{"id":1772755,"date":"2022-09-15T18:09:00","date_gmt":"2022-09-15T18:09:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.sweetwater.com\/sweetcare\/?post_type=articles&#038;p=1772755"},"modified":"2023-03-16T18:42:34","modified_gmt":"2023-03-16T18:42:34","slug":"how-to-use-dism-to-repair-windows-image","status":"publish","type":"articles","link":"https:\/\/www.sweetwater.com\/sweetcare\/articles\/how-to-use-dism-to-repair-windows-image\/","title":{"rendered":"How To Use DISM To Repair Windows Image"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>DISM is a very powerful troubleshooting command you can run when you\u2019re having issues with the Windows <a href=\"https:\/\/docs.microsoft.com\/en-us\/windows-hardware\/customize\/desktop\/wsim\/windows-image-files-and-catalog-files-overview#:~:text=A%20Windows%20image%20file%20contains,available%20with%20that%20Windows%20image.\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">image,<\/a> so in this guide, we\u2019ll discuss what the DISM command is and how it works, and we\u2019ll show you how to use it. Follow the sections below to get started.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol type=\"1\"><li><a href=\"#What-is-DISM\"><strong>What is DISM?<\/strong><\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"#How-to-use-DISM\"><strong>How to use DISM<\/strong><\/a><ul><li><a href=\"#Check-file-integrity\"><strong>Check file integrity<\/strong><\/a><\/li><li><strong><a href=\"#Repair-corrupted-files\">Repair corrupted files<\/a><\/strong><\/li><\/ul><\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"What-is-DISM\" class=\"wp-block-cgb-block-customheader blackHeader alignLeft noUnderline customh2 swheader\">What is DISM?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>If the CHKDSK and SFC commands didn\u2019t solve any of your problems, your next troubleshooting step is to run DISM (Deployment Image Servicing and Management). It\u2019s one of the last lines of defense before needing to perform a repair install, or even worse, complete reinstall of Windows.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Please note that you may need to be connected to the internet depending on the command. This is what Microsoft says on <a href=\"https:\/\/docs.microsoft.com\/en-us\/windows-hardware\/manufacture\/desktop\/what-is-dism?view=windows-11\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><strong>how to best utilize DISM.<\/strong><br><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>Managing the data or information included in the Windows image, such as enumerating or taking an inventory of the components, updates, drivers, or applications contained in an image, capturing, or splitting an image, appending, or deleting images within a .wim file, or mounting an image.<\/li><li>Servicing the image itself, including adding or removing driver packages and drivers, modifying language settings, enabling or disabling Windows features, and upgrading to a higher edition of Windows.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>In short, DISM is <strong>not <\/strong>a complete reinstallation of Windows; instead, it finds critical core files required to run and gather information, then upgrades or repairs any files that are corrupted or out-of-date. Think of the DISM command as taking your car to a mechanic. You take your car in because the transmission is beginning to fail. The mechanic will inspect it, find the parts needed, then rebuild it. No new transmission is required (clean reinstall of Windows.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-right\"><a href=\"#Getting-started\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"button flat s blue\">Return to top<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"How-to-use-DISM\" class=\"wp-block-cgb-block-customheader blackHeader alignLeft noUnderline customh2 swheader\">How to use DISM<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Now that you know what DISM is, let\u2019s show you how to run it. First, we\u2019ll show you how to check the health, then restore the health of the Windows image.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group\"><div class=\"wp-block-group__inner-container\">\n<div style=\"height:40px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-large-font-size\"><strong>WARNING!<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-background\" style=\"background-color:#f3f2f1\"><strong>BACK UP YOUR PERSONAL FILES!<\/strong> Although you should regularly <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sweetwater.com\/sweetcare\/articles\/windows-11-backup-how-to-back-up-windows-11\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">back up your personal files and folders<\/a>, it\u2019s essential before running the DISM command. So before we move forward, please keep this tab open and head over to our <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sweetwater.com\/sweetcare\/articles\/how-to-back-up-windows-10\/#File-Backup\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Windows 10<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sweetwater.com\/sweetcare\/articles\/windows-11-backup-how-to-back-up-windows-11\/#File-backup\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Windows 11<\/a> guides to learn how to back up file content.