_dual_mdmvv.inf_31bf3856ad364e35_10.0.19041.1_none_2953bb07ac56ddcf\mdmvv.inf on disk with Explorer, it was probably 0kb. You may think you can just copy it over, but because WinSxS is a protected folder, this won't be possible.
You may also have something like this in the earlier setupapi.dev.log:

>>> [Install Driver Updates] >>> Section start 2022/11/12 23:21:19.997 cmd: C:\Windows\winsxs\amd64_microsoft-windows-servicingstack_31bf3856ad364e35_10.0.19041.2180_none_7e328fe47c714aab\TiWorker.exe -Embedding sto: Image State = Specialized sto: Image Architecture = amd64 sto: Image OS Version = 10.0.19044 sto: Image Product Type = WinNT sto: Transaction = CbsDriversAndPrimitives sto: Driver Updates = 646 ! inf: Unable to load INF: 'C:\Windows\System32\DriverStore\FileRepository\mdmvv.inf_amd64_26dc960cc4c84207\mdmvv.inf'(e0000003) ! inf: Error 0xe0000003: The syntax of the INF is invalid. !!! inf: Invalid INF 'C:\Windows\System32\DriverStore\FileRepository\mdmvv.inf_amd64_26dc960cc4c84207\mdmvv.inf', parsing error on line 0. Code = 1002 !!! sto: Failed to get version info for driver update 'C:\Windows\System32\DriverStore\FileRepository\mdmvv.inf_amd64_26dc960cc4c84207\mdmvv.inf'. Error = 0xE0000003 <<< Section end 2022/11/12 23:21:21.622 <<< [Exit status: FAILURE(0xe0000003)]

Similarly, this is suggesting the file is missing from here too - also note the failure code "0xe0000003". Note the difference between the two locations - one is WinSxS, the other is DriverStore. So, the reason for the corruption is because DriverStore AND WinSXS (which copies to DriverStore) is corrupt and WinSxS can't resolve this for you, probably because the file is locked from being able to be auto-corrected.
So, we need to copy the file to both locations in order to fix it.
- C:\Windows\System32\DriverStore\FileRepository\mdmvv.inf_amd64_26dc960cc4c84207\mdmvv.inf
- C:\Windows\WinSxS\amd64_dual_mdmvv.inf_31bf3856ad364e35_10.0.19041.1_none_2953bb07ac56ddcf\mdmvv.inf
As the file will be locked, we need to delete the file. To delete the file, you'll need to go into Recovery Mode.
Make sure you have copies of this file from another PC.
IF YOU HAVE A COPY OF THE FILE, Once you're in the Command Prompt, delete the two files
Copy the files from a working machine via USB. Assuming your USB Drive is D:
Type exit, reboot.

Your patch will now work.