Can't get scannow to run - Windows CD not found

Hello

Having been getting the "dwwin failed to initialize..." error message, I'm attempting to run 'sfc /scannow' to stop it continuing. And failing!

In Registry I have 'Sourcepath' value set to the directory to which I have copied my Windows (slipstreamed) install CD, which of course contains the i386 folder. Despite this, as soon as I run 'scannow' I get a demand to put the physical install-CD in the drive, but it isn't read - the demand just repeats. Trapped in an endless loop!

Clicking on "more information" brings up the message that either the disc in the drive isn't the one from which I installed the version of XP I'm running (not true), or that my drive is faulty - not true either.

One thing that might possibly have led to this behaviour (guessing) is that subsequent to my most recent XP install I changed my optical drive's letter (to 'O', for "optical" - doh!). Yet when I went into Registry to re-set the 'Sourcepath' value as described above I found - much to my surprise - that the then-current value was not 'O:\' but 'G:\' (the letter from which I had changed it). Can it be that System File Checker has somehow locked itself onto G: as my optical drive's letter and therefore that the disc in my drive isn't being read by SFC? If this guess is right, how can SFC be forced to read from the right drive-letter?

 

Hi kosketus, This is always a curly one. Is your CD Drive showing as 'O' when you Right click > My Computer > Open?

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\MICROSOFT\WINDOWS\CurrentVersion\Setup\SourcePath showing that Drive letter?
Make necessary change.

If the i386 directory is at C:\i386, the SourcePath value would be C:\

Hope this helps. Neil.

 

Hi Neil

Thanks for replying.

Yes, the drive-letter shows as correctly-set in both 'My Computer and 'Sourcepath'.

 

Hi kosketus, You used your "Slipstreamed" CD when asked to insert CD?

Maybe that is the problem. The Slipstreamed CD would have all the Updates in it and therefore would not be the same as the original install of the XP OS.

Have you got another XP CD original?
Just explore and locate i386 and copy that and install in your HDD in C:\
Neil.

 

Hi

Windows File Protection expressly asks for the "Windows XP professional Service Pack 3 CD ". And the 'More Information' button further elaborates that a possible reason for SFC's not accepting it may be that it isn't the CD from which the install was done (ie the streamed sp3 one). I don't see how putting the original (unstreamed) CD in the drive could meet that requirement.

Nevertheless, I tried it just to be sure (yes, I do have the original CD). It doesn't work

 

Arie

Even though the i386 folder is nested inside another folder, which is the one on the root drive? Does only the drive-letter matter?

 

Arie

A follow-up.

I carried-out the instructions you gave, according to my intepretation of their meaning. Nothing has changed: I still get exactly the same error-messages as before, and meanwhile scannow remains unactivated. So, no progress so far.

Perhaps you could check if I've misapplied the instructions? The value I've entered in ServicePackSourcePath are the actual characters which appear in that line of your post (I copied and pasted them). Was that what you intended?

The value I've now set for Sourcepath is C:\, and I've changed the value in HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion to match

EDIT
I forgot to mention that I've also placed a folder containing i386 in the root directory (ie with path C:\)

 

Hi kosketus, here's the source of my info which I have used on 4 or 5 of our home PC's. This guy has been a treasure for me in the past when I was feeling my way into using computers and before I got really interested in BBS.

http://www.updatexp.com/scannow-sfc.html

Marc Liron has produced easy to follow info on XP OS. See what you think. Cheers Neil.

Thanks for looking in Arie.

 

Hi Neil

Thanks for persevering!

Yes, I too have that page bookmarked. In fact I alwys use it as my first port of call before invoking sfc. Hitherto I've not had any problem when I've done so, but no such luck this time, alas, for some reason.

 

Arie

I'm never sure how to interpret this "%...%" convention. I'll repeat my question, since you haven't answered it:-

Was I supposed to type, literally, "%windir%" (which IS what I've typed, by cut-and-paste as I've already explained), or was I supposed to substitute some other expression (such as the path for the Windows directory on my computer)?

And if what I have now done (and have described as clearly as I can) is indeed what I was meant to do, then why has it had precisely nil effect I'm wondering?

It was this I was seeking some help in trying to come to grips with. If I have now faithfully carried-out the steps which were set out (my question was: have I in fact done that or have I cocked-up something?), then where do I go from here? - because I've still got the problem I started with.

 

And, as I previously reported, that was just what I did. But since sfc's behaviour nonetheless remained as uncooperative as ever I began to wonder if that might be because I had misunderstood/misapplied your instructions after all.

So I asked for confirmation that the changes I had made were right, and you have now confirmed that they were.

So, can I please re-state what the problem I'm trying to find a solution for is? Every time I shut-down my computer I get an error-message referring to dwwin.exe, saying that it's failed to initialize... (I forget the rest). Googling reveals this to be a fairly common occurrence and among suggested remedies are:- to run a virus check (I have Avast! anti-virus and Spybot S & D installed, and both come up clean every time), to use a Registry cleaner (yes, I saw that you deprecate these and I promptly uninstalled the one I then had; I've now bought and installed RegZooka), and - to run Systems File Checker.

And that's where I got stuck, and still am:- problem (so far) unsolved.

Apart from not being able to progress with trying to cure the dwwin.exe problem, it's also just as much a source of concern that I've been unable to get sfc to function (a problem I've never had before now). So that makes two unsolved problems.

 

No malware detected.

 

Arie

OK, noted.