chkdsk.

exe
Check Disk - check and repair disk problems
Syntax Key [drive:] filename /F /X /R /V /L:size kilobytes. drive type /C /I (MFT) The drive to check. File(s) to check for fragmentation (FAT only). Automatically Fix file system errors on the disk. Fix file system errors on the disk, (Win2003 and above) dismounts the volume first, closing all open file handles. Scan for and attempt Recovery of bad sectors. Display the full path and name of every file on the disk. NTFS only: change the log file size to the specified number of If size is not specified, displays the current log size and the (FAT or NTFS). Skip directory corruption checks. Skip corruption checks that compare directory entries to the file record segment (FRS) in the volume's master file table CHKDSK [drive:][[path]filename] [/F] [/V] [/R] [/L[:size]]

Example: CHKDSK C: /F Fixing Errors /F If the drive is the boot partition, you will be prompted to run the check during the next boot If you specify the /f switch, chkdsk will show an error if open files are found on the disk. Chkdsk /f will lock the volume, making data unavailable until chkdsk is finished. If you use chkdsk /f on a disk with a very large number of files (millions), chkdsk may take a long time to complete. When you delete a file or folder that has 'custom' permissions, the ACL is not deleted, it is cached. Chkdsk /f will remove ACLs that are no longer used. This is often the cause of the rather

worrying message: "Windows found problems with the file system. Run chkdsk with the /F (fix) option to correct these." It is normal for chkdsk /F to remove unused index entries and unused security descriptors every time you run it, these do not indicate a problem with the file system. Scan only (without /f switch) If a file needs to be fixed chkdsk will alert you with a message but will not fix the error(s). chkdsk may report lost allocation units on the disk - it will produce this report even if the files are in-use (open). If corruption is found, consider closing all files and repairing the disk with /F. Running chkdsk on a data volume that is in use by another program or process may incorrectly report errors when none are present. To avoid this, close all programs or processes that have open handles to the volume. On computers running Windows 2003 SP1, chkdsk automatically creates a shadow copy, so you can check volumes that are 'in use' by another program or process. This enables an accurate report against a live file server. On earlier versions of Windows, chkdsk would always lock the volume, making data unavailable. Run at Bootup Running at bootup is often the easiest way to close all open file handles. Use the GUI, chkntfs or the FSUTIL dirty commands to set or query the volumes 'dirty' bit so that Windows will run chkdsk when the computer is restarted. Event Logs Chkdsk will log error messages in the Event Viewer - System Log. Chkdsk /f removes ACLs that are no longer used and reports this in the Event Viewer Application Log. Cluster (or block) Size CHKDSK produces a report that shows the the block /cluster size typically: "4096 bytes in each allocation unit." When the cluster size is greater than 4 KB on an NTFS volume, none of the NTFS compression functions are available. Exit codes 0 No errors were found

1 Errors were found and fixed. 2 Could not check the disk, did not or could not fix errors. Notes: Consider the time required to run Chkdsk to repair any errors that occur. Chkdsk times are determined by the number of files on the volume and by the number of files in the largest folder. Chkdsk performance under Windows 2003 is around 30% faster than previous versions. To issue chkdsk on a hard drive you must be a member of the Administrators group. When CHKDSK is set to run at boot-up there is a delay to allow the check to be cancelled - this can be configured in the registry: HKLM\System\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager REG_DWORD:AutoChkTimeOutData The value is the time in seconds that you want CHKDSK to wait (0 = no delay) default is 10 seconds. Chkdsk is also available from the Recovery Console (with different parameters.) Disk Errors "The file system structure on the disk is corrupt and unusable" If you have disk corruption, run the drive manufacturers diagnostics: Toshiba | Hitachi | ibm | Seagate/Maxtor/Freeagent | Western digital "I either want less corruption, or more chance to participate in it" - Ashleigh Brilliant

