Here is my quaint little problem ...

I was having some peripheral issues on my rig , and I scheduled a chkdsk at
restart.
The chkdsk runs, but about half way through the free space portion (part 5
of 5) it simply stops.
(at about 65 Million sectors of some 132 million. I am running 2x320GB
drives in RAID 0)
No errors. Just stops. Disk access light goes out and system just sits there
happily.

The problem is that since the "dirty bit" is not being cleared in the
registry upon a successful completion of chkdsk, the system tries to run
chkdsk each time the system is rebooted and stops at the same place.

Ok, so cancel chkdsk before it runs (it gives you 10 seconds to cancel).
Wont' work. The system will not respond to keyboard input at that time and
the timer just counts down and chkdsk starts..
Upon reboot, the BIOS sees the keyboard fine (I can enter setup), but when
Vista starts to load it seems there is a period of time between when the BIOS
USB drivers work and the windows ones take over.
Of course, it just so happens that this is when chkdsk runs.

I tried both USB and PS2 Keyboards, thinking it may just be that the USB
prots initialize slower or later.
That does not work either.

So ...

Is there a way to "unset" the dirty bit in the registry from the restore
console or some other method ?
Is there some partition size limitation on chkdsk (why does it alsways stop
at the same place) ?
I couldn't find anything definitive googling.

Thanks in advance ...

You could try 'chkntfs' from an admin command prompt.
[Start > cmd (hold down ctrl and shift and press 'enter' ]

eg

chkntfs d: (shows the current status of the drive d
chkntfs /x d: (excludes d: from the boot time check)


--
Jon


"Kreij" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:EC18C8F9-E91E-4252-918B-(E-Mail Removed)...
> Here is my quaint little problem ...
>
> I was having some peripheral issues on my rig , and I scheduled a chkdsk
> at
> restart.
> The chkdsk runs, but about half way through the free space portion (part 5
> of 5) it simply stops.
> (at about 65 Million sectors of some 132 million. I am running 2x320GB
> drives in RAID 0)
> No errors. Just stops. Disk access light goes out and system just sits
> there
> happily.
>
> The problem is that since the "dirty bit" is not being cleared in the
> registry upon a successful completion of chkdsk, the system tries to run
> chkdsk each time the system is rebooted and stops at the same place.
>
> Ok, so cancel chkdsk before it runs (it gives you 10 seconds to cancel).
> Wont' work. The system will not respond to keyboard input at that time and
> the timer just counts down and chkdsk starts..
> Upon reboot, the BIOS sees the keyboard fine (I can enter setup), but when
> Vista starts to load it seems there is a period of time between when the
> BIOS
> USB drivers work and the windows ones take over.
> Of course, it just so happens that this is when chkdsk runs.
>
> I tried both USB and PS2 Keyboards, thinking it may just be that the USB
> prots initialize slower or later.
> That does not work either.
>
> So ...
>
> Is there a way to "unset" the dirty bit in the registry from the restore
> console or some other method ?
> Is there some partition size limitation on chkdsk (why does it alsways
> stop
> at the same place) ?
> I couldn't find anything definitive googling.
>
> Thanks in advance ...
>
>

Hi Jon,

I cannot get into Windows at all as the chkdsk or chkntfs or autochk or
whatever is trying to run never completes successfully, and when I reboot it
starts up again.

Can I run this from the repair console after booting from the Vista DVD?
Most command lists only show chkdsk as being available.
(Sorry not at my Vista computer at the moment so I can't check).

The other question is does chkntfs (or chkdsk) have issues with large Raid0
arrays ?

Thanks.

