SFC /SCANNOW

The sfc /scannow command will evaluate your system files to check if they are intact from the base install of the OS. Anytime you apply an OS update, some of these files may change and SFC /SCANNOW will flag them as corrupt regardless of whether they truly are or not.

What made you run SFC /SCANNOW to begin with? Do you have the Vista DVD/CD in the drive while running the command?

02.23.2008 at 02:53PM PST, ID: 20967171

Rank: Master

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/928228 might be useful.

Assisted Solution

02.23.2008 at 07:58PM PST, ID: 20968445

Commenting on all of the above. About a week ago i decided to run "chkdsk /f" and "sfc /scannow" as part of my mtce routine. I was not having any file trouble as far as i knew of but ran "chkdsk /f" as part of the routine. After several false starts and after initial results saying there were errors that cld be fixed by 'chkdsk /f'' i tried to run 'chkdsk /f' but it wld not run after restarting the computer. i finally ran it from the 'run' box. After restart, my monitor went blank and after 25 minutes i tried to boot but couldn,t.. Finally, i went into safe mode and got back on thru 'last good config'. I then ran 'chkdsk /y' and it reported that there were no problems. It appears that 'chkdsk /f' ran but didn,t display on the monitor. Also, several days ago i tried running 'sfc /scannow' and it said that Windows found corrupt files but was unable to fix some of them and details were included in the CBS log. After running KB 928228 i have now opened the cbs log in text in Notepad. It is a very long and technical report (50.8 MB) but in scanning it i dont see any reference to corrupt files but do see reference to files being repaired (mostly renamed). This roughly where i am now. As i said before i,m not aware of any problems i.e. i,m not getting popup messages or error notifications but in the past i always had 'no problems' when i ran these utilities. Any suggestions or 'if it aint broke dont fix it'?

02.24.2008 at 01:46AM PST, ID: 20969350

Rank: Master

Well, as stated before, there is a known bug in SFC in Vista - but I don't like the sound of how you ran chkdsk, and it wouldn't run on a reboot, then after it did run, your computer didn't boot - and you had to choose last known good configuration.

Unless the computer didn't shutdown properly between running the chkdsk (and even then, I doubt this would cause a registry corruption) and the reboot, then you must have had a more serious issue that could not be fixed by chkdsk (corrupted registry normally will not fix a corrupted registry).

If you are not experiencing any unusual behaviour, then I suggest that should be okay - but make sure that you have a good backup of any data that you need.

02.24.2008 at 09:09AM PST, ID: 20970527

I,ve checked again and i don,t see any record of kb941600 being installed on my computer. I take great care to check and see that all automatic updates have been installed so it must not have been applicable for my computer. It seems to deal primarily with usb devices and the sleep-hibernate function. I do usee the sleep function every nightly shutdown but i have not had any problem with it and i have used it for a year now. I have just recently installed the Acronis disk image program on my computer and i have a backup on disk but haven,t yet made a removable image backup. After i do that and i,m more confident that i have good backup i might then return and try running 'chkdsk /f'' and 'sfc /scannow' again. Thanks for all your help.

02.24.2008 at 11:25AM PST, ID: 20970950

You should run a quick and full test using the WD Diag utility. Chkdsk doesn't do a good job 90% of the time.

Download data lifeguard at http://support.wdc.com/download/

Run the test and tell us how it went. Failing HD causes all sorts of problems.

02.24.2008 at 12:32PM PST, ID: 20971208

Rank: Master

@ itsluy
"Chkdsk doesn't do a good job 90% of the time."

For the benefit of the Asker, can you please post evidence of this?
You should not make sweeping statements like this with no evidence.

For me, chkdsk is very powerful, and very useful, and has been for me in the past - especially on important server hard disks.

There is a difference between hardware diagnostics, and a data-checking tool - you don't make the distinction in your comment.

02.24.2008 at 01:23PM PST, ID: 20971454

"Data Lifeguard" does not support Vista. I just ran 'chkdsk /f' again and after the restart the desktop reappeared with the little box that had "log" writtenin the midle of it and an 'ok' button lower down. I clicked the 'ok' button and the box disappeared. As before, i went to the 'cbs log' which opened in Notepad as text. It is a very long log. However, i perused it for about fifteen minutes and i didn,t see the word 'corrupt' anywhere. There were a lot of 'Disposition=1003' and references to KB938123. At the bottom of the printout it said "Session finalized. Reboot required: no". In my previous comments above perhaps it was relevant or not relevant but a week ago i added an extra 1GB of memory to bring my total to 2GB. Also, my hard drive is "Seagate".

