System hangs up? This might be due to a virus, a power loss, a disk error which corrupted and damaged some Windows system files. In some cases this prevents Windows from loading or this might cause some intermittent errors which might be difficult to troubleshoot.

I have been into this kind of mess and I don’t know if you have ever heard of the System File Checker (SFC) which proves to be useful in checking the Windows system files. The System File Checker will display a dialog box describing the corrupted files encountered. The good news is that with the System File Checker you could reinstall the damaged file from the Windows CD installer automatically.

Steps on how to run the System File Checker: (Administrator rights are needed)

1. Select Start -> Run
   in the run dialog box type “cmd” in the open text field then click OK button
2. type “cd" press enter in the command window to go to c:\
3. type “sfc” press enter to show the list of the options available
4. type “sfc /scannow” press enter to scan the system

System File Checker is now scanning all protected system files and replaces incorrect versions with correct Microsoft versions.

Below are the options available in running SFC.

SFC [/SCANNOW] [/SCANONCE] [/SCANBOOT] [/REVERT] [/PURGECACHE] [/CACHESIZE=x]

/SCANNOW Scans all protected system files immediately.
/SCANONCE Scans all protected system files once at the next boot.
/SCANBOOT Scans all protected system files at every boot.
/REVERT Return scan to default setting.
/PURGECACHE Purges the file cache.
/CACHESIZE=x Sets the file cache size.

System File Checker can be used to check important system files. Go check it out.