"Jon" wrote:

> You could try 'chkntfs' from an admin command prompt.
> [Start > cmd (hold down ctrl and shift and press 'enter' ]
>
> eg
>
> chkntfs d: (shows the current status of the drive d
> chkntfs /x d: (excludes d: from the boot time check)
>
>
> --
> Jon
>
>
> "Kreij" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
> news:EC18C8F9-E91E-4252-918B-(E-Mail Removed)...
> > Here is my quaint little problem ...
> >
> > I was having some peripheral issues on my rig , and I scheduled a chkdsk
> > at
> > restart.
> > The chkdsk runs, but about half way through the free space portion (part 5
> > of 5) it simply stops.
> > (at about 65 Million sectors of some 132 million. I am running 2x320GB
> > drives in RAID 0)
> > No errors. Just stops. Disk access light goes out and system just sits
> > there
> > happily.
> >
> > The problem is that since the "dirty bit" is not being cleared in the
> > registry upon a successful completion of chkdsk, the system tries to run
> > chkdsk each time the system is rebooted and stops at the same place.
> >
> > Ok, so cancel chkdsk before it runs (it gives you 10 seconds to cancel).
> > Wont' work. The system will not respond to keyboard input at that time and
> > the timer just counts down and chkdsk starts..
> > Upon reboot, the BIOS sees the keyboard fine (I can enter setup), but when
> > Vista starts to load it seems there is a period of time between when the
> > BIOS
> > USB drivers work and the windows ones take over.
> > Of course, it just so happens that this is when chkdsk runs.
> >
> > I tried both USB and PS2 Keyboards, thinking it may just be that the USB
> > prots initialize slower or later.
> > That does not work either.
> >
> > So ...
> >
> > Is there a way to "unset" the dirty bit in the registry from the restore
> > console or some other method ?
> > Is there some partition size limitation on chkdsk (why does it alsways
> > stop
> > at the same place) ?
> > I couldn't find anything definitive googling.
> >
> > Thanks in advance ...
> >
> >
>
>

First thing I'd try is to tap f8 when the machine is booting up. You should
an advanced system menu, which includes one option for 'Safe mode with
command prompt'. You can hopefully run the command from there.

I'm not aware of any particular issues (perhaps someone else will be able
to comment on that), but chkdsk can certainly be very slow, especially with
large sized disks.

--
Jon


"Kreij" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:8F59FEB1-711C-47A2-A0E9-(E-Mail Removed)...
> Hi Jon,
>
> I cannot get into Windows at all as the chkdsk or chkntfs or autochk or
> whatever is trying to run never completes successfully, and when I reboot
> it
> starts up again.
>
> Can I run this from the repair console after booting from the Vista DVD?
> Most command lists only show chkdsk as being available.
> (Sorry not at my Vista computer at the moment so I can't check).
>
> The other question is does chkntfs (or chkdsk) have issues with large
> Raid0
> arrays ?
>
> Thanks.
>
> "Jon" wrote:
>
>> You could try 'chkntfs' from an admin command prompt.
>> [Start > cmd (hold down ctrl and shift and press 'enter' ]
>>
>> eg
>>
>> chkntfs d: (shows the current status of the drive d
>> chkntfs /x d: (excludes d: from the boot time check)
>>
>>
>> --
>> Jon
>>
>>
>> "Kreij" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
>> news:EC18C8F9-E91E-4252-918B-(E-Mail Removed)...
>> > Here is my quaint little problem ...
>> >
>> > I was having some peripheral issues on my rig , and I scheduled a
>> > chkdsk
>> > at
>> > restart.
>> > The chkdsk runs, but about half way through the free space portion
>> > (part 5
>> > of 5) it simply stops.
>> > (at about 65 Million sectors of some 132 million. I am running 2x320GB
>> > drives in RAID 0)
>> > No errors. Just stops. Disk access light goes out and system just sits
>> > there
>> > happily.
>> >
>> > The problem is that since the "dirty bit" is not being cleared in the
>> > registry upon a successful completion of chkdsk, the system tries to
>> > run
>> > chkdsk each time the system is rebooted and stops at the same place.
>> >
>> > Ok, so cancel chkdsk before it runs (it gives you 10 seconds to
>> > cancel).
>> > Wont' work. The system will not respond to keyboard input at that time
>> > and
>> > the timer just counts down and chkdsk starts..
>> > Upon reboot, the BIOS sees the keyboard fine (I can enter setup), but
>> > when
>> > Vista starts to load it seems there is a period of time between when
>> > the
>> > BIOS
>> > USB drivers work and the windows ones take over.
>> > Of course, it just so happens that this is when chkdsk runs.
>> >
>> > I tried both USB and PS2 Keyboards, thinking it may just be that the
>> > USB
>> > prots initialize slower or later.
>> > That does not work either.
>> >
>> > So ...
>> >
>> > Is there a way to "unset" the dirty bit in the registry from the
>> > restore
>> > console or some other method ?
>> > Is there some partition size limitation on chkdsk (why does it alsways
>> > stop
>> > at the same place) ?
>> > I couldn't find anything definitive googling.
>> >
>> > Thanks in advance ...
>> >
>> >
>>
>>

