Scan disk always pop up and never go through whenever I turn on the computer

Go into DOS and scan from there. Better yet, run Dell's Diagnostics first by booting to the Drivers and Utilities CD. There might be a problem with the HDD itself, not a software one.

By DOS I don't mean the command prompt from within Windows though, you will need to use a bootable floppy. Unfortunately I don't recall much about it since I used WinME up until two years ago when I got XP when it was first available. I've read that in WinME "long file names" might be trouble for scandisk (even trouble for the files it scans) so I sure hope you have backed up all your personal data.

 

Start the computer.
As the computer is starting watch for Starting Window. When you see this press your F8 key which should get you into the Windows Safe Mode. Run scandisk and then defrag, it should run to completion without any problems. There is also another factor involved and that is how fragmented is the disk to start with? If it is in bad shape it can cause the defrag utility to keep starting over as it moves and rearranges data trying to find the best layout. It's best just to run it in safe mode and you should not incur any problems.

Thanks for your help. I have tried that and it turned out not going through (I really have no idea how long it would take in order to finish the scan disk and it looks taking forever!). I am wondering if anybody have any other suggestions in order to fix this problem?

Brainny

Could you please tell me how I could  get into DOS to scan the disk step by step? Thanks!

Brainny

First have a bootable diskette, can make one from Start menu, Settings, Control Panel then Add-Remove Programs and finally Startup Disk tab. Use the Create Disk button in that after you have a blank floppy in drive A: (you might be asked for Windows ME CD so have it available).

Restart the computer after that finishes. Select DOS (Command) Prompt then type in and enter scandisk c: . When asked to do a (Thorough) Surface Scan also do it but keep in mind that this process can be very slow. If it finds faults just continue (fix) without saving data, since anything bad is probably unrecoverable unless you know what you're doing.

The time it takes could be a while, like Chik was telling you. If there's severe file fragmentation Defrag can seem to loop back to "0% Done" a long time before it finally gets going. And you can also use defrag c: , but should only after scandisking, and you'll need to use it from the Windows folder unless you copy it onto the floppy.

Here's a somewhat descriptive way to create a custom "boot disk": http://www.littlewhitedog.com/reviews_other_00017.asp

 

Thanks a lot for your kind help, iKlaatu ! I run Scan disk in Windows Safe Mode as suggested by Chik yesterday. It took over 6 hours before going through, but after that computer freeze so that I couldn't run defragment. I am not sure if I can still fix the preblem via DOS? Thanks!

Brainny 

Hi Brianny

try these steps to stop scan disk frmo starting everything you turn on the computer

Step 1.
Go to My Computer, C Drive

Step 2.
If your system files and hidden files are not displayed, click on Tools, Folder Options. Next, scroll over to show "Hidden files and folders", and click on "Show Hidden files and folders"

Step 3.
Locate the hidden MSDOS.SYS from C Drive

Step 4.
Right click MSDOS.SYS, and unclick "Read-Only"

Step 5.
Open the file with Notepad.

Locate the line AUTOSCAN="1"
Change 1 to 0
It should now read AUTOSCAN="0"
Save and Exit

Step 6.
Right click MSDOS.SYS, and check on "Read-Only"
You're now done! Next time your computer does not shut down properly, you will not have to see scandisk pop up again.

also before performing a defrag do a clean boot
How to Perform a Clean Boot in Windows Me

1. Click Start, click Run, type msconfig in the Open box, and then click OK.
2. On the General tab, click Selective startup.
3. Click to clear all of the check boxes under Selective startup.
4. On the Startup tab, click to select the *StateMgr check box.
5. Click OK. When you are prompted to restart your computer, click Yes. After the computer restarts, Click Start, click Run, type msconfig in the Open box, and then click OK.

IMPORTANT: Look closely at the General tab to ensure that the check boxes you cleared are still cleared. Proceed to step 6 if none of the check boxes is selected. If you see a disabled or gray check box, your computer is not truly "clean-booted" and you may need assistance from the manufacturer of the program that places a check mark back into Msconfig.
6. After you verify that your computer is clean-booted in step 5, you can isolate the issue. If the original issue does not reoccur after the clean boot, select one item at a time under Selective startup, and then restart the computer to see if the additional entry reproduces the original issue.

best of luck
cheers

Thanks a lot, Navin Kurian! I will try what you suggested. I really appreciate all you guys' kind help!

Brainny

I did scan disk in Safe mode and defragmenting in normal mode. Now I can't get into Safe Mode. If I click F8 it will say "An errow has occurred" before getting in the Safe Mode. If I click Ctrl+Alt+Delete it will get in the Safe Mode then freeze. In the normal mode it looks normal now. I don't know what's going on there. I will appreciate any suggestions. Thanks!

Brainny

I think your going to have to do a clean install of everything on your hd. I know that xp runs its own scandisk before installing, if that fails, then you've got a damaged hd.