5/4/2018 System file check (SFC) Scan and Repair System Files & - Microsoft Community

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Ask a question ZigZag3143 (MS -MVP) created on October 7, 2016  Forum Article

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Article Author Info

Forum Article Views: 2,066,694

Last updated: May
System file check (SFC) Scan 4, 2018
and Repair System Files & DISM Applies to:
Windows /
to fix things SFC cannot Windows 10 /
Windows update,
Technical Level : Basic recovery, & backup

Summary
System file check is a utility built into the Operating
System that will check for system file corruption The
sfc /scannow command (System File Check) scans
the integrity of all protected operating system files
and replaces incorrect, corrupted, changed, or
damaged versions with the correct versions where
possible.  When it cannot repair the damage DISM
should be run to fix as many errors as possible.

System file check works on Vista and UP

Dism works on win 7 and UP
If you are running an insider build (ie 14915) and
SFC fails ~20% it is a known problem with this
Did this solve your problem? Yes No
build
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5/4/2018 System file check (SFC) Scan and Repair System Files & - Microsoft Community

If you are running sfc &/or DISM to

fix an underlying problem please tell
us what that problem is!!!!

Details
If you have modified your system files (including
Windows DLL files) running sfc /scannow will
revert the system files back to the default state.

It is always a good idea to back up your data

beforehand!

To run a system file check (SFC)

Go to start>Type CMD
Right click and run as Administrator
(called an elevated command prompt)
If you want to verify and repair the OS type sfc
/scannow (note the space between sfc and "/")
If you just want to check (verify only) the OS type sfc
/verifyonly (no changes will be made using verify

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only)

 You may have to run this up to 3 times to fix all

the problems

When you have finished it will say one of three

things

Windows did not find any integrity violations (a

good thing)
Windows Resource Protection found corrupt files
and repaired them (a good thing)
Windows Resource Protection found corrupt files
but was unable to fix some (or all) of them (not a
good thing)  If you get this message run DISM as
described below

If SFC was not able to repair some or all of the files

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5/4/2018 System file check (SFC) Scan and Repair System Files & - Microsoft Community

there are a few options including a repair install

from the OS dvd, and DISM (win 8 & UP)

If SFC did not find any violations it is still a good

idea to run DISM Restorehealth

DISM
If you are on win 8 (and up) you  should also run
DISM whether SFC found errors or not!!

From an elevated command prompt 

You can run Check, then Scan, but you should
always run RESTORE HEALTH

To check the health (You would use /CheckHealth

to only check whether the image has been flagged
as corrupted)
run Dism /Online /Cleanup-Image /CheckHealth

To scan the health use /ScanHealth to scan the

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image for component store corruption. This option
does not fix any corruption.
run Dism /Online /Cleanup-Image /ScanHealth

To RESTORE health (recommended)

Use DISM /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth
to scan the image for component store corruption,
perform repair operations automatically, and
records that corruption to the log file.  This
generally takes 15-30 minutes depending on the
corruption and size of the partition

You can run scanhealth & restore health at the

same time like this
DISM.exe /Online /Cleanup-image /Scanhealth &&
DISM.exe /Online /Cleanup-image /Restorehealth
Type DISM /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHe
If the repair is successful you may want to

After running DISM it is a good idea to re-run

SFC
Did /scannow
this solve your
to make
problem? Yes were
sure all the issues No
fixed.
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5/4/2018 System file check (SFC) Scan and Repair System Files & - Microsoft Community

If you get the error message "cannot find source

files"you need to have an ISO file mounted and
need to specify where it is located with the
below command

The ISO must be exactly the same version as the

running OS.  An ISO of 10586.0 will not repair a
running system of 10586.35 because it has
additional updates and files.

DISM /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth

/source:WIM:X:\Sources\Install.wim:1 /LimitAccess 
Where "X" is the drive letter where the ISO is
located.  Simply change the "X" to the correct drive
letter
If you do not have an ISO you can make one. 
The instructions are here

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/929833

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http://pcsupport.about.com/od/toolsofthetrade/
ht/sfc-scannow.htm

If this wiki has proved helpful please click me too

at the bottom of the wiki.

