System File Check

Topic

New Reply

Was helping a friend who has WINDOWS ME – tried to run SFC and got an error message saying it is not available. Why did Microsoft leave SFC off of WIN ME. Is there an alternative?

Reply | Quote

Replies

I have a related problem. WinOptimiizer shows that 11 dll files in the Windows/system/sfp/archive folder are newer than the ones in the system folder. How can I copy the newer versions into the system folder?

Two are apparently copied by WinOptimizer, but when Windows is rebooted, the older versions are still there.

Reply | Quote

Do you have a specific reason for wanting to replace these DLLs? If nothing odd is happening, or there is no direct reason other than dates….I’d leave them alone. WinME includes system file protection, and that’s probably why WinOptimizer’s changes are getting stomped on.

Reply | Quote

I do occasionally get in trouble fixing things that ain’t broke, and I admit everything seems to be working fine. However, in this case several of the dll’s have higher version numbers and different sizes as well, so I assume they are improved, backward-compatible versions and should be safe to install.

What further puzzles me is that while the sfp folder contains new versions and WinOptimizer says it has replaced two files (DS16GT.dll and ODBC15GT.dll), notifying me with popups that the other 9 files listed are in use, their version numbers in the system folder are still the old ones, according to a “properties” check even before I reboot. Is WinOptimizer not actually replacing these files even though it says it has and the two files also appear in the Recycle bin? Is the “stomping” back to the old version immediate? And if Windows is immediately replacing the new versions, where are the old version coming from if not the sfp folder? Various searches reveal that these two files only exist in the sfp and system folders.

The other interesting variable is that the size of the “replaced” versions in both cases is the same, even though the version numbers are different. With one exception (webcheck.dll), the other 9 files listed by WinOptimizer have different sizes as well as version numbers (e.g., comctl32.dll: 06.0.2800.1106 and 98816 in the sfp folder and 06.0.2600.0 and 100352 in the system folder.

Thanks for your response.

Reply | Quote

Remember that Me was marketed to those who do NOT tweek their machines and was designed as such. If you MUST tweek your machine leave Me and go to 2K or XP. Me runs the best if left alone, including all of those third parties that will help make it run better.

Now repeat after me , “I shall NOT tweek Me, for is will do nothing but mess it up.
If this does not work, write the above on the blackboard 1,000 times.

DaveA I am so far behind, I think I am First
Genealogy....confusing the dead and annoying the living

Reply | Quote

Would that Microsoft were so consistent. Sadly, the version number doesn’t always tell the story, although it should. And newer versions aren’t always backwards compatible, even though they should be. It’s rare that they are not, but it does happen.

When WinOptimizer replaces a system protected file, it is overwritten nearly immediately with the “registered” version that Windows knows about. It makes sense if you think about it, because if system protected files weren’t replaced with the known versions right away, you could end up with instability – exactly what System File Protection was intended to counter. The protected versions of these files are stored in a directory called dllcache which is under the Windows installation directory, and that directory is also hidden. At least, that’s how it works in Win2000 and XP, ME may be different and I don’t have it installed anywhere to check my theory. If you haven’t told Windows Explorer to show hidden files, you won’t see it, and search by default does not reveal hidden files.

If you want to experiment, you need to back up the existing files somewhere, and then remove them from the dllcache directory, then wherever they normally appear. That will prevent them from being overwritten by system file protection.

Have fun!

Reply | Quote

There is apparently no dllcache folder or file in ME, so I can’t experiment. Guess I’ll just have to leave it all alone as Dave advises. Sigh…

Thanks for your advice, all. I’ll leave this for now unless other ideas occur to you.

Wayne

Reply | Quote

As to why it was left out, I don’t know – but ME is full of half-baked ideas and implementations. With all versions of Windows 9x, you can re-run setup and it will check and restore files as necessary, although I wouldn’t go that far unless you have a burning need to do so. Is there a specific problem you are trying to resolve?

Reply | Quote