SFC /SCANNOW

[Bill Martin]

I'm having a minor problem and it was suggested that I run SCF
/SCANNOW to check for file corruption. Just running it turned into a
minor nightmare, but finally I turned off Vista's account control and
it ran. (And *why* does Msft want to make it hard for me to run this,
but easy to disable the account control? A mystery for another day.)

Anyhow, I ran SFC and it reports "Found corrupt files but was unable
to fix some of them." And it directed me to the CBS.Log file for
details.

Well, there are 32MB of simple text file in the log. It must have
several million lines in it. Obviously I'm not going to read through
them one line at a time.

So I tried using the text editor to search for "corrupt" or "unable"
or various other things to zoom in on the troubled file. No help.
What do I need to do to find the corrupt file in that log?

And is it common for Vista to report corrupt files? Some file that's
actually locked by another process for example. Or some virus checker
file that doesn't want to be examined closely by another process. Or
does this error message truly mean I've got some problem that needs to
be addressed?

I'm running a new Vista machine with very little additional software
installed. AVG virus checker most notably along with a few other
applications less deeply involved with the OS. And of course all of
Microsoft's updates to Vista which I'm sure make it look different
than the original installed image for some files.

Thanks.

Bill

 

[Daze N. Knights]

Out of curiosity, what was the original "minor problem"?

 

[Bill Martin]

Out of curiosity, what was the original "minor problem"?

-----------------------

It's described in this usenet group with the subject: "ERROR - Program
cannot display the web page". It concerns Vista Mail popping up an
error message window which cannot be removed again without rebooting.
It has no link or button to close the window, no "X" in the corner, no
obvious design intent that it should ever be closed by any means.

When I asked about it, my assumption was that I was overlooking some
obvious way to close it. Mark suggested that I shoud run SFC though
which has opened a different issue.

Bill

 

[Daze N. Knights]

Thanks for satisfying my curiosity. I'll be interested in following any
responses to your problem.

 

[John]

Try rynning SCF in with Vista in safemode. Possibly those files that weren't
repaired were in use and safemode may free some of them for fixing.

 

[David Webb]

The tech article cited below contains the search parameters you need to
determine which files could not be repaired by the System File Checker tool:

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/929833

I'm no expert...I found this article using a simple Google search.

Good luck!

 

[Wayne Hartell]

I used sfc /scannow on my XP system (yes I know we are talking about Vista
so please bear with me) not more than a week ago and it wasted my system
(BSOD on start every time). I used it in response to a virus that came
through Windows Messenger that infected a number of people at my company. I
was working on the assumption that sfc was safe to use, but since it killed
my system I have other thoughts about it. My IT people can't believe SFC did
that to my machine, but I have photos to prove it.

Life wasn't over at that point since I restored my XP system from backup
about 6 days old and that also ensured that I was clear of the virus. At
that time I figured maybe Vista was in my future (better security) although
I had tried Vista for 3 months back near the start of 2007 and finally went
back to XP after banging my head against a long laundry list of issues, that
to be fair were probably a mix of 3rd party software / hardware driver
issues, but at the time I just couldn't get my work done without constant
pain.

Anyway I only installed Vista (for the second try) yesterday and already it
seems better (perhaps more 3rd party stuff has caught up), but I was under
the impression that Vista didn't allow unauthorized access/mods to system
files, so what's the idea behind SFC for Vista? Unless it's only there for
the case where you did authorize a trojan to go about it's business?

Wayne.

 

[Bill Martin]

The tech article cited below contains the search parameters you need to
determine which files could not be repaired by the System File Checker tool:

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/929833

I'm no expert...I found this article using a simple Google search.

Good luck!

-------------------------------

Thanks for the reference. Using it I reran the SFC scan. It gives
the same results that there are corrupt files that cannot be repaired.
So then I searched the log file as described. Nowhere in the log does
it say there was anything which could not be repaired.

Frankly I think it's a wild goose chase, but the %$#@ SFC program says
there's a problem but does not log one.

Bill

 

[Jim]

-------------------------------

Thanks for the reference. Using it I reran the SFC scan. It gives
the same results that there are corrupt files that cannot be repaired.
So then I searched the log file as described. Nowhere in the log does
it say there was anything which could not be repaired.

