Failed SFC Diagnostic

[BearPup]

Hello All,
I am having trouble installing some new programs that I know are valid programs. So as a diagnostic I ran SFC /scannow and got the dreaded, "Windows Resource Protection found corrupt files but was unable to fix some of them.".

Is there anything I can do besides doing a repair or full (re-)install of Windows? And is there anything that one can do to prevent this type of situation? I'm running Win 7, SP 1, Home Premium, x64.

Any and all help greatly appreciated.

Regards,
BearPup

 

[TrainableMan]

Most likely cause is either a hard drive that is going bad (bad sectors forming where your system files are stored). Or user error such as you physically deleting system files or allowing malware to manipulate system files.

There is a big difference between a system install and a system repair. If you put in the W7 SP1 Installation DVD, when you get to the installation menu (and it detects W7 already installed) there should be an option displayed in the bottom corner for "system repair". System repair is what you want to run, instead of a complete installation, because all it does is recopy all the OS files back onto your hard drive; all your settings, programs, and data will be unaffected.

 

[BearPup]

Thanks very much for responding TrainableMan. I appreciate the info, and will try the system repair first off. As to the cause, short of doing a full surface scan of my hard drive, any way to know whether this is a recurring problem? I ask, because this is the second time in the last few months that I've gotten this result.

Besides Win 7, I run AVG Internet Security 2014 & Private Firewall as my real-time defense, with Malwarebytes as my on-demand scanner. Nothing is warning me of any problems.

 

[TrainableMan]

The hard drive is the most likely cause. You could download a tool to check the smart drive diagnostics of the disk and it might tell you the drive is going bad if the drive's self diagnostics detected problems. But more likely the full surface scan is what you need. Just run it overnight and then pay close attention to the number of bad sectors in the results.

 

[BearPup]

Again, my sincere thanks. I ran a backup from a couple of weeks ago and then ran SFC again; same results. So far the two programs that I have that are supposed to monitor my HDDs in real time haven't popped up any warnings. But I'll run the diagnostic overnight. My main (system) drive is 320 GB; any sense of what a "high" number of bad sectors might be? Then again, given the sales the end tonight, maybe I should just replace the hard drive (its a refurbished one). Any thoughts on the matter?

And again, many thanks.

 

[TrainableMan]

I think it's important to notice if it has changed significantly from prior scans rather than say something like "if it's over 20 replace it".

The truth is, if something "feels" wrong and you can afford to replace it then I probably would.

 

[BearPup]

Thanks for the advice, which I agree with, and since I'm using a used HDD (from my previous computer) I've ordered a replacement (new) hard drive (my $50 contribution to the economy!). Besides, I don't have any previous scans to compare the drive to. So it would be a crap shoot, something I'm not very fond of. Here's hoping this fixes this problem once and for all (as I stated in the OP, this is the second SFC scan to deliver these results (three times if you count the backup copy's failure)).

I appreciate your help in this. Now the fun of recovering my programs (some are giveaways which I'll lose).

 

[BearPup]

Back again with this update: I replaced the C:\drive with a brand new WD Blue Caviar 250 GB drive; reinstalled Windows 7 from a known good System DVD, reloaded all my programs, and installed the USB printer. Then all of a sudden I started having problems installing programs, ran SFC and again got 'corrupt files found / can't repair them'.

Any help would be appreciated.

 

[TrainableMan]

When you replaced the HD did you use a new SATA cable to connect it? I feel a bit at a loss on this one but if the problem isn't the hard drive then the next likely thing I might suspect is the cable.

 

[BearPup]

No, I didn't replace the cable. I assumed that if the cable has a fault, the drive wouldn't be recognized or load properly. I did check that the cables were seated properly on the drive and the motherboard. For that matter, files transfer fine, I did massive copies from my backup drive to the new C:\drive and all went without a hitch. In fact, if it weren't for the trouble in installing some programs, I wouldn't know or suspect anything wrong.

 

[TrainableMan]

Do you run any programs to clean the registry or make more space available on the hard drive? And do you run virus protection?

