Computer and Software Support


SFC /? 

 

This command brings up the help file.

To get help with the SFC command, do the following

  1. Open Command Prompt (Be sure to open command prompt as administrator. The instructions for Command Prompt will tell you how to do that)

  2. Type SFC /? (There is a space between the SFC and the /)

   

  1. Press Enter

 

Scans the integrity of all protected system files and replaces incorrect versions with correct Microsoft versions

SFC [/SCANNOW] [VERIFYONLY] [/SCANFILE=<file>] [/VERIFYFILE=<file>] [/OFFWINDIR=<offline windows directory> /OFFBOOTDIR=<offline boot directory>]

/SCANNOW - Scans integrity of all protected system files and repairs files with when possible
/VERIFYONLY - Scans integrity of all protected system files. No repair operation is performed.
/SCANFILE - Scans integrity of the referenced file, repairs file if problems are identified. Specify full path <file>
VERIFYFILE - Verifies the integrity of the file with full path <file>. No repair operation is performed.
/OFFBOOTDIR - For offline repair specify the location of the offline boot directory.
/OFFWINDIR - For offline repair specify the location of the offline windows directory

Example

  • sfc /SCANNOW

  • sfc /VERIFYFILE=c:\windows\system32\kernel32.dll

  • sfc \SCANFILE=d:\windows\system32\kernel32.dll /OFFBOOTDIR=d:\ /OFFWINDIR=d:\windows

  • SFC \VERIFYONLY

 

NOTES:

  • You must be logged on as member of the Administrators group to run sfc.

  • If sfc discovers that a protected file has been overwritten, it retrieves the correct version of the file from %systemroot%system32\dllcache folder, and then replaces the incorrect file.

  • 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.