SFC and DISM: Checking and Repairing System Files in Windows. How to check the integrity of Windows system files and why do it at all How to check the integrity of Windows 10 system files

Not all errors are expressed in windows appearing on the desktop and the inability to perform any action. Much more often, they quietly accumulate on your computer and gradually slow down its operation. It is worth checking your device periodically for possible errors, and not only the system, but also HDD, and the registry. All methods described below also include automatic correction of detected faults.

How to check the system for integrity and errors

As a result of incorrect shutdown of the computer, exposure to viruses and other problematic situations, system files may be damaged or changed. The consequences of this, as a rule, are expressed in problems when launching certain programs or turning on the computer, but sometimes they can be invisible to the user. Scanning your system for integrity is the first thing we recommend doing when you encounter problems with Windows 10.

Via the sfc command

This is the main way to check operating system for integrity. It is intended for cases with problems with the computer's performance. The sfc command only performs a superficial analysis, which cannot be used to find and correct all possible errors. However, this method is quite fast and ideal for preventative computer scanning. A more in-depth analysis is possible through the DISM utility, which is described below.

The sfc command cannot fix errors in files that are currently in use by the system. If you receive a notification about such failures, be sure to run the DISM utility.

Via DISM utility

The DISM utility conducts full scan systems for errors and integrity violations. The analysis it launches takes quite a long time, but allows you to identify and correct all violations in the operation of the system. To carry out the verification, you will definitely need the Internet.

Before running the utility, disable your antivirus and all running programs, and try not to use your computer during the analysis.

Open a command prompt as an administrator and type dism /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth.

For a full analysis of system integrity, enter the command dism /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth in command line

There are several more commands in this utility that may be useful to you:

• dism /Online /Cleanup-Image /CheckHealth to obtain information about the status and presence of damage to Windows components;
• dism /Online /Cleanup-Image /ScanHealth to check the integrity and damage of the component store.

How to check your hard drive for errors

All data recorded on the computer is divided into small fragments, which are placed on sectors of the hard drive. During computer operation, these sectors can become damaged. Damaged sectors are the “errors” of the hard drive. When a hard drive tries to read information from a damaged sector, the reading process is “stuck.” The result of this is that it takes an unreasonably long time to turn on the computer and launch some programs.

Bad sectors cannot be repaired, but they can be prohibited hard drive work with them. The process of finding and eliminating these sectors is called defragmentation. Even if no errors are found, as a result of defragmentation, the space on the hard drive will become more organized, which will also speed up the process of reading information.

Through "Explorer"

This is the main way to check a hard drive. Windows 10 should do this automatically, without the user's knowledge, in order to maintain order on the hard drive. Defragmentation will take you about an hour, so it is better to leave it overnight.

Via the “Control Panel” (storage diagnostics)

Many people mistakenly believe that the storage diagnostic utility can be used to analyze the hard drive. Actually this is not true. The storage diagnostic utility is indeed present on the hard drive, but it starts automatically, and you will not be able to perform analysis through it. Using this method, you can only find out the results of the last hard drive status check.

If you just want to run an analysis, use the previous method, but instead of “Optimize,” click “Analyze.”

Via command line

This method eliminates the restoration of order on the hard drive, which is done during regular defragmentation. Due to this, the process proceeds much faster. Correcting errors this way is recommended if you need to quickly recover information from damaged sectors.

To check without using the Internet, use the command chkdsk C: /F /R /offlinescanandfix.

Via PowerShell

Windows PowerShell is a powerful new command-line shell. She does the same thing as her predecessor, but has much more powers. PowerShell allows you to quickly and easily perform actions that are difficult or impossible for a regular command line. In our case, this will help avoid the need to restart the computer to check the sectors in use.

To check without using the Internet, use the command Repair-Volume -DriveLetter C -OfflineScanAndFix.

Video: how to check your hard drive for errors

How to check the registry for errors

The Windows Registry is a complex database of the operating system that stores all settings, changes, information about the computer and installed programs. If a registry error occurs, the consequences can be very different: from blue screen when turned on and the system is completely inoperable until the shortcut cannot be removed and other little things.

