SFC.EXE system file checker with XP Pro SP2

[Chris]

Hi,
can anyone tell me what will happen if I run
SFC.exe /scannow?

Basically I have a corrupted ntvdm.exe file that I want
to replace, there may be some others too for all I know.
But if SP2 has installed files of a newer date then I
would not want to replace good files with the original
ones from the XP CD.

So, the question is does SFC have the capacity to give
you the option of keeping the existing file on my hard
drive which is of a newer date or does it change/refresh
all system files that do not match exactly the CD?

I would find out as soon as I ran it, but I am not that
brave.

Chris.

 

[sgopus]

You can read up on the process here :
http://www.updatexp.com/scannow-sfc.html

 

[Rick \Nutcase\ Rogers]

Hi Chris,

SFC in WinXP is smart enough to replace corrupted files with the correct
version, unlike it's Win9x predecessor.

--
Best of Luck,

Rick Rogers, aka "Nutcase" - Microsoft MVP

Associate Expert - WindowsXP Expert Zone

Windows help - www.rickrogers.org

 

[Guest]

Hi guys,

I followed the write up on sfc /scannow
I even managed to do the regedit to get it to look in the
right places. And I ran SFC, and I am pretty sure that it
all worked great. Thanks to you and sgopus.

The actual problem I had hasn't been fixed. So, the
offending file was probably not in the realm of SFC.

I had an old 16bit turbo pascal program that I wrote
using the unit: graph and this crashed out badly. XP
carried on, but I have been getting random command.com
msdos prompt windows coming up from time to time and have
a couple of seconds delay while these windows appear and
then dissolve. Whilst this happens ntvdm appears for a
few seconds in the task manager application/processes
list, so I was hoping that SFC would check ntvdm.exe for
me. Either ntvdm is not in the list of files that SFC
checks or something else is irritating ntvdm.

I think I will just have to put up with it, but keen to
hear any ideas if anyone has any.

Thanks
Chris.

 

[Rick \Nutcase\ Rogers]

Hi Chris,

Something else is irritating it. Ntvdm is appearing in response to a call
from a thread or process. You need to manually isolate it by killing
processes, or by creating a clean boot.

How to Troubleshoot By Using the Msconfig Utility in Windows XP [Q310560]
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=310560

HOW TO: Perform Advanced Clean-Boot Troubleshooting in Windows XP
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=316434

--
Best of Luck,

Rick Rogers, aka "Nutcase" - Microsoft MVP

Associate Expert - WindowsXP Expert Zone

Windows help - www.rickrogers.org