SFC was introduced with Windows Vista and is a utility to allow users to scan for corruptions in Windows system files and restore corrupted.
It needs to be run from an elevated command prompt.
SFC
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 problems 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 |
Examples
sfc /SCANNOW
sfc /VERIFYFILE=c:\windows\system32\kernel32.dll
sfc /SCANFILE=d:\windows\system32\kernel32.dll /OFFBOOTDIR=d:\ /OFFWINDIR=d:\windows
sfc /VERIFYONLY
Associated Commands
More Information
Microsoft KB: Use the System File Checker tool to repair missing or corrupted system files