The most annoying feature of registry errors is their layering. One minor error in the registry can lead to several others, which will ultimately lead to dire consequences. This is why regularly scanning the registry for errors and eliminating them early is extremely important to keep your computer running at peak performance.

Through built-in tools

Windows 10 has a built-in utility for checking the registry for integrity, but it is quite weak and does not find most errors. It would be best to use one of third party programs which are described below.

This method can only fix critical errors: many registry errors will remain untouched.

Open a command prompt as an administrator, type scanreg /fix and press Enter.

Enter the scanreg /fix command to check the registry through the built-in Windows utility 10

Via CCleaner

CCleaner is the most popular and reliable computer cleaning program. It is designed to clean debris from hard-to-reach places that the system itself cannot reach. However, CCleaner has earned its popularity precisely for its registry cleaning function, which allows you to quickly find and erase registry errors without affecting anything important.

Via Glary Utilities

Glary Utilities is a very functional program that will run in the tray and keep your computer clean and tidy. Cleaning the registry is just one of the available functions to improve the performance of your computer. Glary Utilities may seem intrusive to many, but to not so much experienced users she will become a very useful assistant.

Via Wise Registry Cleaner

Wise Registry Cleaner is a program designed not so much for cleaning the registry, but for completely cleaning it of stale and unclaimed parameters. Cleaning the registry using Wise Registry Cleaner is quite serious and can affect important files that the program will find unnecessary. When you launch Wise Registry Cleaner for the first time, you will be asked to make a backup copy of the registry, which is best to agree to. If important files are affected, you can always rollback.

Wise Registry Cleaner is available only on the English version of the official website: if you change the page language to Russian, you will be offered another Wise Care 365 program.

Even if you don't see any errors on your computer, it's best to scan it periodically. This will ensure stable operation of the system and help solve most problems before they become noticeable.

Nobody likes it when the usual customized Windows 10 starts to crash and freeze. Let's figure out what reasons this may be associated with, and learn how to identify and correct the problems that have arisen.

Checking Windows 10 for errors

There are two types of errors in the operation of computer devices:

• hardware - physical damage to the device’s hardware is to blame for their appearance;
• software - associated exclusively with the software component.

Let's figure out how to identify these failures and correct them using various means.

If hardware errors can be “cured” only by replacing or repairing the damaged part, then software failures can be corrected using special built-in or third-party utilities.

Diagnostics Windows 10 using SFC

SFC.exe is a system utility built into Windows 10, which is responsible for checking the integrity and functionality of system files. If any of them are damaged, the program automatically repairs them. SFC is not omnipotent: it is recommended to use it in conjunction with DISM, which will be discussed later. However, using this utility is practically the first thing to do in case of system failures.

For some (sometimes quite a long) time, the utility will check system files for integrity. After completion of the work, it will give the user the result.

SFC cannot repair some of the system files while Windows is running, because they are currently in use by the system. If the SFC check shows that there are problems, but it cannot solve them, the utility must be run again, but not from the system, but from the tool Windows recovery.

You can open the Windows Recovery Tool in the following ways:

• go to “Start” - “Settings” - “Update and Security” - “Recovery” - “Special boot options” - “Restart now”;

  “Update and Security” item in Windows settings allows you to access the special boot options menu

• select the "System Restore" option when booting from installation media (or from a recovery disk);

  Click on the "System Restore" button when booting from installation media

• press instead of the start button on special button, which allows you to enter recovery mode. It is available on some laptops, for example Lenovo. As a rule, such a button is located either next to the system start button or next to the charger connector.

  Some laptops have a button that opens the recovery menu

From the recovery menu, do the following:

This time, the SFC utility will be able to repair all files, even those that are usually inaccessible to it.

Video: how to run the SFC utility

Scan and repair Windows 10 using DISM

DISM is another utility for recovering damaged files. Its scope of application is much wider than that of SFC. With its help you can even do backups systems. DISM and SFC are responsible for different groups of system files, and using them together is more effective than using them individually.

