Windows repair tool

The commands that fix a sick Windows install are not secret. They are just scattered across a dozen support pages, and half of them are typed wrong the first time.

Get WinRescue from the Microsoft Store

What is in the box

Twenty modules, each with a check and a repair: SFC system file check, DISM component store repair, boot record repair (kept separate on purpose, see below), file associations, system DLL re-registration, critical services, shell extensions, disk error check, SMART health, temporary file cleanup, Defender definition update, network stack reset, Windows Update reset, event log analysis, restore points, printer repair, audio repair, search index rebuild, VC++ runtime check and icon cache rebuild.

Scan first, repair second

Running Scan All produces a diagnosis per module. Nothing is changed until you press repair. That order matters: the most common way people break a Windows install with repair tools is by running a pile of "fixes" against problems they did not have.

The boot record module is deliberately not automatic

bootrec /fixmbr /fixboot /rebuildbcd is BIOS-era boot repair. Microsoft expects it to be run from the recovery environment, and on a modern UEFI/GPT machine rewriting the MBR does more harm than good. This tool labels it high risk and never includes it in the one-click repair.

What the log is for

Every command and its exit code goes into the log panel. When a repair does not work, the exit code is usually the whole answer - 0 and 2 from SFC mean different things, and neither means "it failed".

The app needs administrator rights: SFC, DISM and boot repair cannot do anything without them, so it says so at startup instead of failing halfway through. It is free, has no account, no telemetry and works offline.

Questions

Is it safe to run the one-click repair?

It runs only the safe and advanced modules, after you have seen the scan results. The high-risk boot repair is excluded and must be clicked deliberately.

Does it replace a Windows reinstall?

No. It fixes the common class of problems (corrupt system files, broken services, stuck updates). Hardware failure and a corrupted user profile are outside its scope.

Does it work on Windows 10 and 11?

Yes, 64-bit Windows 10 1809 and later, including Windows 11.