How do I get SFC to work if it calls for my original CD which I don't have?

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System File Checker needs an original installation media of some sort to do its job. Fortunately, there are alternatives to having the original CD.
Question:

I’ve lost my Windows XP Pro disc and I tried SFC/Scannow. I followed your
directions to a “T”. The first time I used it the program started ok and then a
dialog box came up and started to run the program and then just stopped and
didn’t complete the run. I thought it might be a fluke and tried 3 times to no
avail. It just kept calling for my original XP CD. Please advice. My OS is
Microsoft XP Pro, SP3 and I run a Shuttle Cube computer. I have five of them
that were built with the same bulk registry keys. By the way, here’s what came
up when I completed the process. C:Windows/servicepackfiles. Thanks for your
time in advance!

In this excerpt from
Answercast #25, I look at how System File Checker works and how to get the installation media it needs if you’ve lost the original.

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System File Checker

SFC is the System File Checker. Its job is to check the files on your system to see if they’ve been damaged or altered in some way.

  • What it needs to do, when it finds that a file has been damaged or altered, is replace it with the original file.

That’s where the installation CD comes in. You need an installation CD of some sort for System File Checker to be able to recover the original files that it’s attempting to replace. If you don’t have one, then System File Checker cannot do its job. At best, it’s only going to report those files or those areas in your system that have (for whatever reason) been damaged or compromised: but it can’t fix anything.

SFC needs replacement files

The System File Checker needs some form of original, unaltered media in order to recover the files.

My recommendation would be to go and find an original XP CD of some sort. The good news is that there’s a little bit of flexibility here. You’ll need it to be the same XP level as you happen to have installed on your machine: SP3 in your case. You might even need to create a slipstream CD. But, the point is that it doesn’t necessarily have to be the one that you had. It could be one that you come up with later:

  • Borrow one from a friend…
  • Purchase one off of an auction site…

As long as you can come up with one, then you should be able to get SFC to repair the files that it thinks need to be repaired.

Unfortunately, I just don’t know of a way to do that reliably without having some form of an original installation media.

Next from Answercast #25 – How do I export and import my contact lists folder structure?

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5 comments on “How do I get SFC to work if it calls for my original CD which I don&apos;t have?”

  1. With all those MS updates coming in every month, aren’t they changing system files to plug security holes?
    If so, doesn’t SFC see that as different from the original and replace them thus nullifying the updates’ purpose?

    Naturally Windows Update also updates the information that SFC would use. SFC would be useless otherwise.

    Leo
    12-Jun-2012
    Reply

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