Diagnostics and repair of system files using DISM are also carried out through the “Command Line”. How to enter it is described above. There are several options for using the command:

• dism /Online /Cleanup-Image /CheckHealth - no check is performed, the utility displays the latest saved data on the status of the files;

  The command dism /Online /Cleanup-Image /CheckHealth shows what results the disk check gave last time

• dism /Online /Cleanup-Image /ScanHealth - checks the integrity of files without “fixing” the problems found;

  The command dism /Online /Cleanup-Image /ScanHealth starts checking all system files through DISM without “repairing”

• dism /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth - starts checking the integrity of files and then restoring damaged files.

  Checking system files in DISM and then repairing damage is started with the command dism /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth

Scanning and restoring files takes quite a long time. Also a completely normal feature of the DISM utility is the status bar freezing at 20%.

Video: how to check the integrity of Windows 10 using SFC and DISM

Checking the hard drive for failures

In addition to physical damage to the hard drive, there are also errors that can be “cured” using the built-in diagnostic tools of Windows 10. To fix more serious problems (for example, bad sectors) you can use third-party utilities, but after a while the disk will still have to be changed.

Using the Command Line

Using the Command Line, you can run the built-in Check Disk utility, which checks the disk for errors and, if possible, corrects them. IN Windows environment This program will not be able to check the system disk (drive C): it will prompt you to reboot and will check during the reboot before the OS starts.

If the chkdsk utility receives a system disk as input, it prompts you to reboot the system to check it

The utility is launched in the “Command Line” (how to enter there is described above) using the chkdsk command<имя диска с двоеточием>with the given parameters:

• /f - auto-correction of found errors;
• /r - check for bad sectors and attempt to restore damaged information;
• /offlinescanandfix - offline scan, in which the program first “disconnects” the disk from processes in the system, and then checks it. Applies if the disk is in use and a “simple” run of Check Disk cannot fix the errors;
• /? - help on the command.

The command with the /r option can take up to several hours to complete.

As a result, chkdsk will display the disk data obtained during the scan

Video: how to check your hard drive for failures using chkdsk

Using StorDiag

The storage diagnostic utility is present only in Windows 10 and is not used in other versions of the system. Just like Check Disk, it is launched via the “Command Line” using the command stordiag.exe -collectEtw -checkfsconsistency -out<путь к папке, куда сохранится отчёт>.

StorDiag does not correct the errors found, but only diagnoses them and writes the received data to a report file. However, its diagnostic scope is wider than that of Check Disk, and if you are an advanced user, you can use this program to more accurately determine the cause of problems with your device.

Checking the disk using the StorDiag storage diagnostic utility will allow you to diagnose problems and write the resulting data to a separate file

Using PowerShell

Windows PowerShell is a “Command Prompt” shell used in Windows as another management tool. It is distinguished from a regular console by a wider range of applications, the ability to use scripts and other improvements.

PowerShell is located at Start - All Programs - Windows PowerShell. The console can also be found by simply typing its name in the Start menu search.

To check the disk, type in the PowerShell “Command Prompt” running as administrator (right-click on the PowerShell icon - “Run as administrator”) one of the following commands:

• Repair-Volume-DriveLetter<буква диска без двоеточия>- normal check with recovery;
• Repair-Volume-DriveLetter<буква диска без двоеточия>-OfflineScanAndFix - offline check (what it is was described above).

The specified commands entered in PowerShell will launch the disk diagnostic and treatment tool

Using Explorer and Control Panel

You can diagnose your hard drive for errors by running the diagnostic utility through Explorer. To do this, follow the path: “My Computer” - right mouse button on the disk that needs checking - “Properties” - “Service” - “Check for errors”. The check performed is similar to Check Disk.

Diagnostics and error correction can be started from the disk properties window

In addition, through the “Control Panel” you can activate system maintenance, which includes checking hard drives. It is located along the path “Start” - “Control Panel” - “Security and Service Center” - “Maintenance”. In the maintenance window, you can view the results of the previous scan or start it again using the “Start maintenance” button.

To start disk maintenance, you need to click on the corresponding button

Video: how to check your hard drive for errors using the built-in diagnostic utility

Windows Registry Diagnostics

The registry is another Windows component that often gets damaged, leading to crashes, glitches and freezes. To prevent this from happening, you need to periodically clean it, removing outdated branches, consequences of failures and erroneous entries.

