First, run chkdsk to correct any File system problems, then run System File Checker (sfc).
- Open My Computer.
- Right click on drive: and select Properties (drive: is your boot drive, usually C:)
- Click on the Tools tab then the Check now button.
- Check the Automatically fix File System errors box.
Alternatively, you can click on
Start then
Run, type
chkdsk c: /r and press
Enter.
For your boot drive (usually
C:), you will get a window that says the check could not be performed ....
Do you want to schedule this disk check to run the next time you restart the computer?
Click on
Yes.
Shutdown and reboot. Chkdsk will start. It can take an hour or more to run depending on the size of your hard drive. Be patient and let it complete undisturbed.
If that doesn't fix the problem, run sfc:
- Click on Start, type command prompt.
- Right click on Command Prompt at the top of the window and select Run as Administrator.
- In the Command Prompt Window, type (or copy and paste) sfc /scannow and press Enter.
Vista and Windows 7 tell you if there were and problems, XP did not. You can examine the SFC results as follows:
Open a Command Prompt (does not have to be as Administrator):
- Type (or copy and paste) findstr /c:"[SR]" %windir%\logs\cbs\cbs.log >sfcdetails.txt and press Enter.
- Type (or copy and paste) notepad sfcdetails.txt and press Enter.