How to repair corrupted and damaged system files in Windows 7 and Vista

[Jack]

If any of the Windows system files are missing or are corrupted, Windows may not behave as expected. For example, some Windows functions may not work, or Windows may crash.
Windows 7, like previous version, has an inbuilt tool called System File Checker tool (SFC.exe) which scans for missing or corrupted system files and repairs them. Using System File Checker tool (SFC.exe), you can determine which file is causing the issue, and then replace the file.

How to scan and repair system files :

1. Click the Start button,into the Search box type "cmd"
2. When Command Prompt appears in the search results, Right click on it and select Run as Administrator
   
   
3. Now type the command SFC /SCANNOW and press enter.
   
   
4. The System File Checker will now check all the files that make up your copy of Windows and repair any it finds are corrupt.
   
   
   
   Depending on your system, the scan can take up to 15-20 minutes. If the scan encountered system file errors and it fixed them, you will see a confirmation message just like in the screenshot below.
   
   
   
   

WARNING : Please note that if you have modified your system files in order to add custom themes to your operating system, running sfc /scannow will revert the system files such as explorer.exe back to it's default state.
Make the appropriate backups of your system files that you have modified for theming if you wish to save them before running sfc /scannow.




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Uploaded by thelongclimb on Jan 27, 2011

[Hungry Man]

I've definitely had to use this tool before when repairing computers - especially XP.

[BoXX28]

This is really a basic trick if you're an advanced user. This could help the newbies out there though.

[Earth]

In this case, what do you suggest?

[Jack]

Yes it's a pretty basic 'how to' but not everyone knows this command.
I've run it today because I had some problems with the Windows Updates and to my surprise it manage to detect and fix some corrupted files. Needless to say that my problem with the Windows Updates is now solved.So I strongly recommend that you guys check your system files.

You can also just verify (without repairing)the integrity of your system files with System File Checker with this simple command :

Code:

sfc /verifyonly

[Jack]

(09-07-2011 11:35 AM)Earth wrote:  In this case, what do you suggest?

This article might be the solution to your problem :
http://www.winhelponline.com/blog/fix-fo...-in-vista/

[Umbra Polaris]

lol Earth matrix style cmd as i did too

[jamescv7]

A must step for using this, simple and less clicks.

[mhartsellm]

Thanks for posting this very beneficial thread, I've been wondering for some time why some of my homemade music cd's kept getting an error message and would not play and some did not. After running this repair tool, all now is well in the music cd world as it did find the system error and corrected it exactly as described in the screenshots