sfc /scannow – long pauses

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Edition Windows 10 Pro
Version 21H2
Installed on ‎09/‎08/‎2020
OS build 19044.1620
Experience Windows Feature Experience Pack 120.2212.4170.0

I am finding that when I run “sfc /scannow” immediately after rebooting and logging in it pauses for lengthy periods at several points in the scan, but not always the same ones. It does eventually complete and either fixes the issues it finds or says none found.

The same applies to SUMo from KCSoftwares it gets stuck in two places narrator.exe and osk.exe. Again, after a long pause it completes normally.

Can anyone else say if this is just me or does it happen elsewhere? I have two systems exhibiting the same issues. Both systems are at the same update levels.

If I let the system run for a few minutes (I have not tested for how long that needs to be) both SUMo and SFC run without issue.

 

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RayG wrote:

The same applies to SUMo from KCSoftwares it gets stuck in two places narrator.exe and osk.exe.

For me SUMo halts at checking LibreOffice.
It all depends on servers connections to determine the last version.

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I’d be checking with Crystaldiskinfo just in case the delay is caused by the hard disk / SSD covering its failings.

Also consider the usage – it might be the drive is busy (tried a clean boot, or using dism from the recovery options command prompt ?). Also perhaps consider retrying the operation with DISM just in case – indication at the site below is that it should precede the SFC operation, not follow it.

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/troubleshoot/windows-server/deployment/fix-windows-update-errors

I guess the other issue given proximity of the problem to start-up is that the condition of SFC scanning files is somehow attracting the attention if the heuristic scanning in Windows defender so in the problem condition maybe check to see if that process uses more resources when the problem is in play? That however would imply a business product not a home user..

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/security/defender-endpoint/configure-real-time-protection-microsoft-defender-antivirus?view=o365-worldwide

 

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RayG wrote:

If I let the system run for a few minutes (I have not tested for how long that needs to be) both SUMo and SFC run without issue.

There’s your answer.  There’s a lot going on

RayG wrote:

immediately after rebooting and logging in

Lots of services starting, networking getting up and going, your customizations being applied, etc. etc.

Always create a fresh drive image before making system changes/Windows updates; you may need to start over!

We all have our own reasons for doing the things that we do with our systems; we don't need anyone's approval, and we don't all have to do the same things.

We were all once "Average Users".

Computer Specs

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Agreed, and I’d also visit the resource monitor once logged in and let the system settle down before even attempting sfc

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Mine takes ~5 mins to completely settle down after it starts.

As others have pointed  out, there’s still a lot of stuff happening in the background once you see the desktop appear.

Personally, I use the drive activity light as an indication it’s all the way up (once it stops regularly flickering, I figure it’s done with everything.)

Another good indicator is Task Manger (click the Performance Tab and wait for CPU usage to drop below ~20%)

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Just another Forum Poster wrote:

I use the drive activity light

I use task manager (CPU RAM ). CPU is sorted by high to low.
When CPU settles to 1% I know startup has ended.

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Thanks for all the replies but it is not a busy system that is the issue CPU is down to 1% and everything is just ticking over. There is something else going on that I cannot work out at the moment.

One other thing I have just noticed is that if I want to see the properties of a file in explorer, if I right click then that explorer window just hangs with the waiting/busy icon. Eventually it will return with the properties screen.

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HDD or SSD?

If an HDD and it’s badly fragmented, that would slow both sfc and explorer.

Windows has a built-in defrag option that’s OK (right-click a drive > Properties > Tools > Optimize) but I prefer Defraggler free because it offers way more options for defragging (including the ability to defrag single files/directories instead of the whole drive.)

BTW, SSD’s don’t really need to be defragmented but you do need to ensure TRIM is enabled.

enter fsutil behavior query DisableDeleteNotify at a cmd prompt.

0 = enabled

1= disabled

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SSD Trim enabled and run recently

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Just to tidy up on this thread, in order to resolve the issue, I ended up performing a repair update and my problem with SFC/SUMo was no longer present. I still have no idea what was causing it,

As a follow on, after the update I discovered that the Event Viewer MMC snap in was also not working. To resolve this was a reasonably simple fix.

Close all the management console windows and then:

Navigate to:

C:\Users\<username>\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\MMC

and delete the “eventvwr” item

After that it should all work again, well for me it did.

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