Because the choices are either a hardware problem or something is deleting them.

 

[BearPup]

I run CCleaner on the Registry, use Wise Disk Cleaner to clean the drives, and both are set conservatively. For antivirus, malware and the rest I use AVG Internet Security 2014, which is there flagship product. I also use PrivateFirewall as my firewall, and run Malwarebytes and SuperAntiSpyware sporadically.
Everything consistently comes back clean, and for that matter my browsing habits are conservative and I rarely run into warnings, whether from downloads or sites (warnings coming from either the antivirus program, Web Of Trust, or my startup guards).

As for hardware, the motherboard was replaced about a year ago (old one gave up the ghost after 3 years), as was the printer, the monitor is less than 6 months old, and now the new hard drive. I've also run HardInfo 7, and it reports everything is OK and on the 'higher' side of specs. I'll run the tests again cause I don't know what else to do! Anything you can come up with would be appreciated.

Regards,
BearPup

 

[TrainableMan]

CCleaner should be fine & since you seem well-protected from viruses that really leaves one that I never tried. Have you run "Wise Disk Cleaner" since you reinstalled to this new drive?

 

[BearPup]

I came back to check on the thread and it appears I didn't respond to your last post. Please accept my apologies, I don't recall getting the email that someone had responded.

To answer your question, I have run Wise Disk Cleaner on the old and new drives. As with other products of this nature I am very conservative with what I have deleted; for example, I don't flush any of my cache files, Dat indexes, or cookies. Wise provides a lot of products that I have used successfully over the years, including Wise Care though I have never used their registry cleaning / 'optimizing' programs.

Your thoughts...?

 

[TrainableMan]

There are only two options: the files are getting lost to bad sectors, which seems highly unlikely since it reoccurred on a brand new drive, or the files are being deleted by someone, either directly or via some software.

What I would suggest is to do another complete reinstall, restore your data, run windows updates, install your anti-virus software, and then install any other software but do not allow any of it to run. At that point run SFC and make sure everything is passing integrity checks. Then, if at all possible, take a complete image of your drive and store it off to a backup drive, even if you simply format the old hard drive and back it up to that one. Once the back-up is complete shut it down/take that drive offline.

After that I would run your programs one by one, following each run with the SFC scan and try to find a program that is affecting your OS.

It's a lot of work but at this point it is the best idea that I have. Maybe other will have some ideas.

 

[BearPup]

@TrainableMan: Thanks for replying. I've started the process you've suggested - I made a DVD of all my programs after doing a successful restore. Now its a matter of trying to find out what the 'trigger' is. As to the cause, its not being caused by anyone: I live alone and no one has access to my computer but me - even the Allow Remote Access to my computer is unchecked. I'll post back here later.

 

[BearPup]

@TrainableMan: Before doing a repair (reinstall), I decided to run SFC again - and this time I got the correct answer: "Windows Resource Protection did not find any integrity violations.".

That makes a solid week that Windows 7 has now been operational, starting with a reformat of my new hard drive. I have installed all my 'old' programs, mostly from a backup on an external drive, installed all of Windows Updates, installed and verified chipset drivers, installed the printer, and 'played' with some of my programs. Certainly if there was (still) a problem it would have surfaced by now; I just wish I knew what had caused the problem of repeated re-installs yielding unfixable, corrupt OS files. And if you have any other thoughts about this or what I might do to prevent it happening again, I'd love to hear them!

Thanks again for your help.

BearPup

 

[TrainableMan]

If things are correct at this time l would encourage you to make a backup image; it's much easier to restore an image than to reinstall W7, your data, and your programs.

 

[BearPup]

@TrainableMan: Thanks, you are correct that an image is the way to go. I use Keriver 1-Click Restore Free 3.0 [www.keriver.com]. It makes an image in about 15 minutes and restores the C:\drive to the state it was in as of the last image. I run mine automatically on Sundays along with backups of my email and internet programs; my data is already stored on a separate hard drive as my default configuration.