Looks like 'chkntfs' is available when booting to the DVD command prompt
(just tried it), but it may well apply more to the recovery environment,
than to the Vista installation on the hard drive, so it may or may not be of
much use.

But you could also run chkdsk from there. It's different from the one in
Windows so it might succeed where the Windows one failed.

--
Jon


"Kreij" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:8F59FEB1-711C-47A2-A0E9-(E-Mail Removed)...
> Hi Jon,
>
> I cannot get into Windows at all as the chkdsk or chkntfs or autochk or
> whatever is trying to run never completes successfully, and when I reboot
> it
> starts up again.
>
> Can I run this from the repair console after booting from the Vista DVD?
> Most command lists only show chkdsk as being available.
> (Sorry not at my Vista computer at the moment so I can't check).
>
> The other question is does chkntfs (or chkdsk) have issues with large
> Raid0
> arrays ?
>
> Thanks.
>
> "Jon" wrote:
>
>> You could try 'chkntfs' from an admin command prompt.
>> [Start > cmd (hold down ctrl and shift and press 'enter' ]
>>
>> eg
>>
>> chkntfs d: (shows the current status of the drive d
>> chkntfs /x d: (excludes d: from the boot time check)
>>
>>
>> --
>> Jon
>>
>>
>> "Kreij" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
>> news:EC18C8F9-E91E-4252-918B-(E-Mail Removed)...
>> > Here is my quaint little problem ...
>> >
>> > I was having some peripheral issues on my rig , and I scheduled a
>> > chkdsk
>> > at
>> > restart.
>> > The chkdsk runs, but about half way through the free space portion
>> > (part 5
>> > of 5) it simply stops.
>> > (at about 65 Million sectors of some 132 million. I am running 2x320GB
>> > drives in RAID 0)
>> > No errors. Just stops. Disk access light goes out and system just sits
>> > there
>> > happily.
>> >
>> > The problem is that since the "dirty bit" is not being cleared in the
>> > registry upon a successful completion of chkdsk, the system tries to
>> > run
>> > chkdsk each time the system is rebooted and stops at the same place.
>> >
>> > Ok, so cancel chkdsk before it runs (it gives you 10 seconds to
>> > cancel).
>> > Wont' work. The system will not respond to keyboard input at that time
>> > and
>> > the timer just counts down and chkdsk starts..
>> > Upon reboot, the BIOS sees the keyboard fine (I can enter setup), but
>> > when
>> > Vista starts to load it seems there is a period of time between when
>> > the
>> > BIOS
>> > USB drivers work and the windows ones take over.
>> > Of course, it just so happens that this is when chkdsk runs.
>> >
>> > I tried both USB and PS2 Keyboards, thinking it may just be that the
>> > USB
>> > prots initialize slower or later.
>> > That does not work either.
>> >
>> > So ...
>> >
>> > Is there a way to "unset" the dirty bit in the registry from the
>> > restore
>> > console or some other method ?
>> > Is there some partition size limitation on chkdsk (why does it alsways
>> > stop
>> > at the same place) ?
>> > I couldn't find anything definitive googling.
>> >
>> > Thanks in advance ...
>> >
>> >
>>
>>

"Dirty bit" is stored on partition bootsector, not in the registry. It's
cleared only when chkdsk successfully finished. You can clear it
manually with some diskeditor, but I don't recommend it.

