Computer and Software Support


SFC /scannow

Scans all protected system files immediately.

To scan all protected system files immediately, do the following

  1. Open Command Prompt (Be sure to open command prompt as administrator. The instructions for Command Prompt will tell you how to do that)

  2. Type SFC /scannow (There is a space between the SFC and the /)

   

  1. Press Enter

 

If you get a message that it cannot fix all the errors, you will need to do the following

  1. Do not close the command prompt window. If you did close it, open the Command Prompt window (be sure to select run as administrator)

  2. Type Dism /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth (There is a space before each of the /)

  3. Press Enter

  4. When it is done running, type SFC /scannow

  5. Press Enter

 

If you get an error message or the restorehealth procedure above does not complete, follow the procedure here

NOTES:

  • You must be logged on as member of the Administrators group to run sfc.

  • If sfc discovers that a protected file has been overwritten, it retrieves the correct version of the file from %systemroot%system32\dllcache folder, and then replaces the incorrect file.

  • If the %systemroot%\system32\dllcache folder becomes corrupt or unusable, use sfc /scannow, sfc /scanonce, or sfc /scanboot to repair the contents of the Dllcache directory.

 

If the above doesn't fix the issue, Run CHKDSK /R /F.