Frankly I think it's a wild goose chase, but the %$#@ SFC program says
there's a problem but does not log one.

Bill

I have *never* had success with SFC in XP. I always had to find other
solutions or simply re install the OS more than a few times. So far so good
with Vista however.

Jimbo

 

[Peter M]

Perhaps delete teh log file and run again

I have *never* had success with SFC in XP. I always had to find other
solutions or simply re install the OS more than a few times. So far so
good with Vista however.

Jimbo

 

[John Edwards]

I have experienced EXACTLY the same issue - when prompted to run sfc (here)
as a way of overcoming failure to run backup successfully, with error
0x80070002.

I have isolated the parts of the CBS.log for the date and time of the last
sfc scan and copied them to a notepad file, so it's much more manageable.

Can anyone help me to find the 'corrupt files that can't be repaired'? Many
thanks in anticipation, as I really need to get backups going.

 

[Darrell Gorter[MSFT]]

Hello John,
use this article pull the information from the cbs.log file.

929833 Some Windows Vista functions may not work, or Windows Vista may stop
responding
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;929833

This article talks about the sfc entries in the cbs.log and shows some
examples.
928228 How to analyze the log file entries that the Microsoft Windows
Resource Checker (SFC.exe) program generates in Windows Vista
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;928228


Thanks,
Darrell Gorter[MSFT]

This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights
--------------------
|> Thread-Topic: SFC /SCANNOW
|> thread-index: AciOkW1PUIS91b4dS5q97z25EI5OrA==
|> X-WBNR-Posting-Host: 207.46.193.207
|> From: =?Utf-8?B?Sm9obiBFZHdhcmRz?=
<[email protected]>
|> References: <[email protected]>
|> Subject: RE: SFC /SCANNOW
|> Date: Tue, 25 Mar 2008 09:01:03 -0700
|> Lines: 46
|> Message-ID: <[email protected]>
|> MIME-Version: 1.0
|> Content-Type: text/plain;
|> charset="Utf-8"
|> Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit
|> X-Newsreader: Microsoft CDO for Windows 2000
|> Content-Class: urn:content-classes:message
|> Importance: normal
|> Priority: normal
|> X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V6.00.3790.2992
|> Newsgroups: microsoft.public.windows.vista.general
|> Path: TK2MSFTNGHUB02.phx.gbl
|> Xref: TK2MSFTNGHUB02.phx.gbl
microsoft.public.windows.vista.general:278631
|> NNTP-Posting-Host: tk2msftibfm01.phx.gbl 10.40.244.149
|> X-Tomcat-NG: microsoft.public.windows.vista.general
|>
|> I have experienced EXACTLY the same issue - when prompted to run sfc
(here)
|> as a way of overcoming failure to run backup successfully, with error
|> 0x80070002.
|>
|> I have isolated the parts of the CBS.log for the date and time of the
last
|> sfc scan and copied them to a notepad file, so it's much more manageable.
|>
|> Can anyone help me to find the 'corrupt files that can't be repaired'?
Many
|> thanks in anticipation, as I really need to get backups going.
|>
|> "Bill Martin" wrote:
|>
|> > I'm having a minor problem and it was suggested that I run SCF
|> > /SCANNOW to check for file corruption. Just running it turned into a
|> > minor nightmare, but finally I turned off Vista's account control and
|> > it ran. (And *why* does Msft want to make it hard for me to run this,
|> > but easy to disable the account control? A mystery for another day.)
|> >
|> > Anyhow, I ran SFC and it reports "Found corrupt files but was unable
|> > to fix some of them." And it directed me to the CBS.Log file for
|> > details.
|> >
|> > Well, there are 32MB of simple text file in the log. It must have
|> > several million lines in it. Obviously I'm not going to read through
|> > them one line at a time.
|> >
|> > So I tried using the text editor to search for "corrupt" or "unable"
|> > or various other things to zoom in on the troubled file. No help.
|> > What do I need to do to find the corrupt file in that log?
|> >
|> > And is it common for Vista to report corrupt files? Some file that's
|> > actually locked by another process for example. Or some virus checker
|> > file that doesn't want to be examined closely by another process. Or
|> > does this error message truly mean I've got some problem that needs to
|> > be addressed?
|> >
|> > I'm running a new Vista machine with very little additional software
|> > installed. AVG virus checker most notably along with a few other
|> > applications less deeply involved with the OS. And of course all of
|> > Microsoft's updates to Vista which I'm sure make it look different
|> > than the original installed image for some files.
|> >
|> > Thanks.
|> >
|> > Bill
|> >
|>

 

[John Edwards]

Thanks Darrell

I've followed these KBs - but I can't find anything that says 'cannot repair
member file'. There are plenty of other details within a range of POQ numbers
(?) - generally "Move file..........." or occasionally "Set Key
Value........", but they all give the impression of being fixed as they are
followed by "Verify complete".

