sfc found corrupt files but "was unable to fix". Now what?

Anonymous
2010-01-13T18:49:07+00:00

My laptop, which I recently upgraded to Windows 7 from Vista, has been periodically locking up on me.  I ran sfc /scannow, and received the following error:

Windows Resource Protection found corrupt files but was unable to fix some of them.

Details are included in the CBS.Log windir\Logs\CBS\CBS.log. For example

C:\Windows\Logs\CBS\CBS.log

I checked CBS.log and found this line which seemed relevant:

2010-01-13 13:14:13, Info                  CSI    000001aa [SR] Cannot repair member file [l:22{11}]"autochk.exe" of Microsoft-Windows-Autochk, Version = 6.1.7600.16385, pA = PROCESSOR_ARCHITECTURE_INTEL (0), Culture neutral, VersionScope = 1 nonSxS, PublicKeyToken = {l:8 b:31bf3856ad364e35}, Type neutral, TypeName neutral, PublicKey neutral in the store, hash mismatch

OK.  Now what do I do?  I found a "How to analyze the log file entries that the Microsoft Windows Resource Checker program generates", but it doesn't give a clue as to what to do about a "cannot repair" entry.

Any help?

Windows for home | Previous Windows versions | Performance and system failures

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Anonymous
2010-01-14T17:45:31+00:00

Hello Mikey Chairs,

a)    Have you made any recent changes on the computer?

Method 1: In order to fix this issue, I would suggest you to refer the article given below and follow the steps from the link and check if it helps.

Note: This is also applies for windows 7:

How to analyze the log file entries that the Microsoft Windows Resource Checker (SFC.exe) program generates in Windows Vista

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/928228

**Method 2:**Try to perform clean boot and check if any of the third party applications are causing the issue.

To find out which startup application is causing the issue. Please follow the steps below:

Clean Boot will help you start your computer by using a minimal set of drivers and startup programs so that you can determine whether a background program or any of the third party service is interfering with your program.

 Steps to perform a Clean Boot:

  1. Click Start on your Desktop
  2. Type msconfig in the Start Search box and then press ENTER.

If you are prompted for an administrator password or for a confirmation, type the password, or click   Continue.

  1. On the General tab, click Selective Startup.
  2. Under Selective Startup, click to clear the Load Startup Items check box.
  3. Click the Services tab, click to select the Hide All Microsoft Services check box, and then click Disable All.
  4. Click OK.
  5. When you are prompted, click Restart.

If the computer boots fine after clean boot, then there are some non Microsoft applications causing the problem. To find out which application causing the problem refer from step 2 to step 6 in the article this is mentioned in the clean boot article.

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/331796

Once you find out the application which is causing the issue, i would suggest you to uninstall and reinstall the application.

To return your computer back to normal boot:

  1. Click Start on your Desktop
  2. Type msconfig in the Start Search box and then press ENTER.

If you are prompted for an administrator password or for a confirmation, type the password, or click   Continue.

  1. Click the General tab.
  2. Click Normal Startup - load all device drivers and services, and then click OK.
  3. When you are prompted, click Restart to restart the computer.

For information on using “Clean Boot”, see the following Microsoft Article:

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/331796

Method 3: Try to perform disk cleanup to remove temporary files from the computer. To do so, please follow the steps below:

The following procedure cleans up files associated with your user account. You can also use Disk Cleanup to clean up all the files on your computer.

1.    Open Disk Cleanup by clicking the Start button. In the search box, type Disk Cleanup, and then, in the list of results, click Disk Cleanup.

2.    In the Drives list, click the hard disk drive that you want to clean up, and then click OK.

3.    In the Disk Cleanup dialog box, on the Disk Cleanup tab, select the check boxes for the file types that you want to delete, and then click OK.

4.    In the message that appears, click Delete files.

For more information, please refer the link mentioned below:

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows7/Delete-files-using-Disk-Cleanup

I hope this information helps. Please get back to us if you have any more questions about this issue.

Thanks and Regards

Mir - Microsoft Support ****Visit our http://social.answers.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/answersfeedback/threads

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Anonymous
2015-05-24T18:34:12+00:00

Hi - The 'solution' I found to this may just work for your HP notebook (although I realize the issues with this particular update aren't the same for everybody) - Have a look at my post on 20th May in the thread below...there seems to be some link between this update and KB3035583 which was first offered in March/April, but revised and re-offered this month. I uninstalled the original...installed the new version and 3022345 immediately became shown as an 'optional' update.

 http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/windows_7-system/sfc-cannot-fix-corrupted-files-in-windows-7/f798f377-126c-47ff-bb16-ef5e0dddb5be?page=5

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  1. Anonymous
    2014-12-11T21:21:05+00:00

    I ran into this same problem on Windows 7 Pro 64-bit.   I'm not sure why folks are suggesting solutions for Windows 8 here.  They don't apply and just won't work.

    I found a solution that didn't require a reinstall or update install.

    When I ran sfc /scannow I would get the warning about it being unable to repair corrupted files.  When I checked the CBS.log, I didn't find any entries about corrupt files, nor did I find the "Cannot repair" phrase along the [SR] entries.

