Windows 11 PC System File Error Messages

Because SFC and DISM finish clean, these dialogs may come from a missing application path, shortcut, profile setting, or background extension rather than protected Windows-file damage. Capture the exact message, path, application, and time. Open Reliability Monitor with perfmon /rel and check the matching failure; review Event Viewer > Windows Logs > Application at that timestamp. Next run Microsoft Sysinternals Process Monitor, filter Process Name to explorer.exe or notepad.exe, reproduce once, stop capture, and inspect NAME NOT FOUND or PATH NOT FOUND events before the dialog. The Path column should identify what is missing; do not delete or replace anything yet. Perform a clean boot and retest. If the error disappears, re-enable services and startup items in groups. If it persists, create a temporary local user and retest there. A profile-only result points to user settings; failure in both accounts needs the exact Process Monitor path and Event Viewer details.