Can't use chkdsk with external USB drive

Question

I have a Dell 4600, Windows XP Professional computer. I am also using a Western Digital, USB 2.0 external hard drive - drive d:. I can use chkdsk on my internal c: drive with no problems. However, I cannot use chkdsk on my external d: drive. Here is what I do to try to use chkdsk on my external d: drive. I right click on the d: drive in Explorer and choose "properties" from the menu. I then select the "tools" tab. Under "error checking," I click on the "check now" box and I receive a message that I have to restart my computer to use this feature. I reboot but nothing happens. Chkdsk does not run when I reboot.
What could be causing this problem and how do I correct it so I can use chkdsk on my external d: drive?
Thanks.
Richard

Message Edited by RichDH on 12-31-2004 06:18 AM

JRosenfeld · Answer

Is the USB drive bootable? If not, then possibly chkdsk is trying to run before the USB drivers are loaded and it will not see the drive. Does it have an OS on it or just data? After clicking check now, did you have the automatically fix  file system errors box checked (usually that's the one that requires a restart, but if the external drive does not have an OS on it it's not a useful option). If you just check the box scan for bad sectors, or leave both boxes unchecked I don't think it should need a restart.

Windows General

Can't use chkdsk with external USB drive

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