Use System File Checker to Solve Problems

Contributed by mikejc August 24, 2004  
Tagged: Windows

I have found that many problems with Windows 2000 can be solved using the utility sfc with the Command Prompt. Sometimes, in the course of installing a program in Windows 2000, the program will overwrite or modify Win 2000’s system files i.e. .DLLs with their own version. If Windows 2000 misbehaves after a program installation, read the following and run sfc with the Command Prompt.

System File Checker (sfc.exe) is a command line utility that scans and verifies the versions of all protected system files after you restart your computer. If System File Checker discovers that a protected file has been overwritten, it retrieves the correct version of the file from the %systemroot%\system32\dllcache folder, and then replaces the incorrect file.

Syntax:
sfc [/scannow] [/scanonce] [/scanboot] [/cancel] [/quiet] [/enable] [/purgecache] [/cachesize=x]

Parameters:
/scannow
Scans all protected system files immediately.
/scanonce
Scans all protected system files once.
/scanboot
Scans all protected system files every time the computer is restarted.
/cancel
Cancels all pending scans of protected system files.
/quiet
Replaces all incorrect file versions without prompting the user.
/enable
Returns Windows File Protection to default operation, prompting the user to restore protected system files when files with incorrect versions are detected.
/purgecache
Purges the Windows File Protection file cache and scans all protected system files immediately.
/cachesize=x
Sets the size, in MB, of the Windows File Protection file cache.

You must be logged on as an administrator or as a member of the Administrators group to run System File Checker. 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.

mike