I had these issues too... what I did was delete the directory, start over, follow this https://steemit.com/steem/@pfunk/guide-maximize-your-mining-hashrate-in-windows-by-mining-steem-in-a-vm  follow the step 6, 7, and then on step 8-   download the blockchain BUT make sure you are in steem/programs/steemd NOT the one he says .... then type wget http://steemitup.eu/witness_node_data_dir.tar.gz  next get 7z  type apt-get install p7zip-full    then type 7z x witness_node_data_dir.tar.gz  then edit the config with the rest of the directions