Manually cleaning the registry is very labor-intensive and time-consuming. In addition, it is easy to make a mistake when carrying out this procedure, which can lead to negative consequences (including system crash). Therefore, we will touch on the topic of manual cleaning in passing.

If you don’t want to waste time on manual cleaning, use one of special programs, which will automatically clean the registry of unnecessary and erroneous entries. The most popular of them is CCleaner - free utility, which not only corrects registry errors, but also cleans the computer of garbage and accumulated temporary files. Let's figure out how to work with it.

You can download CCleaner from the official website of the developer.

Video: how to clean the Windows 10 registry manually and using CCleaner

When system failures are corrected, Windows begins to “fly” and delight the user with its impeccable work. Check the system for errors in a timely manner so as not to miss any problems that have started, and it will serve you for a long time.

Over time, the Windows 10 operating system, like any other, begins to work slower, all sorts of errors arise, and programs take a long time to load. In this case, after manually optimizing the work of the “tens” using tools built into the system itself, it also makes sense check the “top ten” for internal errors and OS integrity.

Of course, for most of us it would be much more convenient to carry out all such checks with one click, which is why all sorts of optimizer applications are so incredibly popular. However my personal experience suggests that when solving problems with Windows 10 (and other versions), it is best to use built-in utilities and system methods. This method ensures that the operating system will not be damaged, and also protects against all kinds of threats from third-party programs. In general, the work of all kinds of optimization applications reminds me of the behavior of a bull in a china shop: without really understanding the details, they try to speed up the computer at any cost. The result, as a rule, is quite deplorable: the speed of the system first increases, and then decreases again, problems appear unknown errors, services needed by a specific user are disabled, etc. As a result, the integrity of Windows 10 itself is violated, and as a result, the system begins to slow down and “glitch” even more.

So, in order to check "ten" for errors there is a built-in utility. It is called SFC and works in all operating versions Windows systems starting with XP. To launch it, you first need to open a new Command Prompt window in Windows 10. To do this, click on the Start menu with the RIGHT mouse button and select “Windows PowerShell (Administrator)”.

The previous familiar version of the Command Prompt is launched through the search (magnifying glass icon on the Taskbar). Enter letters cmd and right-click to launch the found tool “Command Line. Classic App" as an administrator.

Next, in the command line that opens, type the command “ sfc /scannow" (without quotes and with a space before the slash) and press Enter. After this, a system scan will begin, which, depending on the performance of the computer, can last from several minutes on fast machines to an hour or more on outdated ones. Progress can be observed in the form of percentage of operation completion.

In most cases, the operation will be completed successfully and a window will appear as in the screenshot below. In the best case, damage will not be detected at all. If everything turned out exactly like this for you, then you won’t have to take any further actions.

If the message “ Windows Resource Protection has detected corrupted files, but is unable to repair some of them", then you can continue the recovery operation using the utility DISM, which will try to correct existing errors.

Before you launch it, you need to prepare. First, turn off the computer and disconnect everything unnecessary from it: flash drives, other removable drives, etc. Turn it on and wait for the system to boot. When Windows 10 has fully started, we look at what programs we have launched along with the system and close them. To do this, hold down the Alt key, press Tab and use the mouse to close all active programs. We also close everything running applications on the right side of the taskbar (for example, antivirus or Google Chrome, which even with closed window continues to work in background). To do this, hover the cursor over the program logo in the lower right corner, right-click and select “Exit”.

Now you need to make sure that the computer is connected to the network, and also that the power mode does not provide for turning off hard drives from power supply during prolonged user inactivity. The fact is that the recovery process is not very fast (it took me 10-15 minutes), so you need to protect your computer from turning off during work. The Internet connection must remain active, since Windows may use Update during the recovery process. You can check your power settings by RIGHT-clicking on the Start menu and selecting the third item, “Power Management.”