I try to run chkdsk the next time the pc reboots but when it does, nothing happends. chkdsk never starts. And when Ity to run diskeeper it says chkdsk i set to run next reboot. But as I said it never starts.... What should I do? Regards M Find A Job or Post a Job Opening Click Here. bcastner (IS/IT--Management) 12 Dec 03 14:21 Things to check (Kelly Theriot): Go to Start/Run/CMD and type in: fsutil dirty query c: (Modify the drive letter accordingly) If it comes back as dirty, the dirtybit hasn't cleared. For more information go to Start/Run/CMD and type in: CHKNTFS /? Optional: From a command prompt type chkntfs /D and then reboot, a chkdsk should then run if shceduled, but not on the next boot. Go to Start/Run/Regedit and navigate to this key: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon Highlight the Winlogon file. In the list look for "SFCScan", this should be set to (0) if it is set to (1) the scan will happen at every boot. Go to Start/Run/Regedit and navigate to this key: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager Look for the REG_MULTI_SZ value with the following name: BootExecute. This value contains commands that will be executed at startup. The default value is: autocheck autochk * After scheduling one or more chkdsks, the entry will contain one or more autochk lines. Delete each of these lines and put the default one in place. If you always want a check to be performed at startup, change the value to: autocheck autochk /f * If you don't want any checks to be performed, delete all autocheck entries.

Modify as needed. The path to the chkdsk utility may be wrong: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\MyC omputer\cleanuppath Registry entry should read: %SystemRoot%\system32\cleanmgr.exe /D %c

SYAR2003 (TechnicalUser) chkntfs /D Will reset autocheck = on for all drives.

12 Dec 03 14:49

linney (TechnicalUser) 12 Dec 03 15:23 You can always load the Recovery Console and try running Chkdsk from there. HOW TO: Install and Use the Recovery Console for Windows XP (Q307654) http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/q307/6... Bob2 (Programmer) Hi 12 Dec 03 17:10

I ran fsutil dirty query c: and it came back dirty, but chkdsk didn't start even if I ran chkntfs /D. And the path to chkdsk was right... I will try to install recovery console and run chkdsk from it... I'll let you know how it went. /M bcastner (IS/IT--Management) 12 Dec 03 17:30 If the dirty bit is set, the issue should be that this registry line is not correct: Go to Start/Run/Regedit and navigate to this key: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager Look for the REG_MULTI_SZ value with the following name: BootExecute. This value contains commands that will be executed at startup. The default value is: autocheck autochk * Bob2 (Programmer) Hi I installed recovery console and then ran chkdsk c: It found errors, so I ran chkdsk c: /r 12 Dec 03 17:30

But what does it all mean, what does it mean that drive c: is dirty? Regards M Bob2 (Programmer) Hmm Can you guys tell me if this behaiviour is correct.. I ran chkdsk c: /r in recover console mode, it found errors and repaired them. When I then try to run chkdsk c: /f in windows it tell me that a chkdsk has been scheduled but when I reboot, chkdsk doesn't start. Does it anly start if it find errors or what? Regards M bcastner (IS/IT--Management) Normally, chkdsk should start on boot: . if the dirty bit is set by the OS in its prior use; . or, if you scheduled a chkdsk If you schedule a chkdsk then the following key should appear as modified: Go to Start/Run/Regedit and navigate to this key: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager Look for the REG_MULTI_SZ value with the following name: BootExecute. This value contains commands that will be executed at startup. The default value is: autocheck autochk * After scheduling one or more chkdsks, the entry will contain one or more autochk lines. What does yours show after scheduling a chkdsk? Bob2 (Programmer) Before I schedule anything it looks like this.. autocheck autochk /p \??\C: autocheck autochk * And after I have scheduled a chkdsk it still looks the same??!! 12 Dec 03 18:13 12 Dec 03 17:57 12 Dec 03 17:53

/M Bob2 (Programmer) 12 Dec 03 18:23 By the way, I have no entry in the registry called "SFCScan" under.. HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon Could that be the problem? Regards M Bob2 (Programmer) 12 Dec 03 18:33 I found this registry line on http://www.kellys-korner-xp.com/xp_tweaks.htm

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00 [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon] "SFCScan"=dword:0000001 [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager] "AutoChkTimeOut"=dword:0000000a