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-columns\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-column\">\n<a href=\"https:\/\/www.sweetwater.com\/sweetcare\/articles\/how-to-back-up-windows-10\/#How-to-back-up-Windows-10\" class=\"relatedcontent_link\" class=\"wp-block-cgb-block-related-content\"><div class=\"relatedcontent_block\" style=\"background-image:url(https:\/\/www.sweetwater.com\/sweetcare\/media\/2018\/10\/Windows-Backup-Hero.png);background-size:cover;background-position:center\"><div class=\"relatedcontent_overlay_content\"><\/div><div class=\"relatedcontent-text relatedcontent_content\"><p class=\"relatedcontent_title\" style=\"color:#fff\">How to Back Up Windows 10<\/p><p class=\"relatedcontent_subhead\" style=\"color:#fff;border:none\"><\/p><\/div><\/div><\/a>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-column\">\n<a href=\"https:\/\/www.sweetwater.com\/sweetcare\/articles\/windows-11-backup-how-to-back-up-windows-11\/\" class=\"relatedcontent_link\" class=\"wp-block-cgb-block-related-content\"><div class=\"relatedcontent_block\" style=\"background-image:url(https:\/\/www.sweetwater.com\/sweetcare\/media\/2021\/10\/Windows-11-Backup-featured-image.jpg);background-size:cover;background-position:center\"><div class=\"relatedcontent_overlay_content\"><\/div><div class=\"relatedcontent-text relatedcontent_content\"><p class=\"relatedcontent_title\" style=\"color:#fff\">How to Back Up Windows 11<\/p><p class=\"relatedcontent_subhead\" style=\"color:#fff;border:none\"><\/p><\/div><\/div><\/a>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.sweetwater.com\/c774--External_Hard_Drives\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"button flat m blue\">Shop All External Hard Drives \ud83d\udcbe<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 id=\"Check-file-integrity\" class=\"wp-block-cgb-block-customheader darkBlueHeader alignLeft underline customh3 swheader\">Check file integrity<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Before performing the repair process, you\u2019ll first want to check and see if there are any issues with the Windows image. There are two different ways to check the integrity of system image files. One is via check health, and the other is scan health.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li><strong>Check Health: <\/strong>Open an elevated Command Prompt and type <code>DISM \/online \/cleanup-image \/checkhealth<\/code>. This is a quick scan and will determine if the image is repairable.<\/li><li><strong>Scan Health: <\/strong>Open an elevated Command Prompt and type <code>DISM \/online \/cleanup-image \/scanhealth<\/code>. This will check if there are any corruptions detected. Like the check health command, this will not repair any errors.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h3 id=\"Repair-corrupted-files\" class=\"wp-block-cgb-block-customheader darkBlueHeader alignLeft underline customh3 swheader\">Repair corrupted files<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>If there are any corrupt or missing files after performing one of the scans mentioned above, you can repair them automatically. Your computer will need to be connected to the Internet for the files to be automatically restored. If not, you\u2019ll need to download the Windows ISO file and install the update manually.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol type=\"1\"><li>Open an elevated Command Prompt and type <code>DISM \/online \/cleanup-image \/restorehealth<\/code>.<ul><li>This process can take a little while, so make sure not to close the Command Prompt. It may look like it\u2019s stuck, but this is normal behavior.<\/li><\/ul><\/li><li>Once the scan is complete, your system will automatically connect to the Windows Update service to download and replace the corrupt files.<\/li><li>If the scan fails, please rerun it in <strong>Safe Mode<\/strong>.<\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n<h4 id=\"Repair-corrupted-files-manually\" class=\"wp-block-cgb-block-customheader blackHeader alignLeft underline customh4 swheader\">Repair corrupted files manually<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>On the very rare occurrence that DISM fails to repair corrupted files correctly, or if you aren\u2019t connected to the Internet, you\u2019ll need to fix them manually. Check out Microsoft\u2019s support pages to learn more on <a href=\"https:\/\/docs.microsoft.com\/en-us\/windows-hardware\/manufacture\/desktop\/configure-a-windows-repair-source?view=windows-11\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">configuring Windows repair sources<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/docs.microsoft.com\/en-us\/windows-hardware\/manufacture\/desktop\/repair-a-windows-image?view=windows-11\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">repairing Windows images<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter size-full is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.sweetwater.com\/sweetcare\/media\/2022\/02\/dism-in-command-prompt.jpg\" alt=\"dism in command prompt\" class=\"wp-image-1772756\" width=\"473\" height=\"384\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.sweetwater.com\/sweetcare\/media\/2022\/02\/dism-in-command-prompt.jpg 631w, https:\/\/www.sweetwater.com\/sweetcare\/media\/2022\/02\/dism-in-command-prompt-300x243.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 473px) 100vw, 473px\" \/><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\"><em>Running DISM in Command Prompt<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-columns\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-column\">\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.sweetwater.com\/c774--External_Hard_Drives\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"button flat m blue\">Shop All External Hard Drives  \ud83d\udcbe <\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-column\">\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.sweetwater.com\/shop\/creation-station\/\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"button flat m blue\">Shop Sweetwater Creation Stations \ud83d\udda5<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-right\"><a href=\"#Getting-started\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"button flat s blue\">Return to top<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":1772757,"template":"","categories":[348461],"tags":[373502,373501,36572,34750],"storecat":[],"itemids":[],"manufacturers":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v17.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"In this article, we will show you how to use the DISM command to repair a Windows Image. 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