WMI repository is broken: what it means, how to fix it

During activation, SQL DATA LENS may report that the WMI repository on this computer is broken.

The message is accurate, and it is not about SQL DATA LENS: part of the operating system is damaged. Activation reads the machine’s components — including every real, non-virtual network adapter — to build an accurate fingerprint of the computer, and it asks Windows for that information through WMI. When the WMI repository cannot answer, activation cannot complete.

The usual causes are a partial or failed driver installation and so-called cleaner utilities. The good news is that this is fixable.

Work through these steps

1. Update your network adapter drivers. All of them, from the vendor’s own installer where possible.
2. Remove third-party anti-virus software and rely on Microsoft Defender, which is part of Windows.
3. Remove any cleaner utilities. They are frequently poorly written and do more harm than good. The built-in Disk Cleanup and Storage Sense do everything they claim to, without the adware.
4. Open a command prompt as administrator:
   1. Click the Start button.
   2. Type cmd.
   3. Right-click Command Prompt and choose Run as administrator. Answer Yes to the User Account Control prompt.
   4. The title bar should now read Administrator: Command Prompt.
5. Recompile the network adapter WMI classes. Enter these lines one after another:

cd C:\Windows\System32\wbem
mofcomp C:\Windows\System32\wbem\NetAdapterCim.mof
mofcomp C:\Windows\System32\wbem\en-US\NetAdapterCim.mfl

The first line changes to the directory holding the files that need repairing. The two mofcomp commands recompile the network adapter class definitions and its English-language strings back into the repository.

Verify the repair

Open a PowerShell prompt — which is not the same thing as a cmd prompt — and run:

Get-WmiObject MSFT_NetAdapter -Namespace root\StandardCimv2

On a healthy Windows 10 or 11 machine, or the equivalent Windows Server release (2016, 2019, 2022, 2025), this returns a full list of your network adapters, whether or not they are connected to a network. Older releases such as Windows 8.x and Windows Server 2012 behave the same way, though they are long out of support.

If that command returns an error, WMI is still corrupt and the damage is beyond the two class definitions above. Ask your system administrator to repair it; a Windows reinstallation is the reliable last resort.

Related activation problems

If activation instead fails with error code 28, the cause is usually a disabled network adapter rather than a broken repository. That was addressed on the SQL DATA LENS side in releases 3.18 and 3.19, so make sure you are on a current build from the download page before investigating further.

The fingerprint is read locally and used only for activation — see security and privacy for what leaves your machine, which is nothing else. If neither this nor a current build resolves it, contact support with the exact message; the user’s guide lists the activation details worth including.