Is this what I should add, have anyone tryed it? Regards M bcastner (IS/IT--Management) 12 Dec 03 19:39 Those values specify a autocheck at every boot, with a timer to hit any key to abort of 10. I would do the registry merge because you should have some value in that registry key. linney (TechnicalUser) See if the latter part of this is worth a read. 12 Dec 03 22:22

218461 - Description of Enhanced Chkdsk, Autochk, and Chkntfs Tools in Windows 2000 http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us... Bob2 (Programmer) 13 Dec 03 12:21

Hi Does anyone why this have occured, should the [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon] "SFCScan"=dword:0000001 be there by default on a new win xp pr installation, and if so why am I missing it?

Regards M SYAR2003 (TechnicalUser) Open a cmd prompt type in SFC /REVERT Return SCF /SCANNOW to default settings. ( System File Checker ) Restart computer and check the presence of the key after. It should be gone . 13 Dec 03 12:33

Bob2 (Programmer) This is just weird...

13 Dec 03 12:35

The key HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager BootExecute says autocheck autochk /p \??\C: autocheck autochk * And if I understand it correct it mean that the chkdsk has been scheduled the next reboot. But it never does... /M

SYAR2003 (TechnicalUser) Try disabling the SFC first .(SFC /REVERT ) Maybe they work against each other . autocheck autochk /p \??\C: implies a chkdsk /f c: is ordered at next boot.

13 Dec 03 12:41

Bob2 (Programmer) 13 Dec 03 13:01 I now ran the SFC /REVERT and rebooted. After that I checked the registry. And there where only one entry (autocheck autochk *). Then I scheduled a chkdsk and once more checked the registry. It now had two entries autocheck autochk /p \??\C: autocheck autochk * And then I rebooted, but no chkdsk ran, and when I checked the registry, the two entries where still there!!?? This drives me nuts. SYAR2003 (TechnicalUser) Do a CHKDSK C: /V in a cmd window and see what it says. Maybe another go with the /I /C switches after that. 13 Dec 03 13:20

linney (TechnicalUser) 13 Dec 03 13:43 Is your program "Disk Keeper" conflicting with Chkdsk? If not that program is there anything else that is not allowing Chkdsk sole access to the drive at boot? Will Chkdsk run if you try Safe Mode? Bob2 (Programmer) If I run chkdsk /v I get this... The type of the file system is NTFS. Volume label is DISK1_VOL1. WARNING! F parameter not specified. Running CHKDSK in read-only mode. CHKDSK is verifying files (stage 1 of 3)... File verification completed. CHKDSK is verifying indexes (stage 2 of 3)... 13 Dec 03 14:03

Index verification completed. CHKDSK is verifying security descriptors (stage 3 of 3)... Cleaning up 6 unused index entries from index $SII of file 9. Cleaning up 6 unused index entries from index $SDH of file 9. Cleaning up 6 unused security descriptors. Security descriptor verification completed. 7164958 KB total disk space. 3979604 KB in 22463 files. 5820 KB in 1481 indexes. 0 KB in bad sectors. 62834 KB in use by the system. 37888 KB occupied by the log file. 3116700 KB available on disk. 4096 bytes in each allocation unit. 1791239 total allocation units on disk. 779175 allocation units available on disk. I will try to run chkdsk /f in safe mode and see if it works. By the way, When I ran the "SCF /SCANNOW" It seemed that it did replace some files, it did anyway ask for the xp cd. Do I need to be concerned considering I now have win xp sp 1 and all hotfixes applied. Have Windows in that case replaced new files with older from the cd? Regards M bcastner (IS/IT--Management) 13 Dec 03 14:08 It will not replace newer with older files. It keeps a store of all needed versions, and a database of all versions. Bob2 (Programmer) 13 Dec 03 14:14 When I schedule a chkdsk and run safe mode it do something (my hd is working) but I don't get any message on the screen. And then it reboot. When I then check the registry, the scheduled chkdsk is gone. So maybe it have made a chkdsk, ho knows... bcastner (IS/IT--Management) 13 Dec 03 14:18 Patch for XP Chkdsk if Chkdsk will not run at boot http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?display... linney (TechnicalUser) 13 Dec 03 14:26 283340 - Chkdsk in Read-Only Mode Does Not Detect Corruption on NTFS Volume http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us... If you start Chkdsk using the method of right-clicking your Drive icon/ Properties/ Tools/ Error

Checking, you can select check boxes to automatically check for, and fix any found errors.

