Possible to run SFCFix on a non-active system directory?

H

hyp0xia

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Mar 14, 2018
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Hi All,

I have a Windows 7 drive that is currently not bootable (getting BSOD stop: c000021a {fatal system error} the session manager initialization system process terminated unexpectedly with a status of 0xc000009a)

So I've taken that HD, connected it to another PC, and ran sfc /scannow with the following result:

>sfc /SCANNOW /OFFBOOTDIR=e:\ /OFFWINDIR=e:\windows


Beginning system scan. This process will take some time.


Windows Resource Protection found corrupt files but was unable to fix some of them.
Details are included in the CBS.Log windir\Logs\CBS\CBS.log. For example
C:\Windows\Logs\CBS\CBS.log
Click to expand...

What's a little strange here as well is that both log locations (on active windows drive, and the hard drive that I am scanning) do not have an updated CBS.log. Maybe that's just the result of running sfc on a non-active HD though, not sure.


At any rate, I was hoping that SFCFix could help, so I wanted to ask how I could run it on an HD that is not the active system directory?
 
Hello and welcome! What was done on the system prior to the BSOD?

Could you do this rather than SFC?

Step#1 - FRST Scan

1. Please download Farbar Recovery Scan Tool and save it to your Desktop.
Note: You need to run the 64-bit Version so please ensure you download that one.

2. Copy it to your USB drive.
3. Boot to recovery environment.
4. Launch CMD and launch FRST64.exe from the USB.
5. Please ensure you place a check mark in the Addition.txt check box at the bottom of the form before running (if not already).
6. Press Scan button.
7. It will produce a log called FRST.txt in the same directory the tool is run from (which should now be the USB)
6. Please attach the log back here.
7. Another log (Addition.txt - also located in the same directory as FRST64.exe) will be generated Please also attach that along with the FRST.txt in your reply.

Please note that there is no guarantee that I will be able to help you, but I will try.
 
Much thanks for the reply and info, softwaremaniac!

So the very first wave of BSODs I was experiencing was BUGCODE_USB_DRIVER. It was constant upon USB device detection of any kind, inside and even outside of windows in the disc-based recovery console. After much much much testing to verify BIOS settings and other potential peripherals as a cause, I'm fairly certain at this point that it's a failed northbridge. Luckily enough, I found the same MB somewhere online in hopes that I can salvage booting into Windows.

All of the testing and BSODs eventually took its toll on the drive/partitions and I encountered "a disk read error occurred" (which I was able to fix by re-building the boot records on another PC) and now the aforementioned BSOD "stop: c000021a {fatal system error}". Basically what I was doing was trying to boot the drive with the failed motherboard with no USB accessories attached so that I could continue to use the PC by accessing it remotely before my new MB arrived. I fear that trying to get it to boot so many times with all of these BSODs has really screwed with Windows - so I guess I'm looking for the best possible way to replace/repair the system files so that my drive can boot once again.

I seem to now really be stuck on this particular BSOD and just assumed that SFCFix would be the next best thing to try but if you recommend that I use the Farbar tool firs then I will gladly do that.

Completely fair disclaimer as well! I honestly just appreciate the attention and information to see if anything can be done but of course, I understand the possibility that it might not work.

Many thanks.



softwaremaniac said:
Hello and welcome! What was done on the system prior to the BSOD?

Could you do this rather than SFC?

Step#1 - FRST Scan

1. Please download Farbar Recovery Scan Tool and save it to your Desktop.
Note: You need to run the 64-bit Version so please ensure you download that one.

2. Copy it to your USB drive.
3. Boot to recovery environment.
4. Launch CMD and launch FRST64.exe from the USB.
5. Please ensure you place a check mark in the Addition.txt check box at the bottom of the form before running (if not already).
6. Press Scan button.
7. It will produce a log called FRST.txt in the same directory the tool is run from (which should now be the USB)
6. Please attach the log back here.
7. Another log (Addition.txt - also located in the same directory as FRST64.exe) will be generated Please also attach that along with the FRST.txt in your reply.

Please note that there is no guarantee that I will be able to help you, but I will try.
Click to expand...
 
Thanks again! I've already begun the process of replacing the mobo since it's already been ordered. The one I have right now has failed, so I don't see a recourse here. If I have to re-install Windows then I may as well just buy a completely new PC instead of replacing a 10-year-old motherboard. Physically replacing the motherboard isn't hard, it's having to re-install Windows that I'm trying to avoid :/

I'm gonna run the scan that you mentioned tonight. I'll post back the details shortly.

