A user's Windows computer is experiencing frequent application crashes, system freezes, and occasional blue screens of death (BSODs). You suspect that critical system files are corrupted. Which command should you run in an elevated Command Prompt to scan and repair Windows' protected system files?
Running sfc /scannow from an elevated Command Prompt launches the System File Checker utility, which scans the integrity of all protected system files and automatically replaces corrupted or missing versions with a clean cached copy stored in the Windows component store (%WinDir%\WinSxS) or obtained from Windows Update if required. This often resolves instability caused by file corruption.
chkdsk /f checks a disk volume for logical errors and repairs the file-system structure, but it does not validate individual Windows system files.
dism /online /cleanup-image /restorehealth repairs the Windows component store itself; it is useful when SFC cannot run, but it is not the primary tool for scanning active system files.
sfc /verifyonly performs the same integrity scan as SFC but does not attempt any repairs, making it insufficient when immediate remediation is needed.
Reference: Microsoft SFC documentation - the utility "retrieves the correct version of the file from the systemroot folder" when repairs are needed .
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