Running Windows System File Checker

If your Windows Server 2003 operating system experiences a problem, but you can still start Windows Server 2003, you can use the System File Checker tool (Sfc.exe) to make sure that all the operating system files are the correct version and are still intact. System File Checker is a command-line tool that scans and verifies the versions of all protected system files. If System File Checker discovers that a protected file was overwritten, it retrieves the correct version of the file from the %systemroot%\system32\dllcache folder, and then replaces the incorrect file.

To run Windows System File Checker, at a command prompt, type sfc /scannow.

For more information about the System File Checker tool, see Microsoft Knowledge Base article 310747, "Description of Windows XP and Windows Server 2003 System File Checker (Sfc.exe)."