Just curious about my original question though.. is it possible to run SFCFix on another hard drive that isn't the one booting Windows?


softwaremaniac said:
Thanks for the info. If it in the end does come to the down MB, I'd rather have you do a clean install. MB is a major hardware change...
Click to expand...
 
You may not need to reinstall, but I would strongly advise you to do so.

I did not try it, but it should be possible to run an offline scan with SFC and hope that it fixes everything it finds.
 
Thanks again. Curious, why would you advise to re-install if the Windows disk is able to boot?

...Still waiting for the replacement mobo to come in to perform the FRST scan
 
Nope. Same PC, that's why I got a replacement motherboard of the same model/chipset so that I can boot Windows again.

So I got the motherboard in today and replaced it, so I was able to run the FRST scan. I couldn't select addition.txt since that seems to only be available when running from Windows.

Here is the log.

Let me know if you need anything else from me, and thanks again for all of your help.
 
Just an update here after some more digging around into the BSOD stop: c000021a with code 0xc000009a, I was seeing a lot of references to registry related issues causing this. I hooked up my boot drive to another pc, jumped into the /windows/system32/config/regback folder and saw that there was a registry backup there from around the time this crash first started. I took those hives and restored them to the /config folder and my PC booted up instantly! Couldn't be happier.

If you don't mind, I would like to know more about the FRST tool. Were you able to tell anything from the logs? I looked at them and felt that the log didnt really say much. Can you tell me or point me to somewhere that shows how to interpret FRST logs?

Cheers
 
Sorry can't seem to find a way to edit my posts.

Update #2: I finally ran SFCFix and it found 2 corrupt files which it was unable to repair. One issue I am having now that I have booted into Windows is that every new folder I click on now opens in a new window regardless of the setting which I have set it to open in the same window. I've tried all of the suggested fixes gained from a search such as re-registering some DLLs such as "ieproxy.dll" and "actxprxy.dll" but that hasnt seemed to fix anything :(

Here are my results from SFCFix. Not too sure if these corrupted DLLs are causing this issue of everything opening in a separate window or not. If you can suggest a way to fix anything here I'd be much appreciative.


Code: 
SFCFix version 3.0.0.0 by niemiro.
Start time: 2018-03-25 18:57:45.259
Microsoft Windows 7 Service Pack 1 - amd64
Not using a script file.

AutoAnalysis::
CORRUPT: C:\Windows\winsxs\amd64_microsoft-windows-ie-ieproxy_31bf3856ad364e35_11.2.9600.17358_none_7293ca1d5f93fb46\ieproxy.dll
CORRUPT: C:\Windows\winsxs\x86_microsoft.vc90.mfc_1fc8b3b9a1e18e3b_9.0.30729.4137_none_4bf45688bf9e2dbf\mfc90.dll

SUMMARY: Some corruptions could not be fixed automatically. Seek advice from helper or sysnative.com.
   CBS & SFC total detected corruption count:     2
   CBS & SFC total unimportant corruption count:  0
   CBS & SFC total fixed corruption count:        0
   SURT total detected corruption count:          0
   SURT total unimportant corruption count:       0
   SURT total fixed corruption count:             0
AutoAnalysis:: directive completed successfully.


Successfully processed all directives.


Failed to generate a complete zip file. Upload aborted.


SFCFix version 3.0.0.0 by niemiro has completed.
Currently storing 0 datablocks.
Finish time: 2018-03-25 19:01:50.650
----------------------EOF-----------------------
 
Another update here. I fixed the corrupt ieproxy.dll by replacing it with a backup from \windows\winsxs and that fixed my folders from opening in new windows problem. I really only have one outstanding issue left where IE11 opens and closes instantly but whatever, it's a browser I don't use anyway and when I tried to uninstall it, it caused Windows to jam on "windows update, reverting changes.." and I had to do another registry hive restore to get it booting again.

I guess my only outstanding question at this time would be still be the one about interpreting the FRST logs.. I think that tool looks very useful but still curious as to how you can find out what system files are problematic by looking at the log it produces.

Cheers
 
Hello, I'm happy your system is working again. If you like, we can look at the corrupt files.

Regarding FRST, it can sometimes tell the helper if a crucial system file is missing or has been patched by malware (has a different file hash than the standard one).
 
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