History
Due to problems with Windows applications being able to overwrite system files in Windows 95, Microsoft has since implemented a number of security measures to protect system files from malicious attacks, corruptions, or problems such as DLL hell.
System File Checker was first introduced on Windows 98 as a GUI utility. It offered scanning and restoration of corrupted system files by matching the version number against a database containing the original version number of the files in a fresh Windows 98 installation. This method of file protection was basic. It determined system files by file extension and file path. It was able to restore files from the installation media or a source specified by the user. Windows 98 did not offer real-time system file protection beyond file attributes; therefore, no preventive or reactive measure was available.
All Windows NT-based operating systems since Windows 2000 introduced real-time file protection, called Windows File Protection (WFP).
In addition, the System File Checker utility (sfc.exe) was reimplemented as a more robust command-line utility that integrated with Windows File Protection. Unlike the Windows 98 SFC utility, the new utility forces a scan of protected system files using Windows File Protection and allows the immediate silent restoration of system files from the DLLCache folder or installation media.
SFC did not appear on Windows Me. It was replaced with System File Protection (SFP). Similar to Windows File Protection, System File Protection offered real-time protection.
Read more about this topic: System File Checker
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