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Problem running "sfc /scannow" Error :There is a system repair pending which requires a reboot to complete. Restart windows and run sfc again

Original title:Problem running "sfc /scannow":  system thinks it is doing a reboot for a repair and doesn't run

Have a problem running "sfc /scannow": (after booting up a corrupted-registry-impaired Windows 7 SP1 Home Premium 64-bit system from a recovery disk):

I Receive the following message:

 

"There is a system repair pending which requires a reboot to complete. Restart windows and run sfc again".

 

(of course - when I do exit and reboot as it instructs, it just vicious-cycles right back to the same problem when I go to Command Prompt and try it again).

 

I also tried running diskpart to be clear on where my bootdir and windir were (both were as I thought on C drive) , and then ran:

 

 "sfc /scannow /Offbootdir=c:\ /Offwindir=c:\windows

 

and also just got a list of options (same as if I'd run sfc /?).

 

Anyone tell me how to resolve this?

Answer
Answer

Try as one might and regardless of whether you can boot into Safe Mode or are using the Recovery Console, this error just won’t go away. However, I have found a command finally that overcomes this problem. On a machine that I was working on today, from the Recovery Console command prompt I entered:

dism.exe /image:C:\ /cleanup-image /revertpendingactions

After that, I rebooted the machine into Safe Mode (this particular computer would boot to Safe Mode but is BSODing when booted to normal mode). In Safe Mode, I opened an elevated command prompted and issued the SFC /scannow command and it now runs.

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Question Info

Last updated February 18, 2025 Views 140,352 Applies to: