Deployment Image Servicing and Management (DISM) and System File Checker (SFC) remain the quickest, least-invasive tools to restore a damaged Windows 10 installation — when used in the correct order, with the right sources, and with realistic expectations about what they can and cannot fix. This...
How to associate (and manage) devices for the Movies & TV (Films & TV) app on Windows
A practical, forum-ready guide for WindowsForum.com — what the official docs say, what changed recently, and step‑by‑step workflows and troubleshooting to keep your movie library working across your PCs and...
account management
appx
device association
dism
download devices
films & tv
five device limit
microsoft account
microsoft store
movies & tv
movies anywhere
offline viewing
powershell
sfc
uwp
windows
windows troubleshooting
windowsapps
xbox
zunevideo
Microsoft’s official guidance for the Movies & TV app clarifies how device association works, how to view the devices tied to your account, and how to remove a device when you reach capacity — but it also reveals practical limits and policy quirks that every Windows user who buys or downloads...
cross service sync
device association
digital rights
dism
download limit
drm
five devices
license management
microsoft store
microsoft support
movies and tv
movies anywhere
offline downloads
powershell
removal cadence
sfc
store closure
troubleshooting
windows
Microsoft's September cumulative for Windows 11 (KB5065426) landed as a routine Patch Tuesday release but quickly became a headache for many users: installers fail with a slew of cryptic error codes, Microsoft Update Catalog packages sometimes abort mid‑install, and, in a number of reports...
dism
enterprise it
file sharing
in-place upgrade
installation failure
kb5065426
known issues
media creation tool
network credentials
os build 26100.6584
patch tuesday
powershell direct
sfc
smb
ssu-lcu
update assistant
windows 11
windows 11 24h2
windows update
windows update cache
AMD’s freshly posted support guidance for the vexing Error 1603 is a welcome — if overdue — dose of clarity for users who hit a brick wall while installing Radeon or chipset packages on Windows 10 and 11. The company’s knowledge base article walks through the usual suspects (software conflicts...
The Automatic Repair screen that reads “Your PC did not start correctly” is not a dramatic flourish — it’s Windows telling you that the boot process failed one of its early checks and the system has moved you into the Windows Recovery Environment (WinRE) so you can try to fix it. The advice from...
Windows 11’s crash screen may look familiar, but the reasons behind the crash and the route to recovery are rarely simple — this feature walks through practical, verified BSOD (and the newer black crash‑screen) troubleshooting, consolidates the basic steps Guiding Tech outlines, and layers in...
If your Windows 11 or Windows 10 PC is misbehaving — BSODs, apps refusing to start, unexplained slowdowns, or failed updates — the built‑in duo of DISM (Deployment Image Servicing and Management) and SFC (System File Checker) will often repair what a reinstall otherwise would. These tools work...
Last month’s Windows 11 patch KB5063878 triggered a flurry of alarm among power users and IT pros after a narrow set of SSDs began disappearing under heavy write conditions — a regression serious enough that some users experienced irrecoverable data loss. This feature walks through a practical...
Windows 11 machines that should shut down but instead loop into a restart are a maddening — yet fixable — class of problems, and the simplest remedies usually live in your power configuration and a few targeted system checks.
Background
Windows 11 introduced incremental changes to startup...
auto restart
bios/uefi
bsod
clean boot
device manager
dism
fast startup
network adapter
nic power management
power management
powercfg
restart loop
safe mode
sfc
shutdown
startup and recovery
troubleshooting
wake-on-lan
windows 11
Repair Corrupted System Files with SFC and DISM in Windows 10/11
Difficulty: Intermediate | Time Required: 20 minutes
Introduction
Corrupted system files can cause crashes, slowdowns, driver issues, or Windows features failing to start. Windows includes two built‑in tools—System File Checker...
Create and Use a Bootable Windows 10/11 Recovery USB to Repair Startup
Difficulty: Intermediate | Time Required: 20-30 minutes
Introduction
A bootable Windows recovery USB gives you the tools to fix startup problems, run offline repair utilities, restore system images, and — if needed —...
bcdboot
bios
bootrec
chkdsk
diskpart
efi partition
gpt
installation media
mbr
media creation tool
recovery drive
recovery usb
reinstall windows
sfc
startup repair
system restore
uefi
windows 10
windows 11
winre
Booting Windows Server 2019 into Safe Mode is one of the simplest — and most powerful — recovery moves an administrator can make, and it’s essential knowledge for troubleshooting boot failures, driver conflicts, malware, or service-level corruption. Multiple, supported paths exist (System...
Windows Security failing to open is a deceptively common problem that can leave a PC exposed and users unnerved — yet in almost every case the root causes and remedies are resolvable without a full reinstall. Symptoms range from a completely unresponsive Windows Security app to a blank or...
app repair
appxpackage
defender
defender ui
dism
enterprise policy
event viewer
group policy
in-place repair
known issue rollback
powershell
reset windows security
securitycenter
sfc
system restore
third-party antivirus
windefend
windows defender
windows security
windows update
Error 0x8000FFFF — the dreaded “Catastrophic failure” — is rarely fatal, but it’s a disruptive Windows error that often appears after an update, during a System Restore, or when a core servicing operation fails; it generally signals corrupted system files, a damaged component store, driver...
catastrophic failure
chkdsk
component store
corrupted system files
disk health
dism
driver conflicts
error 0x8000ffff
in-place repair
malware interference
repair install
safe mode
sfc
system restore
troubleshooter
troubleshooting
windows
windows update
winsxs
If your AppData folder is ballooning and consuming valuable disk space, this guide walks through four practical fixes — from safe, built‑in cleanups to targeted troubleshooting for runaway temp producers — and explains the trade‑offs and safeguards every Windows user should know.
Background...
app relocation
appdata
backup and restore
cache cleanup
component store
disk cleanup
dism
dismhost
sfc
silentcleanup
storage
storage sense
system maintenance
task scheduler
temporary files
windirstat
windows
windows.old
wiztree
Deployment Image Servicing and Management (DISM) is the built‑in Windows tool for repairing the Windows component store and servicing images — and when used correctly it’s the most reliable first‑line fix for persistent Windows 11 stability problems that never quite go away after normal...
cbs logs
command line
component store
dism
dism.log
elevation
image servicing
in-place upgrade
install.esd
install.wim
offline source
powershell
repair tools
sfc
system maintenance
troubleshooting
windows 11
windows update
winre
wsus
If uninstalling KB5063878 on Windows 11 throws the installer error code 0x800f0905, there are practical, verifiable steps that will usually get you past the failure — but the decision to remove the patch has to be weighed carefully because the August cumulative update in question has been tied...
0x800f0905
catroot2
dism
kb5063878
known issue rollback
lcu
ndi
ndi streaming
obs
rudp
sfc
show or hide updates
single tcp
softwaredistribution
ssu
system file checker
udp
windows 11
windows update troubleshooter
wsus
If Windows 11’s July 2025 cumulative update (KB5062553) won’t install on your PC and you’re seeing rollback messages or error codes such as 0x800f0922, 0x80073712, or “Updates failed — your device is missing important security updates,” this guide walks through a practical, evidence-backed...
Windows 11 packs a surprisingly capable set of built‑in troubleshooters that can automatically diagnose and repair many everyday PC problems—from flaky Wi‑Fi and silent speakers to frozen updates and stubborn printers. This guide distills what matters: where to find these tools, how to run them...
audio
dism
event viewer
get help
internet
network
network adapter
playbooks
printer
reliability monitor
settings
sfc
system file integrity
system restore
troubleshooters
troubleshooting
update
windows 11
windows update