Fix: System File Checker not working, will not run or could not repair

[HappyAndyK]

The System File Checker or sfc.exe is a utility in Microsoft Windows located in C:\Windows\System32 folder, which allows users to scan for and restore corrupt Windows system files, using the sfc /scannow command.

Sometimes you may have to run the SFC 2 or 3 times or run it in safe mode.

If for some reason you find that your System File Checker is not working or will not run or could not repair, you can try and repair the Component Store and see if it helps.

To do so, run CMD as administrator. Type Dism /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth and hit Enter. This could take up to 15 minutes. You can read more on this here. After the task is over, restart the computer and see if it has helped.



If not, then you may try a system restore, Refresh PC or Reset PC.

See this if you receive Windows Resource Protection found corrupt files but was unable to fix some of them error.

[sbpetrack]

Just in case it helps a novice user:

when I tried the recommended comand:

Dism /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth

I got the folloiwng error:

C:\windows\system32>Dism /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth

Deployment Image Servicing and Management tool
Version: 10.0.10586.0


Error: 11

You cannot service a running 64-bit operating system with a 32-bit version of DISM.
Please use the version of DISM that corresponds to your computer's architecture.

The DISM log file can be found at C:\windows\Logs\DISM\dism.log

I love the search facility "Search Everything", and this is a good example of why I love it. I knew that my machine is has an AMD E-450 cpu. so I searched for DISM.exe using "Everything", and sure enough, there are four different programs called DISM.exe on my computer. But only one of them was the following location:

C:\Windows\WinSxS\amd64_microsoft-windows-d..ervicing-management_31bf3856ad364e35_10.0.10586.0_none_eb2f 3b70b8039e77\Dism.exe

(Pretty obvious, eh? I facepalmed myself from the embarrassment of not having thought of this location myself ).

I retried the recommended command with this copy of DISM.exe, and voila!! It's been running about 10 minutes and not done, so i can't tell you if it will actually solve the problem. But given the first error message, I feel confident that I'm using the right DISM for the job.

Hope this helps