Some other process maybe trying to access the drive. The process of writing this file places a lock that prevents Chkdsk.exe from gaining exclusive access to the disk. Because Chkdsk.exe does not have exclusive access to the disk, Chkdsk.exe cannot run. To Isolate what is running at Start up use the Msconfig option. This might help you too. Windows XP Professional starts logon scripts, startup programs, and services referenced in these registry subkeys and folder locations: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Runonce HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\policies\Explor er\Run HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Windows\Run HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunOnce %systemdrive%\Documents and Settings\All Users\Start Menu\Programs\Startup %systemdrive%\Documents and Settings\username\Start Menu\Programs\Startup

Description of the Windows System File Checker Tool (Q310747) http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/q310/7... I have seen some anecdotal references to a problem of running SFC and replacing newer files with older versions of files but nothing definite. If you look in your Event Viewer (Application and System) you should find mention of running SFC and mention of any files replaced. The fact that SFC asked for your XP CD could be that it was just checking and comparing files. Bob2 (Programmer) Hi btcastner 13 Dec 03 14:32

I wasn't bale to install that patch, since I allready have service pack 1 installed. /M bcastner (IS/IT--Management) Sorry, you are right that the patch is included in SP1. 13 Dec 03 14:57

I find it difficult to accept that a startup program, or any program in the Run keys of the registry can affect this process. As was commented to a Raxio engineer in the newsgroups who suggested the possibility of service interference with autochk: "Windows NT does not run any of the files Autoexec.bat, Config.sys, Msdos.sys, Io.sys or Command.Com at startup. Since it is a genuine 32bit system, this cant be done. What NT does is running certain programs it finds in the registry branch HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\ControlSet001\Control\Session Manager\Boot Execute Those are special programs which use the native API (neither console, nor POSIX, nor win32) of NT." I remain a little baffled by this. Is the Event Log completely silent about what happens? Bob2 (Programmer) 13 Dec 03 15:45 I don't see a thing in the event viewr about this. I did find this page at executive software http://www.executive.com/diskeeper/faqs/faqs.asp#eff12 And it pretty much fit in to my problem. But I dont have any of the services mentioned there so according to that page I'm faced with have to reinstall xp... I'm not that fund of doing that again. It seems that it should be easy to solve. One question though, is chkdsk c: /f the same as chkdsk /r ? Regards M SYAR2003 (TechnicalUser) hi again no , /r checks for bad sectors and tries to resolve them on a large disk the /r option takes as long as a complete format command will do . look at this summary: http://www.buildorbuy.net/dirtybit.html Bob2 (Programmer) 13 Dec 03 16:40 So since the only way right now for me to run chkdsk is toghether with the recovery console, I wont be able to run chkdsk c: /f The only option I have in recovery console is the /r switch and that one wont help me.... 13 Dec 03 16:34

bcastner (IS/IT--Management) In Recovery Console: CHKDSK chkdsk drive /p /r

13 Dec 03 17:07

The chkdsk command checks the specified drive and, if necessary, repairs or recovers the drive. The command also marks bad sectors and recovers readable information. You can use these options: /p : Does an exhaustive check of the drive and corrects any errors. /r : Locates bad sectors and recovers readable information. Note that if you specify the /r option, the /p option is implied. Specifying the chkdsk command without arguments checks the current drive, with no options in effect. Running the chkdsk command requires use of the Autochk.exe file. CHKDSK automatically locates this file in the startup folder. If the Command Console was preinstalled, the startup folder is typically the Cmdcons folder. If CHKDSK cannot find Autochk.exe in the startup folder, CHKDSK tries to locate the Windows CD-ROM installation media. If it cannot find the installation media, CHKDSK prompts you for the location of the Autochk.exe file. So, /p = /f in command mode essentially. Bob2 (Programmer) 13 Dec 03 17:16 Not sure what this mean, but I have Tweak XP pro 3 installed on my system. And when I checked the disk within that program, it scheduled a chkdsk and ran it when I rebooted.... /M Bob2 (Programmer) Hi 13 Dec 03 17:35

