Run sfc /scannow in XP?

[stevieray]

My mom's computer is acting up again, and I have been selected as the designated Repair Guy. Yay me!

She is running XP sp3. I'd like to do an sfc/ scannow on the thing, but I've never done it in XP. Has anybody done this? What should I know going in? Any pointers or advice for me? Thanks!

 

[profdlp]

It works exactly the same way. Go for it.

You'll probably get even more help if you describe her computers symptoms in a little more detail.

 

[stevieray]

Thanks for the reply, profdlp.

It is the same as Vista or Seven? Hmmm, I was told XP needed the installation discs in order to run sfc.

 

[patio]

That's correct...

 

[Hopalong X]

Yep you need a disk.
The files needed to compare are on the disk where Vista and 7 have a copy on the HD when installed.

The file needed is i386.

 

[stevieray]

Ah, the plot thickens...

Her installation discs, if she can find them, will be plain-old XP... but her PC now has sp3 installed. Will that make a difference? Should I download XP and sp3, slipstream them, and use that?

 

[profdlp]

Windows should have a stash of backups in C:WINDOWS\System32\Dllcache. SFC actually checks several locations and should only prompt you for the CD if it can't find a backup anywhere else. I used to copy the i386 folder to my hard drive whenever I did a new installation, then edit the registry so it was considered the "source", assuming SFC couldn't find the file it needed elsewhere.

Microsoft set it up this way since they wouldn't want to eliminate everyone's ability to do a SFC as soon as they released a SP.

 

[stevieray]

Windows should have a stash of backups in C:WINDOWS\System32\Dllcache. SFC actually checks several locations and should only prompt you for the CD if it can't find a backup anywhere else. I used to copy the i386 folder to my hard drive whenever I did a new installation, then edit the registry so it was considered the "source", assuming SFC couldn't find the file it needed elsewhere.

Microsoft set it up this way since they wouldn't want to eliminate everyone's ability to do a SFC as soon as they released a SP.

That's good to know. I'll set her up like that so in the future I can run sfc thru TeamViewer.

Thanks everybody! I hope I can get her machine back up to par... I just wish I had more info than "it's running kinda slow" and "it's acting funny". Who knows what I'll find once I get there.

 

[profdlp]

...I just wish I had more info than "it's running kinda slow" and "it's acting funny"...

That actually describes me these days, as well.

I usually start diagnosing a "slow and funny" computer by checking running processes and startup items for obviously rotten stuff that shouldn't be there. If nothing raises a red flag I'll check the hard drive, both to see if it's full and/or on the way out. A memory test is another good one. If all those things look good then it's time for a thorough antivirus and antispyware scan.

Good luck!

 

[stevieray]

The good news is her PC is running pretty good now... no infections found, just a pigpile of factory installed bloatware (all of it in startup for no good reason). I uninstalled about 20 programs, took another 10 out of the startup folder, and now it takes less than two minutes to go from log on to system idle housekeeping done.

The bad news is I couldn't get sfc to complete. It asked for the original disk, which we couldn't find (and Gateway might not even have given it to her when she bought the thing back in 2002). I tried an XP sp3 installation disc I had, but it was rejected. Found the i386 folder on her system at C:\I386, changed the SourcePath from D:\ to C:\, but it still kept asking for the disk. A corrupted i386 folder perhaps? I dunno...

I'll head back down there next weekend and try again.

 

[profdlp]

...Found the i386 folder on her system at C:\I386, changed the SourcePath from D:\ to C:\, but it still kept asking for the disk. A corrupted i386 folder perhaps?...

A corrupted folder is definitely a possibility.

Just to be sure, you're talking about changing the sourcepath here, right?

Specify Source Path to XP Installation Files

 

[stevieray]

Yep... that's the place.

 

[stevieray]

There is a weird thing that I'm still puzzling over...

When I went to run sfc, the command prompt came up "C:\documents and settings". No big deal, I thought... I'll just change it to C:\Windows\System32. Well, I couldn't. It wouldn't take it. I poked around a bit, and noticed there was a WINNT folder where the Windows folder ought to be. So on a hunch I tried C:\WINNT\System 32 instead, and that worked.

Now I don't know much about anything before Seven, so I am far from an expert, but that seems weird to me. Isn't that a Windows 2000 folder? Why would it be there? Could this PC be some sort of leftover from Windows 2000 that was upgraded by the Gateway store to XP? And could that be the root of the problem?

 

[profdlp]

It amazes me how much my memory of XP is fading, but I think the WINNT folder is normal. Keep in mind that I am an old guy who has trouble remembering what I had for lunch. (Sometimes even while I'm still eating it...)

I think your idea about slipstreaming SP3 that you mentioned in post #6 is worth trying.