How to Determine if a File Is Protected by System File Protection

Windows Millennium Edition (Me) uses the System File Protection (SFP) feature to protect crucial system files so that they cannot be accidentally damaged or replaced. This article provides a method you can use to determine if a particular file is being protected by the SFP feature.

To determine if a particular file is being protected by the SFP feature:

1. Click Start, point to Search, and then click For Files or Folders.
2. In the Search for files named box, type sfpdb.sfp, and then press ENTER.
3. Double-click the Sfpdb.sfp file in Windows\System\SFP folder.
4. In the Open With dialog box, click WordPad, do not click to select the Always use this program to open these files check box, and then click OK.
5. In Microsoft WordPad, click Find on the Edit menu.
6. Type the name of the file you want to check for SFP protection, and then click Find Next.
7. If the file is found, the file is protected by the SFP feature. If you receive a "WordPad has finished searching the entire document" message, the file is not protected.

For additional information about the SFP feature in Windows Me, click the article numbers below to view the articles in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: