How can I repair Windows using Command Prompt?
The Command Prompt acts as an interface between users and the operating system, allowing direct interaction with system files and utilities without the graphical user interface.
Running Command Prompt as an administrator is essential for performing many system repair tasks, as it grants elevated permissions required to modify protected system files.
One of the most powerful built-in tools in the Command Prompt is the System File Checker (SFC), which scans for corrupted or missing system files and attempts to restore them from a backup stored in the Windows directory.
To use SFC, you can execute the command `sfc /scannow` in an elevated Command Prompt, which scans all protected system files and repairs issues automatically.
The Deployment Image Servicing and Management (DISM) tool complements SFC by repairing Windows images and is especially useful when SFC fails to resolve some issues; it checks the health of the system image.
DISM can be run using the command `DISM /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth`, which attempts to fetch and replace corrupted files from the Windows Update servers.
The CHKDSK command, typically invoked with `chkdsk C: /f`, checks for disk errors and bad sectors on a specified drive, potentially repairing issues that could be affecting system stability.
System resets can be performed via the Command Prompt by using the command `systemreset cleanpc`, which reinstalls Windows but keeps your personal files, effectively wiping out the system file issues.
In Windows 10 and newer versions, the command `DISM /Online /Cleanup-Image /CheckHealth` determines if the Windows image is repairable without attempting to fix it, providing useful information before proceeding with more extensive repairs.
Users can also utilize the command `bcdedit /set {default} safeboot minimal` to boot Windows into Safe Mode, allowing them to perform repairs with minimal drivers and services running.
The command `powercfg /h off` can disable hibernation to free up disk space when there are issues related to startup that might be caused by a corrupt hibernation file.
Advanced users can create a Windows Recovery Environment (WinRE) USB using Command Prompt, providing an alternative repair option when reinvoking Windows from a backup or restore point.
A surprising aspect of Command Prompt usage is that many common repair commands can often resolve issues related to malware or file system corruption quickly without needing to boot from separate recovery media.
The `sfc /verifyonly` command allows you to scan system files without any attempt to repair them, which can be useful for diagnosing issues without making immediate changes to the system.
Running `tasklist` in Command Prompt gives a list of all currently running processes, enabling users to identify potential software conflicts or resource hogs that may be causing system instability.
Command Prompt supports batch processing: you can write scripts with a series of commands and execute them all at once, making extensive repairs more efficient.
The `assoc` command manages file associations, which can fix file opening issues if the wrong application is tied to a certain file type.
The `netsh int ip reset` command can resolve connectivity issues by resetting the TCP/IP stack, which is particularly helpful in diagnosing network-related problems.
Windows maintains a file called `dism.log`, where DISM logs detailed information about operations performed, which can be utilized for troubleshooting any repair process failures.
With Windows 10 and 11, leveraging the Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL) through Command Prompt has become a reality, enabling users to run Linux applications natively alongside their Windows environment, broadening the range of available troubleshooting and system repair options.