If some Windows functions aren't working or Windows crashes, use the System File Checker to scan Windows and restore your files. You can also check the S.M.A.R.T (Self-Monitoring, Analysis, and Reporting Technology) of your drives to check if there are any issues with the physical storage drives in your PC.
In Windows, you can quickly check the S.M.A.R.T. status of your drives from the Command Prompt. Just right-click the Start menu, select Run, and type "cmd" or type "cmd" into the search bar. In the pop-up box, run:
wmic diskdrive get model,status
It will return "Pred Fail" if your drive's death is imminent, or "OK" if it thinks the drive is doing fine.
If everything looks fine, then we can move on to checking Windows.
Though the steps below might look complicated at first glance, just follow them in order, step-by-step, and we’ll try to get you back on track.
How to run DISM to repair an image of Windows 10
Using the Deployment Image Servicing and Management command tool you have three main options to repair an image of Windows 10, including CheckHealth, ScanHealth, and RestoreHealth, and you want to run them in that hierarchy. Also, depending on the severity of the issue, there are additional settings that you can use with the RestoreHealth option to repair an image using different sources.
Checking issues with DISM using CheckHealth option
You can use the CheckHealth option with DISM to quickly determine if there are any corruptions inside the local image. However, the option won't perform any repairs.
To check for issues within the image with DISM, use these steps:
- Open Start.
- Search for Command Prompt, right-click the top result, and select the Run as administrator option.
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Type the following command to perform a quick health check and press Enter:
DISM /Online /Cleanup-Image /CheckHealth
Once you complete the steps, the command will run and verify if there is any data corruption that needs fixing.
Checking issues with DISM using ScanHealth option
Alternatively, you can run DISM with the ScanHealth option to perform a more advanced scan to check if the Windows 10 image has any problems.
To perform an advanced scan with DISM, use these steps:
- Open Start.
- Search for Command Prompt, right-click the top result, and select the Run as administrator option.
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Type the following command to perform an advanced DISM scan and press Enter:
DISM /Online /Cleanup-Image /ScanHealth
After you complete the steps, the advanced scan will take several minutes to determine if the local image needs repairing.
Repairing issues with DISM using RestoreHealth option
If there are issues, then you can use DISM with the RestoreHealth option, which will run an advanced scan and repair any problems automatically.
- Open Start.
- Search for Command Prompt, right-click the top result, and select the Run as administrator option.
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Type the following command and press Enter:
DISM /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth
Quick note: While the command is running is normal to see the process stuck at 20 or 40 percent, after a few minutes, the process will complete successfully.
Once you complete the steps, the Deployment Image Servicing and Management tool will connect to the Windows Update servers to download and replace any damaged files in the local image for Windows 10 as necessary.