A Windows Server 2019 Standard host has started failing cumulative updates, and several services crash at startup with DLL-not-found errors. The administrator opens an elevated PowerShell session and runs:
sfc /scannow
The command finishes with the message:
Windows Resource Protection found corrupt files but was unable to fix some of them.
The goal is to repair the underlying component store so that the corrupted system files can be replaced without performing an in-place OS reinstall. Which action should the administrator take next?
Run dism /online /cleanup-image /restorehealth to repair the Windows image.
Boot into Windows Recovery Environment and execute chkdsk /f on the system volume.
Run dism /online /cleanup-image /startcomponentcleanup and then retry Windows Update.
Remove the affected roles with Remove-WindowsFeature, reboot, and reinstall them.
The System File Checker (sfc) verifies protected operating-system files against the copies stored in the component store (WinSxS). When that store itself is corrupted, SFC may be unable to replace damaged files. Microsoft's recommended remediation is to use the Deployment Image Servicing and Management (DISM) utility with the /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth parameters. This command scans the running Windows image, downloads or sources any missing components, and repairs the WinSxS store. After it completes successfully, running sfc /scannow again normally replaces the remaining bad files.
dism /online /cleanup-image /startcomponentcleanup only removes superseded manifests; it does not repair corruption.
chkdsk /f fixes file-system and disk errors but cannot replace corrupt OS binaries.
Removing and reinstalling roles still depends on healthy system files and will likely fail while the component store is damaged.
Therefore, the correct next step is to run dism /online /cleanup-image /restorehealth.
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