Cannot run sfc /scannow fro HD

  • Thread starter Thread starter Terry Pinnell
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Terry Pinnell

On my old PC I could run sfc /scannow from C:\i386 on my HD, i.e with
no CD. But on my new PC I am asked to insert the 'XP Pro SP 2 disk'.
This is despite having followed the same instructions as before, from
my notes:
"Copy /i386 to your hard drive. Start/Run/Regedit. Go to
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion. In
the right pane, change SourcePath to reflect your settings."

Anyone know why this no longer works please, and how to fix it? I went
ahead and did it from the CD but
a) it's much slower, and
b) it's not unattended as before; I got messages every time a DLL
needed updating or whatever and had to click Retry.
 
See if fixing the SourcePath and ServicePackSourcePath values here help.

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Setup

Reboot is necessary for the change to take effect.
 
Ramesh Srinivasan said:
See if fixing the SourcePath and ServicePackSourcePath values here help.

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Setup

Reboot is necessary for the change to take effect.
Click to expand...


Thanks Ramesh. But I'm a bit puzzled now so hope you can explain a
couple of points please.

I'm pretty sure I got my previous information from an article by Kelly
ages ago, specifying *this* key as the relevant one:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion
In that key, I had specified C:\I386, on my old PC and on my current
one.

But at this page from Marc Liron
http://www.updatexp.com/scannow-sfc.html I see the key should be
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Setup

As you see from my screenshot
http://i154.photobucket.com/albums/s247/terrypin999/ScanNow-1.jpg
that contained 'D:\Driver\PCI\x86' - a folder that doesn't exist on
the CD! So how could XP have run sfc yesterday, apparently
successfully?

To my surprise, I also see from Marc's article that the location
should be specified as C:\, not C:\I386 as I'd thought. (And for
several years on my old PC that appeared to work just fine!) Anyway,
I've now changed that to 'C:\'.

But, until I see your reply, or understand this properly, I've left
the NT key as C:\I386, even though that seems inconsistent.

Also, I'm not clear why you also mention the ServicePackSourcePath? Do
I need to change that to C:\ as well?
 
Terry,

Perhaps you want to fix the SourcePath value in both of these registry
locations:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Setup

[Location 1 & 2 referenced in MS-KB]
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/833615

See also:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/811260
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/908181
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/885522
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/325707

And "ServicePackSourcePath"
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc728253.aspx
(You may have to verify and fix this value if you've applied a Service Pack
on top of existing Windows XP install, as opposed to integrated
installation.)
 
hat contained 'D:\Driver\PCI\x86' - a folder that doesn't exist on the
My guess is that if the target folder does not exist, it requests you to
insert the Windows XP CD. Once the CD is inserted, SFC works properly by
sensing the i386 folder path automatically?
 
Ramesh Srinivasan said:
Terry,

Perhaps you want to fix the SourcePath value in both of these registry
locations:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Setup

[Location 1 & 2 referenced in MS-KB]
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/833615

See also:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/811260
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/908181
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/885522
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/325707

And "ServicePackSourcePath"
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc728253.aspx
(You may have to verify and fix this value if you've applied a Service Pack
on top of existing Windows XP install, as opposed to integrated
installation.)
Click to expand...

Thanks Ramesh, much appreciate the fast response. I expect I'm making
heavy weather of this but I'm still having a hard time understanding
exactly what to enter: The instructions from
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/833615
say:

1. Click Start, click Run, type regedit in the Open box, and then
click OK.
2. Locate the following registry subkey:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Setup
3. Right-click SourcePath, and then click Modify.
4. In the Value data box, type the path of the Windows installation
files, and then click OK.
5. Right-click ServicePackSourcePath, and then click Modify.
6. In the Value data box, type the path of the Windows Service Pack
installation files, and then click OK.
7. Locate the following registry subkey:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion
8. Right-click SourcePath, and then click Modify.
9. In the Value data box, type the path of the Windows installation
files, and then click OK.

So, is "the path of the Windows installation files" 'C:\' or
'C:\I386'? At present I have 'C:\', which is what Marc said. But if
I'd not seen his page I'd have interpreted the above as 'C:\I386'. It
would help if MS gave an example!

And what should I enter for "the path of the Windows Service Pack
installation files"? At present I've not changed that, which specifies
'D:\'.

Maybe it doesn't really matter, and XP looks anywhere below the
specified location? That would explain why it seems to work with
either. (I'm doing my first sfc \scannow as I write, using the new
value of 'C:\'. Apart from one request to load my CD, that seems to be
working OK.)

What do you have for these two keys please?
 
<quote>
If the I386 directory is at \\Servera\w2kflat\I386, the SourcePath value
would be \\Servera\W2KFlat
</quote>

Mine is F:\i386, and SFC works fine here with or without "\i386" included.

--
Regards,

Ramesh Srinivasan, Microsoft MVP [Windows Desktop Experience]
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Supporting Windows® 7, Vista & XP http://www.winhelponline.com
------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Terry Pinnell said:
Ramesh Srinivasan said:
Terry,

Perhaps you want to fix the SourcePath value in both of these registry
locations:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Setup

[Location 1 & 2 referenced in MS-KB]
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/833615

See also:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/811260
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/908181
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/885522
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/325707

And "ServicePackSourcePath"
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc728253.aspx
(You may have to verify and fix this value if you've applied a Service
Pack
on top of existing Windows XP install, as opposed to integrated
installation.)
Click to expand...

Thanks Ramesh, much appreciate the fast response. I expect I'm making
heavy weather of this but I'm still having a hard time understanding
exactly what to enter: The instructions from
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/833615
say:

1. Click Start, click Run, type regedit in the Open box, and then
click OK.
2. Locate the following registry subkey:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Setup
3. Right-click SourcePath, and then click Modify.
4. In the Value data box, type the path of the Windows installation
files, and then click OK.
5. Right-click ServicePackSourcePath, and then click Modify.
6. In the Value data box, type the path of the Windows Service Pack
installation files, and then click OK.
7. Locate the following registry subkey:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion
8. Right-click SourcePath, and then click Modify.
9. In the Value data box, type the path of the Windows installation
files, and then click OK.

So, is "the path of the Windows installation files" 'C:\' or
'C:\I386'? At present I have 'C:\', which is what Marc said. But if
I'd not seen his page I'd have interpreted the above as 'C:\I386'. It
would help if MS gave an example!

And what should I enter for "the path of the Windows Service Pack
installation files"? At present I've not changed that, which specifies
'D:\'.

Maybe it doesn't really matter, and XP looks anywhere below the
specified location? That would explain why it seems to work with
either. (I'm doing my first sfc \scannow as I write, using the new
value of 'C:\'. Apart from one request to load my CD, that seems to be
working OK.)

What do you have for these two keys please?
Click to expand...
 
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