SFC /SCANNOW Command - System File Checker

How to Repair Windows 7 System Files with System File Checker​

   Information

The sfc /scannow command (System File Checker) scans the integrity of all protected Windows 7 system files and replaces incorrect corrupted, changed/modified, or damaged versions with the correct versions if possible.

   Tip

If you get the Windows Resource Protection Could Not Start the Repair Service error when trying to run SFC, then make sure that the Windows Modules Installer service is enabled, click on Start, and set to Manual.

Services - Start or Disable

OR

Copy and paste the command below in the elevated command prompt, and press Enter. After the Windows Modules Installer service has started, try running the SFC command again

net start trustedinstaller

   Note

The KB3022345, KB3035583, and KB3068708 updates will cause SFC to give you a false mismatch message in SFC for files related to these updates.

You can safely ignore these results in your SFC details since it will not affect SFC from being able to repair other system files.

   Warning

Be aware that if you have modified your system files as in theming explorer/system files, running sfc /scannow will revert the system files such as explorer.exe back to it's default state. Make the appropriate backups of your system files that you have modified for theming if you wish to save them before running sfc /scannow.

:note: For the updated Windows 10 tutorial, please see - SFC Command - Run in Windows 10 - Windows 10 Tutorials

CONTENTS:

• Option One: To Run the SFC /SCANNOW Command at Boot
• Option Two: To Run the SFC /SCANNOW Command in Windows 7
• Option Three: How to See and Read Only the "SFC" Scan Results from the CBS.LOG

OPTION ONE

To Run the SFC /SCANNOW Command at Boot

1. For how, see METHOD TWO at this link: SFC /SCANNOW : Run in Command Prompt at Boot

   Note

Using OPTION TWO below is recommended if able.

If you would like to get help with your SFC issue, then be sure to upload and attach your sfcdetails.txt file from OPTION THREE below in your post.

OPTION TWO

To Run the SFC /SCANNOW Command in Windows 7

1. Open an elevated command prompt or an elevated PowerShell, and do step 2 or 3 below for what type of scan you would like to run.


2. To Scan and Repair System Files
NOTE: Scans the integrity of all protected system files and repairs the system files if needed. Please see red WARNING box at the top of this tutorial.
A) In the elevated command prompt, type sfc /scannow, press Enter, and go to step 4 below. (see screenshot below)
NOTE: This may take a little bit to finish.


3. To Only Verify if the System Files are Corrupted
NOTE: Scans and only verifies the integrity of all proteced system files only. This command will not change your system files as in the red WARNING box at the top of this tutorial.
A) In the elevated command prompt, type sfc /verifyonly, press Enter, and go to step 4 below.
4. When the scan is complete, hopefully you will see all is ok like the screenshot below.

   Note

• If SFC could not fix something, then run the command again to see if it may be able to the next time. Sometimes it may take running the sfc /scannow command 3 or more times to completely fix everything that it's able to.
• If not, then download and run the 32-bit (x86) or 64-bit (x64) System Update Readiness Tool for your same installed 32-bit or 64-bit Windows 7, restart the PC afterwards, and try the sfc /scannow command again.
• If still not, then try using OPTION ONE above to run the sfc /scannow command at boot.
• If still not, then you can attempt to run a System Restore using a restore point dated before the bad file occured to fix it. You may need to repeat doing a System Restore until you find a older restore point that may work.
• If still not, then you can use the steps in the TIP box in the OPTION THREE section below to manually replace the files that SFC could not fix if there are not to many fix.
• If there are to many files to manually fix, or you prefer not to use OPTION THREE below, then you could do a repair install without losing anything.

If you would like to get help with your SFC issue, then be sure to upload and attach your sfcdetails.txt file from OPTION THREE below in your post.

5. When done, close the elevated command prompt.

OPTION THREE

How to See and Read Only the "SFC" Scan Results from the CBS.LOG

   Note

When SFC runs, it logs it's actions into the C:\Windows\Logs\CBS\CBS.log. The steps in this option will show you how to see only the specific SFC entries with the [SR] tags in this CBS.log. This can be helpful to show you what files SFC could not fix automatically if you wanted to try and manually replace them.

1. Open an "elevated command prompt" (right click -> Run as administrator).

2. In the elevated command prompt, copy and paste the command below, and press Enter. (See screenshot below)
NOTE: This will place a sfcdetails.txt file on your desktop with only the SFC scan result details from the CBS.LOG in it.

findstr /c:"[SR]" %windir%\Logs\CBS\CBS.log >"%userprofile%\Desktop\sfcdetails.txt"

3. Close the elevated command prompt.

4. Open the sfcdetails.txt file on your desktop to see the SFC scan details in the CBS.LOG.

5. You can safely delete the sfcdetails.txt file afterwards if you like.

   Tip

If you need to replace a corrupted system file that SFC cannot fix, then this will show you how to by extracting a new copy directly from your Windows 7 installation DVD.