I ran chkdsk /p /r in recovery console mode and it found and corrected one or more errors /M Bob2 (Programmer) 13 Dec 03 17:52 One of the reasons I wanted to run chkdsk was beacuse my newly installed system sometimes completly freeze. The mouse and keyboard stop responding, and I'm left with the reset button. I guess I should post this problem as a new post, but I'll take my chances. even though chkdsk found and corrected errors on the disk, this freeze problem still occurs. And the event viewer is completly clean, no errors reported at all.

Regards M bcastner (IS/IT--Management) 13 Dec 03 18:00 I really think Diskeeper is ultimately to blame for the chkdsk issue. From the 7.0 Documentation: "For Windows NT, 2000 and XP systems, Diskeeper requires exclusive access to the MFT (master file table), paging file and directories, so clean-up tasks can only be safely run during the boot sequence. Boot-Time Defragmentation runs three activities to defragment the MFT and paging file and consolidate directories into a single location." So if the boot-time defragmentation is selected as an option, no chkdsk. On to other issues... a new thread is a better idea than continuing here. But "freeze" issues without an Event Log entry to me mean: . RAM issues, and/or . Video Driver issues, and/or . USB issues, particularly scanners. Do a memory test: http://oca.microsoft.com/en/windiag.asp Update your video drivers. Hotfix the USB ports: http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en;82... And see if any of the following hardware items apply: http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us...

Bob2 (Programmer) 13 Dec 03 18:17 It do sound like diskeeper is to blame here, I guess you don't use it yourself? Do you use any other that you can recommend? SYAR2003 (TechnicalUser) 13 Dec 03 18:23 Hi! I use perfectdisk-6 from Raxco , never had any probs with it . Bob2 (Programmer) 13 Dec 03 18:34 When I installed my system I also installed the video driver from nvidia ver 52.16. I have now uninstalled it and replaced it with the one from windows update. Let's see how it works. None of the other things that you mentioned applied on my system so I guess it was the video driver. I have never heard of perfect disk before, maybe I should try that one instead...

bcastner (IS/IT--Management) 13 Dec 03 19:21 Actually I do use Diskeeper Workstation, Version 7.427, and it seems to do a competent job. I must admit that it is very rare I have had or wanted to do a chkdsk, and my instinct is to always do this inside the Recovery Console. As to the freeze issue, an extended RAM test (let it run overnight) is a very good idea. bcastner (IS/IT--Management) All, 13 Dec 03 22:07

This issue made me re-examine exactly how the NT boot process worked; for example, at what point is HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager called, and what drivers and services do and could exist prior to this call (where autochk is called). I will not bore the uninterested, but I did find the answer I think (not to the original posters question, per se, but as to what drivers and services are initiliazed prior to the call). Recommended for the interested: For this particular question, see the SMSS intialization protion of boot described by Mark Russinovich (Winternals & Sysinternals fame): http://www.winntmag.com/Articles/ArticleID/4711/pg/2/2.... Do not miss clicking on the link to Part 1 of the whole series. It was after linney's suggetion of possible service or Run key issues that I explored this. After reading this article my finger pointing at Diskeeper should be clearer as a guess. Bill Bob2 (Programmer) Hi 15 Dec 03 15:30

I have now reinstalled the whole system, and I tryed to schedule a chkdsk. But it did not start during reboot. So I guess the diskeeper was not to blame here. /M bcastner (IS/IT--Management) 15 Dec 03 15:34 If you did a R(epair) installation, or what is also called an "In-Place Upgrade" this result is not surprising. Bob2 (Programmer) 15 Dec 03 15:58 A thought came across me, maybe it's the Norton Antivirus 2004 Pro that is to blame here.

