How to analyse the CBS.log

[whs]

The data provided by the CBS.log is massive - 5.4MB of text is a years worth of reading. Has anybody figured out a way to quickly identify the corrupted files ?? I have read this Microsoft page, but that does not really help.

 

[usasma]

Here's the most common text to search for (from the KB article that you referenced):

Repairing corrupted file
Cannot repair member file
Repaired file

Personally, when I search, I search for the term "repair" (without the quotes).
Also, I search from the bottom up, checking dates as I go (so I only have to review the latest sessions).

 

[whs]

Thanks for the answer. I am not sure how you search for those terms. I pasted the Notepad content into a Word file and tried to search the text from there. But the terms you mention did not yield any results.


Example:

 

[Brink]

Hello Wolfgang,

You might be able to use what I did in OPTION TWO of the SFC tutorial below to search for specific items (within the quotes in the code) in the CBS.log, and have it placed neatly in a separate file.

http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/1538-sfc-scannow-command-system-file-checker.html

Hope this helps,
Shawn

 

[whs]

Thanks Shawn. But my problem is not to open the CBS.log. It is just too much data to sift thru. The OPTION TWO did not really do anything for me. It says:

 

[Brink]

Oh well, it was worth a try.

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

You might see if any of the other FINDSTR command switches may allow you to sort through the CBS.log easier.

 

[whs]

Hmm, success. With that part of the command ( findstr /c:"[SR]" %windir%\logs\cbs\cbs.log ) it shows me all the files it repaired and the ones it could not repair. And that is a manageable amount of data. I pasted into a Word file and then it is easy to read. Thanks again Shawn.

PS: Amazing though how many files (95 in total) it had to repair - on a system that is only 2 months old. Since there were many gadgets, I suspect that my Vista sidebar is going to be on the blink next time I reboot. But that is easy to fix.

 

[Brink]

You're welcome Wolfgang.

 

[whs]

So now I just made a little generic summary for those that want to just see the repaired and non-repaired files in the CBS.log - just in case somebody is looking for the solution in this thread:

With the command findstr /c:"[SR]" %windir%\logs\cbs\cbs.log (in elevated Command Prompt) it shows all the files it repaired and the ones it could not repair. And that is a manageable amount of data. Paste that into a Notepad, Word or Wordpad file and then it is easy to read.

 

[IggyAZ]

How to analyze the log file entries that the Microsoft Windows Resource Checker (SFC.exe) program generates in Windows Vista

 

[whs]

How to analyze the log file entries that the Microsoft Windows Resource Checker (SFC.exe) program generates in Windows Vista

I linked that MS page in my very first post in this thread. But that does not help with the problem at hand - which is a problem of data reduction.

 

[usasma]

I open the log file in Notepad, then use the "Find" function to search for the terms.

 

[whs]

I open the log file in Notepad, then use the "Find" function to search for the terms.

You said that earlier, but I could not make it work. I therefore (with the help of Shawn), went this route: http://www.sevenforums.com/general-discussion/56234-make-cbs-log-useable.html

 

[usasma]

Shawn's method is probably better than mine. He's spent a lot more time on this than I have.

 

[whs]

I can confirm that the SFC had messed up my tweaked Vista sidebar. Actually, all the 95 files that it "fixed" or tried to fix were from the sidebar. It was funny though - although the sidebar was gone, it still acted like a Vista sidebar. My gadgets were there and they stayed "on top". The gadgets were only bigger than in the sidebar, but that is probably because I run with a changed screen resolution (poor eyesight).
But then before I moved my Sidebar and Sidebar(2) folders around, i needed to stop the sidebar from running. But killing it in task manager did not do the trick - I wonder why. Maybe I had caught an older cached instance. i had to use the Process Explorer to kill it. Which only shows: The more you learn, the less you know - at least it feels like that.

 

[profdlp]

Hello Wolfgang,

You might be able to use what I did in OPTION TWO of the SFC tutorial below to search for specific items (within the quotes in the code) in the CBS.log, and have it placed neatly in a separate file.

http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/1538-sfc-scannow-command-system-file-checker.html

Hope this helps,
Shawn

I was getting some BSOD after a video driver update. This technique saved me a lot of time.

 

[Jane1002]

When I typed the command, it said "findstr" not recognised command. My OS is win7
Pls help if there is another way I can see what files need to be repaired. Many thx

 

[whs]

When I typed the command, it said "findstr" not recognised command. My OS is win7
Pls help if there is another way I can see what files need to be repaired. Many thx

findstr is a regular cmd command. No idea why ot would not work on your system.

Microsoft Windows [Version 6.1.7601]
Copyright (c) 2009 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.
C:\Windows\system32>findstr /?
Searches for strings in files.
FINDSTR [/B] [/E] [/L] [/R] [/S] [/I] [/X] [/V] [/N] [/M] [/O] [/P] [/F:file]
[/C:string] [/G:file] [/D:dir list] [/A:color attributes] [/OFF

---

 

[Jane1002]

Thank you for your reply. Yes it is strange, but I doubt maybe I did not enter to elevated command prompt? I used my install CD to enter command prompt, however, I checked on google, some had same problems. Is there another way I could find out which file could not be repaired? Many thx

 

[whs]

Try elevated cmd