How to Repair Missing or Corrupted Windows System Files

[uk666]

How to Repair Missing or Corrupted Windows System Files

On Windows 10, when you start noticing random errors, problems booting up, or features not working as expected, there's a good chance that one or multiple system files might have gone missing or corrupted for unknown reasons. 

Usually, problems with system files could occur as a result of an issue installing a system update, driver, or application, or while making changes to the installation manually, or Viruses & Malware.

System file check (SFC) Scan and Repair System Files

The sfc /scannow command (System File Check) scans the integrity of all protected operating system files and replaces incorrect, corrupted, changed, or damaged versions with the correct versions where possible.  When it cannot repair the damage DISM should be run to fix as many errors as possible.

To run a system file check (SFC):

Press the Win + X keys on your keyboard.

find shortcuts PowerShell, with admin rights and click to open.

Click Yes on the User Account Control (UAC) prompt that appears, and once the blinking cursor appears, type or copy and paste:

sfc /scannow

And press the Enter key.

System File Checker starts. It will check and repair the integrity of system files.

When you have finished it will say one of three things:

1. Windows did not find any integrity violations (a good thing)
2. Windows Resource Protection found corrupt files and repaired them (a good thing)
3. Windows Resource Protection found corrupt files but was unable to fix some (or all) of them (not a good thing) If you get this message run Deployment Image Servicing and Management (DISM) as described below

If SFC did not find any violations it is still a good idea to run Deployment Image Servicing and Management (DISM)

Deployment Image Servicing and Management (DISM)

Use DISM /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth, to scan the image for component store corruption, perform repair operations automatically, and records that corruption to the log file. This generally takes 5-30 minutes depending on the corruption and size of the partition.

When you run DISM.exe /Online /Cleanup-Image /Restorehealth command, it does the following:

1. The /Online switch instructs DISM.exe to target the running Operating System instead of an offline Windows image (.wim) file or virtual hard disk (.vhd or .vhdx)
2. The /Cleanup-Image switch performs cleanup and recovery operations on the running Operating System
3. Finally, the /Restorehealth switch scans the running Operating System for corrupt files and attempts to fix them.

To run DISM:

Press the Win + X keys on your keyboard.

find shortcuts PowerShell, with admin rights and click to open.

Click Yes on the User Account Control (UAC) prompt that appears, and once the blinking cursor appears, type or copy and paste:

DISM /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth

And press the Enter key.

After running DISM it is a good idea to re-run SFC /scannow to make sure all the issues were fixed.

Issue not resolved yet

Consider that you might have a virus on your machine. Some can disable System Restore. This might explain why simple fixes aren't working.

If your system is virus-free, try - how to repair missing or corrupted windows system files:

Hidden Content

Give reaction to this post to see the hidden content.