If the sfc command is failing, how can we be sure that our machines will work?
When I run sfc on my XP Media Edition it is looking for 12 files that belong
to the Professional edition then telling me that Windows will be unstable,
because I cannot produce them.
Can some kind soul at Microsoft please tell me what to do?
Thanks for providing a professional answer.
What options are your using with sfc - /scannow perhaps?
SFC uses a list and looks at installed files and compares them to what
it thinks they should be. If your installation does not match where
SFC is looking for files it will try to fix it silently or complain.
Details of either action are in the Event Log.
Usually when SFC complains it is because the installed Service Pack is
a later vintage than what was used to install the system. THis is
very common if you on;y have an SP1a/2 installation CD and SP3
installed. This is not hard to remedy but when people are instructed
to run sfc /scannow with no instructions, SFC is more likely to
complain (a lot) than not.
You know the instructions: "Maybe try running sfc /scannow and see if
your problem might be fixed". I would say you will just get
frustrated and still have your original problem.
Media Center introduces another quirk as seen here:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/909059
Personally, I have never seen sfc /scannow fix any problem and will
never even suggest it. If it finds something to do, you better be
able to explain it or you have some other problem. Others regard it
as the Holy Grail of troubleshooting for even the the simplest
problems, but that almost always leads to the inevitable "sfc /scannow
doesn't work" follow up.
Do you have installation media (a CD) that matches your installed
system, older media, or no media?
It may make you feel good if it does run all the way through and that
can be arranged. I have never heard of it destroying a system, just
the users patience until it is understood properly, then it all make
sense.
What is the mechanism/method to update the SFC Repository after every
update?
I have never updated any SFC Repository before and all my XP systems
and SFC work just fine. Could just be luck. I know how to manipulate
the list of protected files for exceptions, but never needed to.
You would perhaps be better served stating why you think you need to
run SFC in the first place and fix that problem instead of wasting
time trying to figure out how to get SFC to not complain. Work on
that later.
