Another bug has been found in the Windows 11 24H2 update, causing sfc /scannow to detect corrupt files on every run.
Many users will be familiar with the incantation sfc /scannow. You type it into your Windows Terminal and it runs for a very long time, reporting on any corrupt or missing files it finds and whether it was able to repair or replace them.
The new bug causes sfc to find corrupt files, fix them, and when run again, find another “corrupt file” and “repair/replace” it again. No matter how many times you run it, Windows File Checker will fix it something.
This indicates that the problems found are false positives. Users use sfc to perform system maintenance, so seeing recurring corrupt files on every scan will cause confusion and keep them trying to fix a problem that doesn’t exist.
Users first reported the problem in Microsoft’s Windows 11 Feedback Hub Messages.
One user wrote:
“When I try to run SFC /scannnow with the latest Windows 11 updates, I get errors every time, even though they should have already been fixed.“
Another wrote:
“SFC Scan on the new 24H2 is showing errors and not correcting itself despite repeated attempts to correct it. Every time I run the SFC scan it says: “Windows Resource Protection found corrupt files and successfully repaired them.”
windowslatest.com ran tests to see the bug in action. After running sfc /scannow they were presented with this message:
“Windows Resource Protection found corrupt files and repaired them successfully. For online repairs, details are included in the CBS log file at windirLogsCBSCBS.log. For example C:WindowsLogsCBSCBS.log. For offline repairs, details are included in the log file provided by the /OFFLOGFILE flag.“
When they ran the scan again, the same message appeared again, saying exactly the same thing.
It’s not uncommon for major software updates like this to have bugs. In the Windows 11 22H2 update, File Explorer contained a bug that caused frequent freezes or crashes. And we previously reported on two bugs found so far in the Windows 11 24H2 update: the first, disappearing cursors; the second, a non-removable 8.63 GB update cache.
Microsoft is aware of the bugs and is likely working on some patches as we write this. So keep your eyes open.