Can I send you the extract?

Hello John,
use this article pull the information from the cbs.log file.

929833 Some Windows Vista functions may not work, or Windows Vista may stop
responding
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;929833

This article talks about the sfc entries in the cbs.log and shows some
examples.
928228 How to analyze the log file entries that the Microsoft Windows
Resource Checker (SFC.exe) program generates in Windows Vista
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;928228


Thanks,
Darrell Gorter[MSFT]

This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights
--------------------
|> Thread-Topic: SFC /SCANNOW
|> thread-index: AciOkW1PUIS91b4dS5q97z25EI5OrA==
|> X-WBNR-Posting-Host: 207.46.193.207
|> From: =?Utf-8?B?Sm9obiBFZHdhcmRz?=
<[email protected]>
|> References: <[email protected]>
|> Subject: RE: SFC /SCANNOW
|> Date: Tue, 25 Mar 2008 09:01:03 -0700
|> Lines: 46
|> Message-ID: <[email protected]>
|> MIME-Version: 1.0
|> Content-Type: text/plain;
|> charset="Utf-8"
|> Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit
|> X-Newsreader: Microsoft CDO for Windows 2000
|> Content-Class: urn:content-classes:message
|> Importance: normal
|> Priority: normal
|> X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V6.00.3790.2992
|> Newsgroups: microsoft.public.windows.vista.general
|> Path: TK2MSFTNGHUB02.phx.gbl
|> Xref: TK2MSFTNGHUB02.phx.gbl
microsoft.public.windows.vista.general:278631
|> NNTP-Posting-Host: tk2msftibfm01.phx.gbl 10.40.244.149
|> X-Tomcat-NG: microsoft.public.windows.vista.general
|>
|> I have experienced EXACTLY the same issue - when prompted to run sfc
(here)
|> as a way of overcoming failure to run backup successfully, with error
|> 0x80070002.
|>
|> I have isolated the parts of the CBS.log for the date and time of the
last
|> sfc scan and copied them to a notepad file, so it's much more manageable.
|>
|> Can anyone help me to find the 'corrupt files that can't be repaired'?
Many
|> thanks in anticipation, as I really need to get backups going.
|>
|> "Bill Martin" wrote:
|>
|> > I'm having a minor problem and it was suggested that I run SCF
|> > /SCANNOW to check for file corruption. Just running it turned into a
|> > minor nightmare, but finally I turned off Vista's account control and
|> > it ran. (And *why* does Msft want to make it hard for me to run this,
|> > but easy to disable the account control? A mystery for another day.)
|> >
|> > Anyhow, I ran SFC and it reports "Found corrupt files but was unable
|> > to fix some of them." And it directed me to the CBS.Log file for
|> > details.
|> >
|> > Well, there are 32MB of simple text file in the log. It must have
|> > several million lines in it. Obviously I'm not going to read through
|> > them one line at a time.
|> >
|> > So I tried using the text editor to search for "corrupt" or "unable"
|> > or various other things to zoom in on the troubled file. No help.
|> > What do I need to do to find the corrupt file in that log?
|> >
|> > And is it common for Vista to report corrupt files? Some file that's
|> > actually locked by another process for example. Or some virus checker
|> > file that doesn't want to be examined closely by another process. Or
|> > does this error message truly mean I've got some problem that needs to
|> > be addressed?
|> >
|> > I'm running a new Vista machine with very little additional software
|> > installed. AVG virus checker most notably along with a few other
|> > applications less deeply involved with the OS. And of course all of
|> > Microsoft's updates to Vista which I'm sure make it look different
|> > than the original installed image for some files.
|> >
|> > Thanks.
|> >
|> > Bill
|> >
|>