02.25.2008 at 02:37AM PST, ID: 20974182

@ and 235100
chkdsk has many limitations and honestly are beyond the topic of this post. The reason I pointed this out is that maybe a utility that uses S.M.A.R.T. data would be usefull in this situation to ensure that we're not just continuously blocking out bad sectors as they're going bad by using CHKDSK.

@jobox11 - You can use Hitachi's bootable disk regardless of the mfg of your drive. You'll need to burn an ISO to a CD and boot from it. I personally use ImgBurn for this, but any software capable of burning an image file will work.

Here's the linkL
http://www.hitachigst.com/hdd/support/download.htm#DFT

Here are some of the features included in the Drive Fitness utlity (feel free to compare to CHKDSK):

Supports Leading Drives

* SCSI.
* Serial ATA.
* Parallel ATA.
* IDE.

Analyzes Drive Fitness

* Three modes of operation.
- High confidence level quick test
- Full media scan
- Exerciser
* Performs real-time analysis of your drive to quickly determine if problem exists.
* Identifies system problems such as cable or temperatures.
* Automatically logs significant drive parameters to track potential impacts to the drive operations (diskette version only).

Includes Utilities

* Drive information.
* SMART operations for supported hard disk drives.

02.25.2008 at 02:57AM PST, ID: 20974252

I'm not saying you DO have a hard drive problem, but it would be nice to know that you DON'T so that we do not waste anyone's time.

Have you tried running sfc /scannow in safe mode?

I found these useful:
http://www.vistax64.com/tutorials/67717-take-ownership-file.html
http://www.vistax64.com/tutorials/66978-system-files-sfc-command.html

Last option is a Vista Startup Repair
http://windowshelp.microsoft.com/Windows/en-US/Help/5c59f8c1-b0d1-4f1a-af55-74f3922f3f351033.mspx

Or obviously " if it isn't borken don'tfix it."

Accepted Solution

02.25.2008 at 05:52AM PST, ID: 20975148

Rank: Master

@ itsluy
>> chkdsk has many limitations and honestly are beyond the topic of this post
No - I am just interested.
The point I was making is - you cannot make a comment like "Chkdsk doesn't do a good job 90% of the time." , without posting some kind of resource that backs it up.
I happen to disagree with you - but I am interested in where you have got this research from - 90% is rather specific, after all.

@ jobox11
I apologize for hijacking the question - I would just like to see some evidence of how bad chkdsk is, according to itsluy...

02.25.2008 at 11:05AM PST, ID: 20978229

I,ve been in class all morning at the "chkdsk"-"sfc /scannow" school. Before doing anything else, i ran "See Tools" at the Seagate site (my hard drive is Seagate) and the results for the short test and the long test were 'PASS". Then i unchecked 'GUI" boot and then entered 'chkdsk /f' and rebooted. There was then no running display of the scan but after loading the drivers etc. there was two little messages: "D:\ volume is clean" and "C:\ volume is clean" so i guess that is the way 'chkdsk' is done in Vista. I next ran 'sfc /scannow' and it gave the same message as previous "Windows Resource Protection found corrupt files but was unable to fix some of them. Details are included in 'cbs.log'.Using KB#928228 and #929833 i spent over an hour perusing the big cbs log. The final entry in the log under today,s date said "All files and registry keys in the transaction have been successfully repaired". I,m not sure of the signifucance of that taking into account what 'sfc /scanow' says above. I did see references to corrupt Windows Media Player files which i am somewhat aware of. So the final result for me at the present time is that i learned that when 'sfc /scanow' says there are corrupt files, they can be found by perusing the SR entries in the cbs log. So, i will scan the cbs log carefully and see if any references to corrupt files also records their repair. However, assuming there are corrupt files can i find a repair method on Google or here if necessary? Thanks for all your help.

02.25.2008 at 11:43AM PST, ID: 20978533

Rank: Master

Generally speaking, if SFC cannot fix the problematic files - you could try replacing them with alternate ones (i.e. ones from a parallel installation, or from another same version Vista computer) - but I have seen unpredictable results with this method.
Repair options for Vista: http://vistasupport.mvps.org/windows_vista_repair_options.htm
Alternatively - if you have a Vista DVD, you can "upgrade" your installation - so you don't lose your files. This will restore the system files to their correct versions.

02.25.2008 at 11:43AM PST, ID: 20978540

Rank: Master