MiKTeX and proTeXt ⇒ Unable to use Package Manager

[mattc]

I'm pretty new to MikTeX and LaTeX in general, so hopefully this is a simple problem. I'm using MikTeX 2.8 and trying to install a package using the Package Manager. Every time I do so, I get an error message saying: "MikTeX problem report. The operation failed for some reason." And below that, "Data: C:\Program Files\MiKTeX 2.8\miktex\bin\initexmf.exe"

So I'm wildly guessing that file is necessary for the installation of a new package, and it's not functioning correctly. Is that right? Any ideas of how I can fix this?

(I tried installing several packages at random; I always get the same error message. So it's not a problem with a certain package).

[localghost]

It seems that something went completely wrong during the installation process. Try to re-install the MiKTeX system.


Best regards
Thorsten