After all this, you can launch the command line. ( I remind you: cmd in the search bar and run as Administrator or Windows PowerShell (administrator) in the Start menu with the right mouse button) Next, copy from here and paste the following command there with the right mouse button:

DISM.exe /Online /Cleanup-image /ScanHealth

The utility begins scanning the Windows 10 operating system for errors and integrity damage. This process, as I wrote above, took about 10-15 minutes on my computer. Hanging at 20.0% for a certain time is completely normal. Then, as in the image below, a message will appear indicating that the component store is subject to recovery. (If not, then we are unlikely to be able to cope without the help of specialists - perhaps reinstall Windows 10 completely) .

To try to restore damaged parts of our operating system, enter the following command into the Command Prompt and, as always, press Enter:

DISM.exe /Online /Cleanup-image /RestoreHealth

A process begins that is similar to the previous one both in appearance and in duration. Again about 10-15 minutes, again freezing at 20.0%.

In most cases, the DISM utility manages to fix everything. The message appears: " Restore completed successfully" Finally, you can double-check whether errors in the operating system remain with the utility SFC (see the beginning of the article).

However, it also happens that to restore integrity and correct Windows errors 10 using DISM fails. This is what happened to me when I wrote this article and did everything described above on my own computer. As a result of the work, the DISM utility gave me a message in the Command Line that it was impossible to find the source files for recovery and, therefore, it did not correct the error.

In this case, of course, you can continue trying to restore the integrity of Windows 10 and fix errors in the system. To do this, as a rule, you need to have a clean image previously saved somewhere, from which the OS was installed. Personally, I decided not to go further into the jungle and just reinstalled "top ten" completely. But if you have the time and desire to figure out how to restore components without a complete reinstallation, then perhaps reading the comments in the corresponding topic on the Microsoft forum.

Often, a computer user is faced with the fact that his PC begins to work slowly. It begins to “slow down” the launch and operation of some programs, although the window with a message and error code did not pop up on the monitor. This requires checking Windows 10 for errors. You should not immediately “tear down” and reinstall the operating system. After all, the reason may lie in changes or damage to system files.

This can often happen due to the influence of viruses and other malware, incorrect shutdown of the computer after work, and other problems. It is worth considering that not all errors may be displayed on the screen; they accumulate imperceptibly, interfering with the operation of the PC. In order to identify and eliminate them, it is necessary to periodically carry out a full Windows check 10 for mistakes. You also need to analyze the integrity of the system, registry, video card, hard drive and other vital elements of the computer.

Checking your hard drive for Windows 10 errors

The hard drive and its bad sectors in Windows 10 can mainly be checked in the Explorer interface and through the command line. Moreover, installation of any programs is not required during this process.

1. Through "Conductor". This check is the main one and is performed by Windows 10 in automatic mode. Since it takes about 60 minutes, it is better to run disk defragmentation at night, since it checks all disks. IN "Explorer"(right mouse button) open it on one of the disks "Properties", then go to "Service" with pressing "Optimize".
2. Using the command line. Using this method, you cannot restore order on your hard drive, as with defragmentation, but you can quickly recover data from damaged sectors. To do this, open the Command Prompt (Administrator) and enter the command chkdsk C: /F /R (F – automatic correction of problems found, R – attempt to restore data).

After checking drive C, you need to check all other drives for errors, replacing only the letter designation.

Checking RAM for Windows 10 errors

You can diagnose memory errors using the built-in Windows utility. To launch it you need to take the following steps:

After the check is completed, the PC will restart and information on checking memory for Windows 10 errors will be displayed on the monitor after logging in. To view the results (MemoryDiagnostics-Results) need to login "Windows Logs" - "System".

Checking the Windows 10 registry for errors

If the error in the registry is not corrected in time, then the consequences of its “life” in it may result in a blue screen of death for the computer, or even a complete failure of the system to start. Check Windows registry 10 you can check for errors via:

1. Via the built-in utility in Windows 10, but it is more suitable for identifying critical errors in the registry. Let's launch Command Line (Administrator)– enter the command scanreg /fix – Enter.
2. Through the computer cleaning program CCleaner. After launching the utility, you need to go to the “Registry” section, then “Search for problems” and after checking, click on “Fix selected...”. To fix problems with the registry, use "Fix flagged".

