WIN. XP CHECKDISK UTILITY NOT WORKING

Question

Since I have downloaded/installed Win pack2 on my Inspiron 2600, my "checkdisk" utility does not work.

Let me elaborate:

Go to start – my computer – local disc "C" – properties – tools – check now.

Under disc options there are two choices given,

#1. Automatically fix file system errors!

#2. Scan for and attempt recovery of bad sectors!

Option #2 works fine and with no problem.

Option #1 seams as it’s working on the background but nothing is visible on the screen. In other words, it takes the same amount of time to complete its cycle as when was working properly but there is no action shown and/or described on the desktop.

I have contacted Microsoft in the past for this problem but it seamed like it was easier to mate elephants than to communicate with their tech support services.

If anyone knows how to fix this problem without reinstalling windows XP home edition, I would appreciate it.

schmieg · Answer

Try opening the command prompt and typeing 'chkdsk c: /f' without the quotes. Since this is your C: drive and probably has Windows installed on it, you should receive a report that files are locked and it will ask you if you wish a check performed when you next boot the system. Answer 'Y', again, without the quotes and exit the prompt. Then reboot and see if it works. You can't check a disk in Windows NT, 2000, XP that has open files such as the Windows files or the swap file.

nskalkotos · Answer

Thank you Mike, I will follow your suggestion and I will post the results later this week or early the next. Thanks again Nick

nskalkotos · Answer

Mike, NO LUCK but here are the results:

The type of the file system is NTFS
Cannot lock current drive
Chkdisk cannot run because the volume is in use by another process. Would you like to schedule this volume to be checked the next time the system restarts?
YES
This volume will be checked the next time the system restarts
C:\Documents and settings\owner>

Following rebooting, I had a black screen for about five minute, then an instantaneous interruption/activity and then another black screen for about two minutes till windows opened up.

Thanks,

Nick

schmieg · Answer

During the black screen, was the hard drive accessing rather heavily? If so, it sounds like chkdsk was working, just not writing to the screen. Try booting to the Windows CD and after bootup, enter the repair console and see if you can run chkdsk /f from there and have it visible.Also, check your video driver to make sure that SP2 didn't install the wrong driver. The report you received from the command prompt in XP was the correct one.

From within XP, you could also try running just "chkdsk c:" from the command prompt. That won't correct any errors, but it will give you a report on the drive which should indicate if errors need to be corrected. Generally, it takes quite a bit to screw an NTFS drive.

I had a problem recently with chkdsk seeming to lock up when set to run at boot. I had to hit a key to stop the chkdsk process to get back into Windows. I found that my automatic defrag process, scheduled to run around 3:00 am wasn't running and my drive was badly fragmented. I defragged the drive and that solved the problem, but it was still writing to the screen. Normally, you should get the BIOS splash page, the Windows splash page and then it should go into chkdsk which should write to the console so you can see it. The only other thing that I can think of is that possibly the screen attributes are set to black on black. I could tell you how to fix that in DOS, but not in the Windows startup process unfortunately.

nskalkotos · Answer

Hi Mike, to save time and space, I will give you my answers per paragraph of your last message:

First Paragraph:

1. Yes, the hard drive sounds like something is happening in the background and it dose take the time as if it was going through the complete usual cycle.
2. Booting from the Windows CD, I did not do it because its title written on it “Reinstallation CD – Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Second paragraph:

I did the “chkdsk c:” run and I found the following:

Run Chekdsk in read-only Mode and the results are:
1. Deleting index entry A0042347.rbf in Index $130 of file 7587
2. Deleting index entry 00010028.shd in Index $130 of file 11792
3. Error found. CHKDSK cannot continue in read-only mode
4. C:\\documents and settings\owner\
----------------------------------------------------------------
Third paragraph:
I have no problem in that respect at all; I also have installed the Tune-Up Utility 2004 and it does an excellent housekeeping job.

Thank you,

Nick

schmieg · Answer

Something is happening, but what is the question. I suspect that your WinXP installation has been corrupted along with your drive.   Try booting from the Reinstallation CD. I think that it gives you the option of reinstalling, installing from scratch or repairing.   The chkdsk c: results indicate that you have corrupted indices on your drive and probably other problems that need to be addressed.   Worst case, back up your data, format the drive and reinstall.

nskalkotos · Answer

Mike, I happened to agree with your evaluation and it looks like I have to do some thinking as well as some consultation with my pocket. Whatever the outcome, I will let you know as soon as I decide what to do. By the way, I ran the Reinstallation CD and it tells me that I should not continue because whatever I have installed in my laptop is much newer than the CD.

Thanks for you help Mike and I will get back to you.

Nick

schmieg · Answer

If the reinstallation CD includes SP1 or 2, you could probably do a repair installation that might salvage your setup and data programs and files. However, my experience has been that if the CD isn't at least SP1, this is generally not successful. Make sure you understand how to do that before you try it. You have to do it at the right time or you overwrite your setups.

nskalkotos · Answer

Hi Mike, The reinstall windows soft were date back to August 2002; so, it’s old and I don’t thing I will bother with it at all. Instead, I am thinking to get my hard drive formatted, get rid of all the unwanted Dell software, install windows XP Pro and take it from there. I haven’t made up my mind yet but I am inclining towards that and as soon as I have my media center PC on line, I will see what to do with my laptop.

Thanks again,

Nick

maxd · Answer

Probably too late and may not be relevant to your problem but take a look at this MS link. As it states replave the 'v' with the letter 'c'.  http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;q283340   You should be able to run the chkdsk fix (not read only) by accessing the Recovery Console; as stated you have to boot to your cd-rom with your XP re-installation cd in. You don't want to do a Repair Installation; you want to get to the Recovery Console where you should enter this command:   chkdsk /r (note space after the 'k')   If this is all moot at this point, disregard this posting.

Windows General

WIN. XP CHECKDISK UTILITY NOT WORKING

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