What order SFC & DISM ?

mrmatt · Apr 7, 2026

What order do I run the commands DISM (checkhealth, scanhealth, restoreheath) & SFC /scannow, please ?

Also what about componentstore, please (before or after ) ?

Can someone provide a list in what order, please ?

Ghot · Apr 7, 2026

I always do SFC first, then I run DISM.

Other folks do it the other way.

allan · Apr 7, 2026

I'm other folks

. I suggest DISM first.

Try3 · Apr 7, 2026

A few years ago, MS said Dism first but without any explanation.
What is the correct order of DISM and sfc commands to fix problems [my post #31] - TenForums

I run SFC and only bother with Dism if SFC finds faults it cannot repair - you'll see this referred to in the forum tutorial on SFC.
SFC - ElevenForumTutorials

I don't spend my time checking up on computers that are running satisfactorily.
I often run SFC monthly but don't always bother.

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mrmatt · Apr 7, 2026

Yes, I was led to believe DISM first (checkhealth, scanhealth, restoreheath), then SFC.

What about component store cleanup (analyze, startcomponentcleanup) ? Before, or after the other commands, please ?

Thanks.

pepanee · Apr 7, 2026

The way that I do it:
1) dism /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth
2) Restart the computer in Safe Mode.
3) sfc /scannow
4) Restart the computer back in normal mode.

(I don't usually bother with cleaning up the component store)

FrancoDT · Apr 7, 2026

mrmatt said:
Yes, I was led to believe DISM first (checkhealth, scanhealth, restoreheath), then SFC.

What about component store cleanup (analyze, startcomponentcleanup) ? Before, or after the other commands, please ?

Thanks.

Just remember you'll normally have two component store packages left over that will show removable with cleanup that are actually un-reclaimable and can't be removed. Leave those two alone as they are needed for future Windows updates and/or recovery operations.

garlin · Apr 7, 2026

For quick repairs like restoring a deleted or overwritten Windows file, running SFC by itself is fine.

But in cases of suspected Windows corruption, it's best to run DISM first to check for errors in the component store. After you know the component store is healthy, then you can trust SFC to use the proper files for restoration. Otherwise SFC can be blindly pushing a bad file.

Component cleanup is unrelated to any repair actions. It's to reduce the number of superseded (obsolete) files in the component store after applying updates. Due to the newer W11 servicing model, it doesn't remove as much junk as it used to.

Mooly · Apr 7, 2026

My understanding is that as SFC uses the component store to get any files needed for a repair, the store should be repaired first using DISM.

My order would normally be:

1/ Repair-WindowsImage -Online -CheckHealth
2/ Repair-WindowsImage -Online -ScanHealth
3/ Repair-WindowsImage -Online -RestoreHealth
4/ Run sfc

Having said that I vaguely recall somewhere that some users reported issues with DISM that caused irreversible corruption and issues. I can't remember if that was on regular or Dev builds.

zbook · Apr 7, 2026

If you want to find existing problems and read log files to troubleshoot them, then run sfc /scannow first.

If finding the causes of problems is not needed and the purpose is to fix anything, then run restore health first.

kelper · Apr 7, 2026

I don't see the point of running check health first, you might as well skip that as scan health is more thorough.

garlin · Apr 7, 2026

There's no effective benefit in running Scan or Check as separate steps, if you're eventually going to do Restore.

- ScanHealth will check for problems.
- CheckHealth reports whether the last scan returned any problems.
- If you're writing a script, then use CheckHealth's results to determine if you should run RestoreHealth or skip it.

But it's simpler to run RestoreHealth and call it a day. Since running ScanHealth before RestoreHealth isn't saving you any time in the case of recoverable errors. Doing the extra steps doesn't hurt Windows, but it gives the wrong impression that those extra steps are required.

kelper · Apr 7, 2026

I will occasionally run RestoreHealth and then SFC.

zbook · Apr 7, 2026

There were times in which scanhealth and restorehealth displayed different error codes.
So running both can provide additional information, especially if logs are not read.

mrmatt · Apr 7, 2026

Mooly said:
My understanding is that as SFC uses the component store to get any files needed for a repair, the store should be repaired first using DISM.

My order would normally be:

1/ Repair-WindowsImage -Online -CheckHealth
2/ Repair-WindowsImage -Online -ScanHealth
3/ Repair-WindowsImage -Online -RestoreHealth
4/ Run sfc

Having said that I vaguely recall somewhere that some users reported issues with DISM that caused irreversible corruption and issues. I can't remember if that was on regular or Dev builds.

That's the order I've been led to believe, that's the order I've done it.

neldog · Apr 7, 2026

sfc /scannow
dism /Online /Cleanup-Image /ScanHealth
dism /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth (If needed)
If there were errors that were corrected
sfc /scannow (again)
- restart

garlin · Apr 7, 2026

mrmatt said:
That's the order I've been led to believe, that's the order I've done it.

Your sequence doesn't harm anything. It's just inefficient. 3 & 4 are what's actually needed.

KevTech · Apr 7, 2026

What Microsoft says is the correct order.

Use the System File Checker tool to repair missing or corrupted system files | Microsoft Support

Describes how to use the System File Checker tool to troubleshoot missing or corrupted system files in Windows.

support.microsoft.com

pseymour · Apr 7, 2026

What Microsoft says is the correct order.

Use the System File Checker tool to repair missing or corrupted system files | Microsoft Support

Describes how to use the System File Checker tool to troubleshoot missing or corrupted system files in Windows.

support.microsoft.com

Exactly. I don't know why there's any debate on this.

zbook · Apr 7, 2026

If the Microsoft sequence was followed in the thread with this result the result could leave the viewer that does not read log files the impression that there were no sfc /scannow problems:

Windows Resource Protection found corrupt files and successfully repaired them.

Code:

 Microsoft Windows 10 Home  Version 22H2 (OS Build 19045.3803)
 
==================================================================

    Started on Tue 04/07/2026 at 15:25:35.13
 
        [SFC /ScanNow]
 
Beginning system scan.  This process will take some time.

Results:
 
Windows Resource Protection found corrupt files and successfully repaired them.

For online repairs, details are included in the CBS log file located at
windir\Logs\CBS\CBS.log. For example C:\Windows\Logs\CBS\CBS.log. For offline
repairs, details are included in the log file provided by the /OFFLOGFILE flag.
 
==================================================================
 
A TXT file named SFC_details-1.txt has been created.

==================================================================

    Started on Tue 04/07/2026 at 15:26:41.05

        [DISM /online /cleanup-image /ScanHealth]

Deployment Image Servicing and Management tool
Version: 10.0.19041.3636

Image Version: 10.0.19045.3803
 
No component store corruption detected.

The operation completed successfully.
 
==================================================================

    Started on Tue 04/07/2026 at 15:27:22.17

        [DISM /online /cleanup-image /RestoreHealth]

Deployment Image Servicing and Management tool
Version: 10.0.19041.3636

Image Version: 10.0.19045.3803
 
The restore operation completed successfully.

The operation completed successfully.
 
==================================================================

    Started on Tue 04/07/2026 at 15:27:59.12

        [SFC /ScanNow]

Beginning system scan.  This process will take some time.

Results:
 
Windows Resource Protection did not find any integrity violations.
 
==================================================================

Running sfc /scannow first confirmed a problem (major or minor).

The second sfc /scannow ran after restorehealth and found no problems.

What order SFC & DISM ?

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