    I tried to follow Microsoft's guides:

    http://support.microsoft.com/kb/929833/en-us

    That didn't fix sfc or any corrupt files.

    I decided to try chkdsk which can solve a lot a problems.   Some folks warn against chkdsk claiming it will ruin your Windows.    It has always helped me with filesystem issues.   I ran it and it took a long time.  When I rebooted and ran sfc /scannow in a command prompt in Win 7, it completed successfully.    Give it a try. 

    I hope this helps.

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  2. Anonymous
    2014-07-22T22:24:21+00:00

    Wow.  Thank you ever so much for such a comprehensive suggestion.  If I'm going to go that way, it would seem that I need at least several days to sort it out.  There is not just the windows installation itself, but an accumulation of programs (some of which date back to XP and took a bit of installing anyway) including photo management ones that would then need to re-check the location of all the files.  Until a large part of that is done, the laptop would not be a lot of use.

    Sadly it is a Dell, so it does somewhere have a hidden partition, but it also has some strange drivers.  It is an Intel core i7.  It will not upgrade to Windows 8 due to some incompatible Intel PROSet/Wireless WiFi software that appears to uninstall but despite there being no traces I can find, still prevents 8 from installing.  I am a little concerned that this would also prevent installation from my full retail version of windows 7 bought for my old desktop PC.  There are many threads about this on Microsoft and Dell sites, with no reliable solution.

    Right now I only get a few hours here and there, and losing my laptop for a week or more is not on my wish list.

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  3. Anonymous
    2014-07-21T21:20:19+00:00

    Let me make some suggestions, Fellwalker:

    Please trust me.  I am a long-time computer professional who currently looks after 135 Windows 7 computers.  I do this quite often.

    If I were in your shoes, I would re-install Windows 7.  It is a time-consuming process -- likely 6 to12 hours elasped time depending on the speed of your Internet connection and your computer and how much memory it has.  This kind of a process will lead you to a purely clean and absolutely virgin system that will have dramatically improved performance.

    First backup your data, but do one more thing.  Use Windows Easy Transfer to create a file for later transfer. Use a large external hard drive for this.

    Now find the drive tester software from the manufacturer of your hard drive.  Run all three tests to ensure you have a reliable hard drive before you begin this long process.  This may take a couple of hours, but I would not do this until this is done and you are confident.  If necessary replace the hard drive -- not a difficult or particularly expensive process.

    Choice 1: If your computer came with a factory restore partition, restore that.   Depending on what you bought, you will then have to a lot of un-installing of un-desirable programs.  Do not let an antivirus or internet security system install until you are at the end of this process - the very last thing you do.  Also do not put a password on your computer until you are absolutely done.  If antivirus or Internet security is installed in this choice 1, uninstall it.  Now startup Windows Update, but first change it so that it will give you all Microsoft updates, not just Windows ones. There will likely be hundreds of them and it will take hours, but you do not have to watch it.  There will be multiple rounds of updates.  Do NOT allow installation of Internet Explorer 10 or 11.  Keep Checking for new updates until there are none.  Now install your applications, but only the stable unchanging ones, e.g. Microsoft Office.  You may have a couple more rounds of updates after this.  Now do a defragmentation.  No data yet.  Next take a step almost no one does but should you ever be back in a similar situation again, you will thank yourself for  having done it.  Create a system image using Maintenance, Back up Restore.  Use DVD's -- from 2 to 4.  It will take close to an hour, but when you are done, you will have a set of DVD's that can be used to restore the system to the same or a new drive that is precisely what you have so far.  While you are at it spend 5 more minutes and create a Windows7 System Repair CD.

    Of course after this, you can add your volatile applications like Flash Player and the like.  Then run Windows Easy Transfer again to get all your data and settings back.  It is positively amazing how well this works, you will find you will not see a difference from before except that it will be stunningly faster.

    Choice 2: I actually prefer this option. Use an original Microsoft Windows 7 DVD, preferrably Service Pack 1. It can be any Windows 7 DVD of the same product variety -- e.g. Home Edition and either 64 or 32 bit depending on your system.   Make certain you have the Microsoft Windows Activation key written down.   The only downside to this option is that it is possible but not likely that you may have to find a driver.  This does not happen often because even the drivers that the Windows 7 install process itself does not provide, will most likely be provided in your first Windows Update pass. Once you get Windows install completed, everything else above will be the same.

    Notes:

    Find out how to access the factory restore partition.  It is likely to be found by using F8 during startup of the existing system. 

    I will not work on a computer with ANY Internet security product on it.  All you want or need is an antivirus product.  The other stuff that is part of their packages will only cause you problems. 

    Intel has a driver update utility (assuming yours is Intel based) that is absolutely excellent.

    You do not need a disk burner program.  Windows has it built in.

    After you are done create a restore point.

    Please let me know if you do this and how it works for you.  Any questions, write back.

    Feb, 2015:  I am in the process of upgrading my clients' computers to IE11.  It no longer presents any problems and is a bit faster than IE9.

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