Other Wiki's you may be interested in

System file check (SFC)  Scan & repair System

files
Basic troubleshooting Windows/hardware
You can read more about BSODS
You can learn how to test your memory
Asking an effective question gets help faster
Driver verifier -Tracking down a mis-behaving
driver
MSCONFIG the system utility.
Windows performance recorder
Email Systems... Differences explained
BugCheck Code 124
Backing up your important Outlook.com email
data .
BCC101 Clock watchdog timeout
Troubleshooting
Did this solve your problem? Yes No
Event Viewer What's going on in your computer?
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5/4/2018 System file check (SFC) Scan and Repair System Files & - Microsoft Community

Updating drivers
BCC116/7 Your video driver has stopped
HD Checking how to test yours
Driver View A very handy utility for examining
drivers
Safe mode in win 10 (before you need it)
Outlook Mail (also known as Outlook on the
web)

Co-Authored JMH3143/ ZigZag3143

Comment

Up vote (3854) 

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Comments (52) 

1 2 3 4 5 6 

Metin BİLGİN replied on November 22, 2014 

THANK YOU VERY GOOD :)

Bu ileti veya öneriler size yardımcı olduysa “Yanıt olarak işaretle”

linkine tıklatınız.

Comment Up vote (30)

GM Gerald Mathieu replied on February 6, 2015 

Did this solve your problem? Yes No

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5/4/2018 System file check (SFC) Scan and Repair System Files & - Microsoft Community

In reply to Metin BİLGİN's post on November 22,

2014

Tested on two Windows 10 9926 (Enterprise -

upgrade from 9879 then clean install) on my Dell
M4700

SCF /SCANNOW always stop after 2 or 3%

DISM /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth

always report that the sources can't be found
Tried to use /source:x:\sources\sxs /limitaccess but
this folder is mostly empty on the Win10 DVD
Tried to use /source:wim:x:\sources\install.wim:1
/limitaccess --> Same problem sources can't be
found

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Comment Up vote (64)

ZigZag3143 (MS -MVP) replied on February 6, 2015 

Article Author

Did this solve your problem? Yes No

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5/4/2018 System file check (SFC) Scan and Repair System Files & - Microsoft Community

In reply to Gerald Mathieu's post on February 6,

2015

GM

Both SFC & DISM can be made to work if you follow

the above modified instructions for win 10 (10041
included)

Cat herder
Windows Insider MVP
MVP-Windows and Devices for IT
http://www.zigzag3143.com/

Comment Up vote (26)

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RG RusuOvidiu Georgian replied on April 14, 2015 

omg thank you so much for the info, i start to freak

out.. in windows 10 found me almost all are
corupted, with finnaly repairing some
WindowsDefender dll's. But i was like ****, what im
doing now, my whole windows is corupted until i
read that are a lot of falses

Comment Up vote (33)

PE PeryFM replied on April 23, 2015 

Did this solve your problem? Yes No

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5/4/2018 System file check (SFC) Scan and Repair System Files & - Microsoft Community

Verify and Repair Transaction completed. All files

and registry keys listed in this transaction  have
been successfully repaired
THANKS A LOT ZIGZAG TEAM!

No todo lo que brilla es oro.

Comment Up vote (16)

JMH3143 replied on April 23, 2015 

Article Author

In reply to PeryFM's post on April 23, 2015

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It was our pleasure.
Thanks for letting us know that all is well.
Safe web surfing!

Microsoft MVP 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016.

Windows Insider MVP July 2016 - June 2017.

Comment Up vote (10)

BB bbrao replied on April 26, 2015 

Did this solve your problem? Yes No

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5/4/2018 System file check (SFC) Scan and Repair System Files & - Microsoft Community

In reply to PeryFM's post on April 23, 2015

good...as it appears.

Comment Up vote (3)

WI williamsig replied on May 16, 2015 

Good info, works as described, at least on 8.1.  Very

helpful IF you read and follow all steps.

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Comment Up vote (7)

GO GoudNosrettap replied on May 19, 2015 

I have been unable to update to Win10 10074, sfc

returned an error but was unable to repair, the
mounting of the 10061 iso(my current build) fixed
the issue.
Thank you!

Comment Up vote (3)

BO bodlivko replied on May 22, 2015 

Did this solve your problem? Yes No

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5/4/2018 System file check (SFC) Scan and Repair System Files & - Microsoft Community

Привет ZigZag3143!
Безкрайно съм Ви благодарен за безценната
информация която сте предоставили на
посетителите!
Съжалявам, че в момента съм тук по случаен
повод, търсейки помощ за отстраняване на
открити от Essential 4 злонамерени софтуера
узурпирали компютърът ми, но при опит да ги
деинсталира, компютърът след около 5 минути се
изключва и мероприятието пропада.
Уверен съм, че за в бъдеще ще имам нужда от
познанията Ви в тая област, и ще Ви безпокоя
често за да се запозная подробно с наличната
информация!
Извинете, в случай, че неволно съм споделил
неприсъщо за личността Ви слово!

Comment Up vote (18)

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