Beacuse when I tryed to run boot time defragmentation, diskeeper couldnt' get eclusive access to the disk. So somethings else stop chkdsk from running..... bcastner (IS/IT--Management) 15 Dec 03 16:02 Aaaaaauggghhhh.... as bcastner runs from the room pulling his hair out. I know from the newsgroups that many are less than happy with NAV 2004. The only sane way to test this is to uninstall, or use MSCONFIG to disable, the NAC stuff from starting. I will warn you that a regular Control Panel, Add/Remove Programs, does not always cleanly remove Diskeeper. I believe there are some manual uninstall instructions on the Executive Software site for Diskeeper.

Bob2 (Programmer) 15 Dec 03 16:11 No I did not do a repair. I made a clean installation. I'm getting pretty fed up with this right now. But when I did this installation I also made a ghost copy that I can use, so I don't have to reinstall it all again. Its getting kinda late here now so maybe I'll do that tomorrow. Maybe we'll talk again then... Cheers /M Bob2 (Programmer) Hi 16 Dec 03 13:40

I now have the system up and running again, this time without any Norton Antivirus 2004 Pro. And I can with relief say that I succesfully scheduled and ran a chkdsk /f on c: So the conlusion will have to be, don't install NAV 2004 if you want to run scheduled chkdsk. Regards M bcastner (IS/IT--Management) Good job. I will remember this thread. 16 Dec 03 13:52

Merry Christmas, Bill Ricky1970 (TechnicalUser) Hi Bob!! 10 Jan 04 8:44

Thanks for your extensive reserach on the chkdsk vs. NAV issue... The exact same thing is happening to me and alerady kept me awake one night... Have you found a way to solve this besides avoiding installing NAV 2004 Pro? or is there a way of preventing temporarily NAV 04 to run the next time I boot ? (i.e. msconfig) What happens is that I don't want to install XP again, but I do want to run chkdsk at least once. Thanks linney (TechnicalUser) 10 Jan 04 14:12 You could try running Chkdsk from Safe Mode and see if that works or perhaps a better option would be to load the Recovery Console and run it from there. Bob2 (Programmer) Hi 10 Jan 04 14:30

I'm sorry to sayt, the only way to run it when I had NAV 04 installed was to run it from the recovery console. But I ended up uninstalling NAV 2004 and now use F-Secure instead. Best Regards M Ricky1970 (TechnicalUser) Thank you Bob and Linney !! 10 Jan 04 17:39

After several intents I decided tu uninstall NAV 2004 and load NAV 2003... I will research this a bit further to see if Symantec addresses the issue. Thank you!!! mkstowegnv (Programmer) 27 Jan 04 9:18 I had the same problem and found that I could just change the options in NAV to not run at login and chkdsk would then run when it was supposed to. But the output to the screen flies by so fast at the end that I can't tell if it found a problem or fixed it. Is there some way to get a file created that logs what is going on, that I can look at after xp has come up?

The reason I'm interested is that when I run chkdsk in the normal console window after xp comes up it still says "Windows found problems with the file system" (this after several rounds of having chkdsk /F (I assume it is running as /F) run at boot time). Is there a way to get it to tell me what the problems are? What file system fixing utilities do you recommend? And by the way I cannot seem to run the recovery console because it will not recognize as valid the administrator password that I put in when I installed xp the first time. any ideas? thanks so much for all the generous time put in by the folks who answer these questions bcastner (IS/IT--Management) . a log file is created for a chkdsk operation. 27 Jan 04 9:45

c:\documents and settings\[username]\local settings\temp\Scanresults.txt . for Recovery Console, you can enable Autologon by the Administrator: [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows N\CurrentVersion\Setup\ RecoveryConsole] Value Name: SecurityLevel Data Type: REG_DWORD (DWORD Value) Value Data: (0 = require password, 1 = no password) . pre-install Recovery Console, and use the Group Policy Editor to ahead of time increase its flexibility: http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=http://s... http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=310497 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ +==