Extract Files from Windows 7 Installation DVD

That's it,
Shawn

Related Tutorials

---

• How to Run the System File Checker in a Command Prompt at Boot
• How to Do a System Restore in Windows 7
• How to Do a Repair Install to Fix Windows 7
• How to Run Disk Check in Windows 7
• How to See Windows 7 Reliability and Problem History with Reliability Monitor
• How to Extract Files from the Windows 7 Installation DVD
• How to Troubleshoot a Problem by Performing a Clean Startup in Windows 7 or Vista

 

[Brink]

Hello Haramo,

Your SFC details show that it was unable to repair the settings.ini file for Microsoft-Windows-Sidebar. If you manually added "Windows Sidebar" back to Windows 7, then that would be why it can't repair the file since it's not included in Windows 7 by default.

If you are not having any issues with it, then there's nothing to worry about.

 

[haramo]

Hmmm, it comes to me that maybe im in the wrong forum, i think it's windows vista on the system. Chdsk is now buzzy.

 

[Brink]

You can use the same method below, but look at the top in "System" to see if it's Vista or Windows 7 installed.

http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/515-system-type-32-bit-x86-64-bit-x64.html

 

[haramo]

Chkdsk has finished.
W
indows vista home basic, Service Pack 2, 32 bit.

I'm sorry This laptop is from my neighbour. Not mine. as my info on this forum is from my laptop.

 

[Brink]

Is your neighbor's computer having any issues with Windows Sidebar?

If not, then there's nothing to worry about trying to repair.

 

[haramo]

No, no problems, it works, but the booting time is very slow. After the laptop is cleaned, it still need a lot of time to boot, load everything. I'm trying to speed up the boot a little bit.

 

[Brink]

In addition, you might see if this below may help some with performance.

http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/11728-optimize-windows-7-a.html

 

[haramo]

Is there also an optimize for vista?

 

[derekimo]

Is there also an optimize for vista?

There is this,

Speed Up the Performance of Vista

A lot of the same stuff that's in the optimize for Seven.

 

[haramo]

Ok, thanks a lot

 

[balubeto]

Examining the CBS.log file created by the sfc /scannow command, I found the following errors:

2015-02-02 11:04:17, Info                  CSI    0000019c [SR] Verifying 100 (0x0000000000000064) components
2015-02-02 11:04:17, Info                  CSI    0000019d [SR] Beginning Verify and Repair transaction
2015-02-02 11:04:20, Info                  CSI    0000019f [SR] Cannot repair member file [l:18{9}]"login.cmd" of Microsoft-Windows-Telnet-Server, Version = 6.1.7600.16385, pA = PROCESSOR_ARCHITECTURE_AMD64 (9), Culture neutral, VersionScope = 1 nonSxS, PublicKeyToken = {l:8 b:31bf3856ad364e35}, Type neutral, TypeName neutral, PublicKey neutral in the store, hash mismatch
2015-02-02 11:04:20, Info                  CSI    000001a1 [SR] Cannot repair member file [l:18{9}]"login.cmd" of Microsoft-Windows-Telnet-Server, Version = 6.1.7600.16385, pA = PROCESSOR_ARCHITECTURE_AMD64 (9), Culture neutral, VersionScope = 1 nonSxS, PublicKeyToken = {l:8 b:31bf3856ad364e35}, Type neutral, TypeName neutral, PublicKey neutral in the store, hash mismatch
2015-02-02 11:04:20, Info                  CSI    000001a2 [SR] This component was referenced by [l:182{91}]"Microsoft-Windows-Telnet-Server-Package~31bf3856ad364e35~amd64~~6.1.7601.17514.TelnetServer"
2015-02-02 11:04:20, Info                  CSI    000001a5 [SR] Could not reproject corrupted file [ml:520{260},l:46{23}]"\??\C:\Windows\System32"\[l:18{9}]"login.cmd"; source file in store is also corrupted
2015-02-02 11:04:21, Info                  CSI    000001a7 [SR] Verify complete
2015-02-02 11:07:33, Info                  CSI    00000339 [SR] Verifying 99 (0x0000000000000063) components
2015-02-02 11:07:33, Info                  CSI    0000033a [SR] Beginning Verify and Repair transaction
2015-02-02 11:07:35, Info                  CSI    0000033c [SR] Verify complete
2015-02-02 11:07:35, Info                  CSI    0000033d [SR] Repairing 1 components
2015-02-02 11:07:35, Info                  CSI    0000033e [SR] Beginning Verify and Repair transaction
2015-02-02 11:07:35, Info                  CSI    00000340 [SR] Cannot repair member file [l:18{9}]"login.cmd" of Microsoft-Windows-Telnet-Server, Version = 6.1.7600.16385, pA = PROCESSOR_ARCHITECTURE_AMD64 (9), Culture neutral, VersionScope = 1 nonSxS, PublicKeyToken = {l:8 b:31bf3856ad364e35}, Type neutral, TypeName neutral, PublicKey neutral in the store, hash mismatch
2015-02-02 11:07:35, Info                  CSI    00000342 [SR] Cannot repair member file [l:18{9}]"login.cmd" of Microsoft-Windows-Telnet-Server, Version = 6.1.7600.16385, pA = PROCESSOR_ARCHITECTURE_AMD64 (9), Culture neutral, VersionScope = 1 nonSxS, PublicKeyToken = {l:8 b:31bf3856ad364e35}, Type neutral, TypeName neutral, PublicKey neutral in the store, hash mismatch
2015-02-02 11:07:35, Info                  CSI    00000343 [SR] This component was referenced by [l:182{91}]"Microsoft-Windows-Telnet-Server-Package~31bf3856ad364e35~amd64~~6.1.7601.17514.TelnetServer"
2015-02-02 11:07:35, Info                  CSI    00000346 [SR] Could not reproject corrupted file [ml:520{260},l:46{23}]"\??\C:\Windows\System32"\[l:18{9}]"login.cmd"; source file in store is also corrupted
2015-02-02 11:07:35, Info                  CSI    00000348 [SR] Repair complete
2015-02-02 11:07:35, Info                  CSI    00000349 [SR] Committing transaction
2015-02-02 11:07:35, Info                  CSI    0000034d [SR] Verify and Repair Transaction completed. All files and registry keys listed in this transaction  have been successfully repaired
2015-02-02 11:17:57, Info                  CSI    0000019c [SR] Verifying 100 (0x0000000000000064) components
2015-02-02 11:17:57, Info                  CSI    0000019d [SR] Beginning Verify and Repair transaction
2015-02-02 11:18:00, Info                  CSI    0000019f [SR] Cannot repair member file [l:18{9}]"login.cmd" of Microsoft-Windows-Telnet-Server, Version = 6.1.7600.16385, pA = PROCESSOR_ARCHITECTURE_AMD64 (9), Culture neutral, VersionScope = 1 nonSxS, PublicKeyToken = {l:8 b:31bf3856ad364e35}, Type neutral, TypeName neutral, PublicKey neutral in the store, hash mismatch
2015-02-02 11:18:00, Info                  CSI    000001a1 [SR] Cannot repair member file [l:18{9}]"login.cmd" of Microsoft-Windows-Telnet-Server, Version = 6.1.7600.16385, pA = PROCESSOR_ARCHITECTURE_AMD64 (9), Culture neutral, VersionScope = 1 nonSxS, PublicKeyToken = {l:8 b:31bf3856ad364e35}, Type neutral, TypeName neutral, PublicKey neutral in the store, hash mismatch
2015-02-02 11:18:00, Info                  CSI    000001a2 [SR] This component was referenced by [l:182{91}]"Microsoft-Windows-Telnet-Server-Package~31bf3856ad364e35~amd64~~6.1.7601.17514.TelnetServer"
2015-02-02 11:18:00, Info                  CSI    000001a5 [SR] Could not reproject corrupted file [ml:520{260},l:46{23}]"\??\C:\Windows\System32"\[l:18{9}]"login.cmd"; source file in store is also corrupted
2015-02-02 11:18:01, Info                  CSI    000001a7 [SR] Verify complete

...

 

[Brink]

Hello Balubeto,

The file that needs to be repaired is login.cmd.

If you have not already, do what's in the blue note box at the end of OPTION TWO to see if that may help.

 

[Revvy]

The log won't upload here, so I've puushed it http://puu.sh/gHHLV/964b1f93b9.log

 

[Brink]

Hello Revvy,

It didn't post because it was to large in size since it's your entire CBS.LOG file.

Instead, use OPTION THREE in the tutorial to create a sfcdetails.txt file, and upload that.

 

[MaoloPaolo]

Hello

the sfc scannow popped up the following errors, can somebody please help me?

thanks in advance

 

[Brink]

Hello MaoloPaolo,

It looks like you have corrupted files for Direct X, NET Framework, and the TruType New Tai Lue font.

Reinstalling them should repair the files as well.

 

[MaoloPaolo]

Hello MaoloPaolo,

It looks like you have corrupted files for Dirext X, NET Framework, and the TruType New Tai Lue font.

Reinstalling them should repair the files as well.

Hello

thanks for the tips, some questions:

-to fix the NET Framework is it better to clear uninstall it first and then re install or should work the repair in Control Panel? Also uninstalling them while cause any problem to the PC or will I be able to use it? I am not aware of the role of this NET Framework so I am asking..

-regarding the Direct X. how can they be repaired? I am running Win 7 but as I understood they are part of the system, not a separate installation..

let me know

 

[Brink]

I'd try to do a repair install of the program first. Running the installation again should do the trick.

If you haven't already, you might also try running SFC a few times with a restart in between each time to see if it may eventually repair the files.

 

[mami]

My sfcdetails.txt - pls help

Windows Resource Protection found corrupt files but was unable to fix some of them.
Here is my sfcdetails.txt - Please help!

 

[Brink]

Hello Mami, and welcome to Seven Forums.

Your SFC shows that the files it cannot repair are just the sample music and photos that came with Windows. They are nothing to worry about if you don't use them.