Stuck on step 04 (Register system files) for 12 hours. How long should I wait?

[mlbne]

Stuck on step 04. CPU usage 55 - 75%. Win 10

[Boggin]

That's registering system files.

It shouldn't have been running for as long as that.

The fact that the CPU is fluctuating shows that the repair is still running.

I don't know if you can safely stop the program so have asked Shane in an email if you can and hope I get a reply soon.

You may have to let it continue.

Did you perform a sfc /scannow or chkdsk /f before running the repairs and are you in Safe Mode with Networking ?

[mlbne]

Ran check disk in the last couple of days. Now running in safe mode.

[Boggin]

It would have been nice to know what a sfc /scannow had reported had there been any corruption.

I think you may just have to wait for now to see how the repair progresses.

It's getting on for midnight here in the UK so I may not be around if and when Shane replies.

[mlbne]

Well, now it’s been 19 hours with no change. Am I spinning wheels or on the right path?

[Boggin]

Is there still movement on the CPU usage ?

I still haven't had a reply from Shane on this.

[mlbne]

No change. Twenty nine hours and still going.

[Boggin]

If this was mine then I would stop it now.

When you've done that, reboot and open a Command Prompt (Admin) and enter these cmds -

dism /online /cleanup-image /restorehealth

sfc /scannow

exit (to close the cmd window)

Let me know what the sfc /scannow reports.

[Boggin]

Can you let me know what the chkdsk /f reported ?

Shane thinks your HDD could have a problem

[mlbne]

Sfc reported that corrupted files had been repaired. Chkdsk wasn’t run.

[mlbne]

Any thoughts on speeding up a slow pc?

[Boggin]

Let's see if we can get the repair program to run as it should.

Perform a chkdsk /r and when it has completed, open Event Viewer and when it has read the data, expand Windows Logs -- click on Application/Action/Find and type chkdsk into the Find box and press enter.

Cancel the Find box and read the chkdsk log in the scrollable window below and let me know if it reports any KBs in bad sectors and how many if so.

A Disk Cleanup, defrag and disabling items in the Start-up menu can speed up a machine.

When you've run Disk Cleanup and it reports what it has found, click on Clean System files where it should  find some more.

If it finds a lot in your downloads folder, don't check that box as you will lose all of them.

The only thing I have enabled in my Start-up menu is the one for Realtek HD Audio Manager

[Boggin]

As the sfc /scannow reported it had repaired corrupt files, you could try the repair program again but I would still advise you to run a chkdsk /r and then check its log.

[mlbne]

Chkdsk found no problems. I have a SSD so defrag isn't an option. Do you have a recommendation for Disk Cleanup? I've used System Mechanic.

In addition to Step #4 never ending I found #5, #6 and #7 also took a long time and were skipped. Is there a way to resolve this?

Some good news. I was also experiencing a sihost.exe unknown hard error message that presented a black screen. This was resolved by running the rest of the steps.

Still runs slow though.

[Boggin]

One thing that can slow up a computer is a build up of temp files.

This can be determined by going Start - type %temp% and press enter when it comes up.

If that is highly populated, press CTRL a to highlight then CTRL d to delete and follow the prompts.

However, I use the free version of CCleaner but uncheck boxes for Memory Dumps and Windows Log Files under Windows and MS Search under Applications.

I run this program after each session and that cleans out cookies and temp files.

https://www.ccleaner.com/

That unknown hardware error could have been caused by the repair program.

Uninstall it and download afresh to see if it runs any smoother.

I tend to create a system image before test running each new version should things not work out.

Infections can also affect performance.

Boot up into Safe Mode with Networking and run a scan with the free ESET Online Scanner.

https://www.eset.com/uk/home/online-scanner/

EDIT - Don't re-run the repair program until you have ran ESET as the repair program can't fix infection damaged files while the infection is still present.

[mlbne]

Clean up done. ESET running. I've also run Malware Bytes. The problem is these scan programs often want to stay active and delete programs like Tweaking and Reimage. I haven't been able to find the settings for exceptions for them. I'd rather stop the continuous scanning since I'm sure that is part of my problem.

Oh, yeah - thanks for all the help!

[Boggin]

I uninstalled Malwarebytes in Win 10 because I couldn't change its service to Manual - strange though because I could on my Win 7 machine.

Like you, I don't like things running in the background that I don't want.

ESET doesn't do that and while it has been some time since I ran it last, it used to have an uninstall on completion option.

What did you use for the clean up ?

[mlbne]

CC Cleaner. I also use System Mechanic.
Use Revo Uninstaller, it will scan for left behind reg items and files.
Making progress clearing out old and unused programs. Suggestions for looking through running programs and looking them up. Task Manager doesn’t have that option.

[Boggin]

In Task Manager under Processes click on either CPU or Memory and it will sort to the highest user first to see if any are hogging your resources.

How much free space do you have on your SSD ?

Win 10 x64 needs at least 20GB of free space according to MS.