Use CHKDSK to find Hard Drive Problems

CHKDSK (CheckDisk) is a Microsoft disk utility that verifies the integrity of your file system and the hard disk drive blocks. The default mode scans the file system for logical errors but it will not fix any of the problems it finds. There are two user options that can be selected when running this program. One option tells the utility to fix all the problems it finds in the file system. The other option starts the utility to do an exhaustive check of the disk surface looking for any bad blocks. If any bad block is found, the utility will attempt to recover the data to a new block before it removes the bad one from use. Do not wait until you start experiencing problems. Run CheckDisk once a month to see how your disk is doing. If you start seeing lots of bad sectors, consider getting a new disk.

Starting Check Disk

You can run CheckDisk under Windows XP or Vista using one of the following methods:
1. In Explorer or My Computer, right click on the drive, select Properties, select the tools tab, and click on the Check Now button. Check both of the available options and click Start button. If you are checking your boot disk, you will be asked if you want to start CheckDisk when the system reboots. Click the Yes button and reboot your computer.

2. Start a command window and type CHKDSK/? to get a listing of all the options. As an example, to check and repair errors on the C drive use this command: CHKDSK/F/R C:

Autochk.exe
For Win 2000, XP, or Vista, autochk.exe is the chkdsk program that gets run at boot time specifically for the boot hard drive. If you try to run chkdsk on the boot drive, your job will be scheduled to run when Windows boots because chkdsk cannot work when any files on the disk are open. The 'dirty bit' on the file system is used to trigger autochk.exe at startup. While windows is running, you can check the status of the dirty bit by entering this fsutil command into the cmd window (start >> Run >> cmd.exe):
fsutil dirty query C:

If autochk runs at boot time but you did not schedule it to do so, then some file system error event must have set the dirty bit. This should be a one time event because Autochk will clear the dirty bit when it completes successfully. If autochk continues to run every time you boot your computer then you likely have a hardware problem. You can verify the problem by running a hard drive manufacturer's diagnostics on the drive. If there is any indication of a hard drive problem, consider yourself lucky that you can still read your data, and run out to buy that bigger hard drive you've been looking at.

Notes on the Command Line Version

Command line parameters:

/R - locate errors on the disk /F - fix errors on the disk

In the command line version, if you just enter the command without any other parameters, you will get no useful results and the check disk utility may even look like it's stuck. So, at a minimum, use the '/R' flag to locate bad blocks. Some command line versions require a space between the flags and the command:
CHKDSK /F /R C:

Check Disk Utility History

The six character file name shows that this utility has its origins in the old MS-DOS world of eight character file names. The name is short for "CheckDisk." Its original function was to verify the consistency of the file system FAT pointers. Then along came the ScanDisk utility that incorporated the file system checking features of CheckDisk and added the ability to examine the hard disk for media defects. Now in Windows XP, the ScanDisk utility has gone away and its newer features have been incorporated back into CheckDisk. Before MS-DOS 5.0, the program file was a com file: "chkdsk.com"; in MS-DOS 5.0 through the Windows systems, the program file is an exe file: "chkdsk.exe". To further complicate the naming nuances, when you go through the XP disk properties menu, CheckDisk is called "ErrorChecking".

Hardware Considerations
CHKDSK is a high-level file system utility and so it is not concerned about various low-level details of your hard disk drive. It doesn't matter to chkdsk if your hard drive is a terabyte or 80 megabytes. It doesn't matter if the drive manufacturer is Seagate, Western Digital, Maxtor, Hitachi, or whoever. It doesn't care if your hard drive interface is Parallel IDE, SATA, SCSI, or USB. It doesn't care if your 'C: drive' is just a small partition on a larger hard disk.

The CHKDSK utility works on any drive that has been formatted with a Windows supported file system; this typically means either NTFS, FAT32, or one of the FAT32 predecessors.

Frequently Asked Chkdsk Questions:

1. Windows was unable to complete the disk check 2. Cannot Determine File System of Drive

Other Disk Repair Options

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