Windows 11 24H2 update plagued by file scanner bug – over and over again

October 11, 2024 TH Author

The System File Checker in Windows 11 caught in a loop of false positives — Screenshot by Lance Whitney/ZDNET

The 2024 update for Windows 11 is just now rolling out, which means more bugs are likely to start surfacing in this latest version. With a few glitches already uncovered, a new one that just popped up impacts the built-in file checker tool.

The System File Checker (SFC), scans your drive for corrupted system files and attempts to repair or replace them. The tool has long been a handy and reliable way to fix a variety of problems that impact the performance and behavior of Windows.

Also: You can still upgrade old PCs to Windows 11, even if Microsoft says no: Readers prove it

But with the new 24H2 update to Windows 11, SFC isn’t so handy or reliable. That’s because it seems to be stuck in a loop of false positives.

As spotted by the folks at Windows Latest, running the checker in the 2024 update to Windows 11 informs you that certain files are corrupt. The tool will repair them automatically, which should mean that the files are now fine. Run the tool again, however, and it will again tell you that the files are corrupt. No matter how many times you run SFC, it keeps insisting that certain files are corrupt and need to be repaired.

To try this yourself with Windows 11 24H2 or any version of Windows, type CMD in the search field or box and then select the option to Run as administrator. At the prompt, type sfc /scannow. The tool will scan your drive for corrupted files. If it finds any, it should automatically repair them.

In any other flavor of Windows, running the tool again won’t find any corrupted files because they’ve been fixed. But in the 2024 Windows 11 edition, SFC will get stuck in the loop of telling you over and over again that the files are corrupt. The issue was first seen by testers in the Windows Insider Program, according to Windows Latest, and has remained in the production version of Windows 11 24H2.

Also: You should protect your Windows PC data with strong encryption – here’s how and why

Why is this bug happening? In its testing, Windows Latest learned that SFC finds that the hash values for certain WebView2-related files don’t match the expected values. That’s why these files are being incorrectly tagged as corrupted. Though it’s unlikely that the buggy file checker is causing any harm to your Windows 11 setup, you may want to hold off on running the tool until Microsoft fixes the glitch.