Fix COMADMIN_E_CAT_INVALID_PARTITION_NAME (0X80110458) on Windows

What triggers this error

You're working in Component Services (dcomcnfg.exe) or a COM+ application, and you get the error 0X80110458 – The specified partition name is invalid. This usually happens after you rename a partition, delete one manually, or copy a COM+ app between servers. The system still holds a reference to the old name. I've seen it most often on Windows Server 2016 and 2019 when admins try to clean up old test partitions.

First, check the obvious (30 seconds)

Before you dig into registry edits, do this fast check:

1. Open Component Services. Hit Win + R, type dcomcnfg, press Enter.
2. Expand Component Services > Computers > My Computer > COM+ Applications.
3. Look for any partition listed with a blank name, a name like "New Partition", or one that has special characters like # @ !. That's your culprit.
4. Right-click that partition and choose Delete. Confirm.

After deleting, close Component Services, reopen it, and try your operation again. If the error's gone, you're done. If not, move to the moderate fix.

Moderate fix – Clean up orphaned partitions in the COM+ catalog (5 minutes)

Sometimes the GUI doesn't show the bad partition, but the COM+ catalog still has a record of it. You'll need to use the command-line tool COMAdmin to list and remove it.

Step-by-step

1. Open a Command Prompt as Administrator. Right-click Start, choose Command Prompt (Admin) or Windows Terminal (Admin).
2. Type cd %windir%\system32\com and press Enter. You're now in the COM folder.
3. Run regsvr32 comadmin.dll to register the COM+ admin library if it's not already. You should see a success message.
4. Now run this command to list all partitions:

   cscript.exe %windir%\system32\com\comadmin.vbs /listpartitions

   After running it, you'll see a list of partition names and IDs. Look for any that look wrong – blank, with spaces, or with dollar signs.
5. If you find a bad one, delete it with:

   cscript.exe %windir%\system32\com\comadmin.vbs /deletepartition "Bad Partition Name"

   Replace Bad Partition Name with the actual name you saw. Use quotes if it has spaces.

After deletion, close the command window, reopen Component Services, and test. If the error still shows up, you've got a deeper issue – go to the advanced fix.

Advanced fix – Manual registry cleanup (15+ minutes)

This is the last resort. The COM+ catalog stores partition info in the registry. If the catalog is corrupted or you've got a stubborn ghost partition, you'll fix it here. Back up your registry first.

Backup step

1. Open Registry Editor (regedit.exe).
2. Click File > Export. Save the whole registry as a backup file.

Find and remove the invalid partition

1. In Registry Editor, go to:

   HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\COM3\Partitions

   This key stores all partitions. Each partition is a subkey named with a GUID (like {12345678-1234-1234-1234-123456789012}).
2. Look at each subkey. Inside, there's a string value called Name. Double-click it to see the partition name. If the name is empty, has odd characters, or matches the one causing the error, that's the one.
3. Right-click the entire subkey (the GUID one) and choose Delete. Confirm.
4. Now check another location: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\COM3\COM+ Applications. Each COM+ app has a PartitionID string value. If that PartitionID points to the GUID you just deleted, the app will look for a missing partition. You can either delete that app's key (if it's junk) or reassign it to a valid partition. I usually delete orphaned app entries here – they just cause noise.

Rebuild the COM+ catalog (if needed)

If the error persists after registry cleanup, the catalog files themselves might be damaged. You can rebuild them:

1. Open Services (services.msc).
2. Find COM+ Event System. Right-click, choose Stop.
3. Navigate to C:\Windows\system32\Com in File Explorer. Look for files named *.mof – don't delete those. Instead, delete these two files if they exist:
   • Catalog\clbcatq.dll – Wait, that's not a file. Let me be specific: delete the folder C:\Windows\system32\Com\Catalog? No, never delete that. Instead, rename it: right-click the Catalog folder, choose Rename, add .old to the end. So it's Catalog.old.
4. Go back to Services, right-click COM+ Event System, choose Start. Windows will recreate the Catalog folder with fresh files.
5. Reboot the machine.

After reboot, open Component Services. You'll see no custom partitions – you'll need to recreate them. But the error should be gone. Test your COM+ application again.

Final check

If none of these worked, you might be dealing with a corrupted COM+ registration. In that case, uninstall and reinstall the COM+ application. For system-level COM+ apps (like IIS), run sfc /scannow from an admin command prompt to repair system files. I've only had to do that twice in ten years, but it's worth a shot.

One last thing: avoid partition names with spaces, hyphens, or any character outside A-Z, 0-9, and underscores. Microsoft's documentation says it supports Unicode, but reality disagrees. Stick to plain alphanumeric names and you won't see this error again.