How to use the System File Checker in Windows 7 and Windows Vista

About System File Checker

Sometimes, you wonder why your Windows computer doesn't cooperate and loads in a way that scares you. You might also get a message saying "Error loading XXXXX.DLL," or an icon becomes so arrogant it won't do a single thing even if you click it a million times. Can you related to this? Frustrating indeed.

Well, there is something you can try. You might have to run a nifty little command built into Windows 7 or Vista. It's run on the command prompt and goes by the name System File Checker. It's file name is SFC.EXE. You can run this on the windows command prompt using the  sfc /scannow command.

To run a command prompt as administrator, simply right click on the command prompt then choose Run as administrator. If you don't open the prompt as administrator, it will say "You must be an administrator running a console session in order to use the sfc utility." BTW, console session is another name for the command prompt.

Then type sfc /scannow on the prompt and hit enter.

SFC automatically scan and check all critical files and replaces any that it sees as corrupted. During this process, it may ask for the Windows installation CD-ROM. Keep it beside you, just in case.

It will initially say how much is already scanned in percentage figures, and will keep going till it hits 100%.

The results are also shown above.