Checking ssd disk for Windows 10 errors

An SSD disk can be checked for errors using the functionality of some appropriate programs that will conduct a full test. Among them it is worth paying attention to:

1. It needs to be downloaded, installed and launched. It will scan your hard drive and display the test result. In the main menu you need to use the tab "Service".
2. This free utility will identify all problems, because it is specially created to analyze the performance of an SSD drive.

In addition to these programs, you can also use SSD Life, DiskCheckup and HDDScan.

Checking the Windows 10 system and system files for errors

Windows 10 system files are checked for errors using SFC.exe and DISM.exe. Let's consider both options.

1. SFC.exe. To run the command, you need to log in Command line on behalf of Administrator and enter sfc /scannow – Enter. Next, a corresponding check will occur, during which errors in system files will be automatically corrected. If you want to analyze a specific system file, use the command sfc /scanfile=”path to file.
2. DISM.exe. Through Command line (Administrator) you need to run the following commands in turn: dism /Online /Cleanup-Image /CheckHealth, dism /Online /Cleanup-Image /ScanHealth, dism /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth, each of which takes a certain period of time when checking and troubleshooting system problems files.

Checking your video card for Windows 10 errors

To check your video card for Windows 10 errors, it is recommended to carry out the following steps.

1. Press Win+R – enter command dxdiag– Enter.
2. will appear on the monitor “DirectX Diagnostic Tool”(you will be prompted to check the drivers), click on "Yes" and then click on "Screen".
3. If you see in the window "Note" list of identified errors, then they need to be eliminated and then the video card will have high performance. It is worth considering that the list of errors should not be present in this field, because otherwise these problems will “slow down” the functionality of the video card.

You also need to know that this testing of the video card was carried out without load. Therefore, you need to do an additional check of the computer element, but with a load.

To do this, you can use a benchmark for the graphics card FurMark. It is completely free and very easy to download from the official website of the developer. All procedures for checking a video card are carried out after it visual inspection for external damage.

The performance of the Windows 10 operating system depends on many factors and reasons. To avoid many problems in it that lead to disastrous results, you always need to carry out a full diagnosis in a timely manner.

With the help of many built-in and downloaded utilities (which are also completely free), you can identify and eliminate serious errors in systems at an early stage. This can be done independently, without resorting to the services of an expensive specialist from a computer service center.

If you are tired of constant crashes from the system, errors and other “troubles” with your computer during operation, then you need to diagnose its elements more often to identify very serious problems.

After all, some of them may be completely unnoticeable in operation, but when layered on top of one another, these errors can cause great harm to your computer or laptop.

). In this case, some begin to worry and look for all sorts of reasons and ways to eliminate freezes.
I will not repeat myself and write why this happens, because... The article is not about this and I have already given a link to solving problems above.
I'd rather show you one interesting way, which will help check the system for errors.

Few people know, but in Windows OS there is one useful “little thing” that can search And correct errors in the system itself. Moreover, it will not touch third-party programs, but will only check its system files. This is useful and interesting because many do not think that the reason may be hidden in the system itself, but feverishly begin, and so on. All in all . Yes, it is useful and can lead to good result, but with all these actions it is good to remember something else that I will write about below.

I already wrote a little about this function in the article, which can also arise due to a failure in system files, which are often forgotten. But still, within the framework of this article, I will repeat...

So, let's run:

and enter it into sfc /scannow:

The system check will begin:

All you have to do is wait.

For those interested, here is a description of the command and keys.

sfc
Where:
/scannow – immediately scans all protected system files.
/scanonce – scans all protected system files once at the next system boot.
/scanboot – scans all protected system files at every boot
/REVERT – Sets the initial parameters to default.
/ENABLE – Enable normal operation of Windows file protection
/PURGECACHE – Clear file cache and check files immediately
/CACHESIZE=x – Sets the file cache size

In the command line (Start -> Run -> cmd) we write the command sfc / and the desired key.

After the check is completed, the system will report the results and ask you to reboot.

That's all I have. Thank you all for your attention.