Now boot your Vista DVD, select system repairing with command prompt and
run "chkdsk /f /c /i c:". If you want a full test then use only switch
/f. You can run additional check searching bad sectors on that disk
(recommended) with "/r" switch.

If you observe any problem with chkdsk again, then run system recovery
with command prompt, run regedit, load \Windows\System32\config\SYSTEM
file from your Vista partition as new hive and change BootExecute value
from "autocheck autochk *" to "autocheck autochk /k:C *" in
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager key.
If your bad partition has other letter than C then correct /k:C to
suitable value. Unload modified hive and restart your system.
--
Michal Kawecki [Windows - Shell/User MVP]
Warsaw, PL

"Kreij" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:8F59FEB1-711C-47A2-A0E9-(E-Mail Removed)...
> Hi Jon,
>
> I cannot get into Windows at all as the chkdsk or chkntfs or autochk
> or
> whatever is trying to run never completes successfully, and when I
> reboot it
> starts up again.
>
> Can I run this from the repair console after booting from the Vista
> DVD?
> Most command lists only show chkdsk as being available.
> (Sorry not at my Vista computer at the moment so I can't check).
>
> The other question is does chkntfs (or chkdsk) have issues with large
> Raid0
> arrays ?
>
> Thanks.
>
> "Jon" wrote:
>
>> You could try 'chkntfs' from an admin command prompt.
>> [Start > cmd (hold down ctrl and shift and press 'enter' ]
>>
>> eg
>>
>> chkntfs d: (shows the current status of the drive d
>> chkntfs /x d: (excludes d: from the boot time check)
>>
>>
>> --
>> Jon
>>
>>
>> "Kreij" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
>> news:EC18C8F9-E91E-4252-918B-(E-Mail Removed)...
>> > Here is my quaint little problem ...
>> >
>> > I was having some peripheral issues on my rig , and I scheduled a
>> > chkdsk
>> > at
>> > restart.
>> > The chkdsk runs, but about half way through the free space portion
>> > (part 5
>> > of 5) it simply stops.
>> > (at about 65 Million sectors of some 132 million. I am running
>> > 2x320GB
>> > drives in RAID 0)
>> > No errors. Just stops. Disk access light goes out and system just
>> > sits
>> > there
>> > happily.
>> >
>> > The problem is that since the "dirty bit" is not being cleared in
>> > the
>> > registry upon a successful completion of chkdsk, the system tries
>> > to run
>> > chkdsk each time the system is rebooted and stops at the same
>> > place.
>> >
>> > Ok, so cancel chkdsk before it runs (it gives you 10 seconds to
>> > cancel).
>> > Wont' work. The system will not respond to keyboard input at that
>> > time and
>> > the timer just counts down and chkdsk starts..
>> > Upon reboot, the BIOS sees the keyboard fine (I can enter setup),
>> > but when
>> > Vista starts to load it seems there is a period of time between
>> > when the
>> > BIOS
>> > USB drivers work and the windows ones take over.
>> > Of course, it just so happens that this is when chkdsk runs.
>> >
>> > I tried both USB and PS2 Keyboards, thinking it may just be that
>> > the USB
>> > prots initialize slower or later.
>> > That does not work either.
>> >
>> > So ...
>> >
>> > Is there a way to "unset" the dirty bit in the registry from the
>> > restore
>> > console or some other method ?
>> > Is there some partition size limitation on chkdsk (why does it
>> > alsways
>> > stop
>> > at the same place) ?
>> > I couldn't find anything definitive googling.
>> >
>> > Thanks in advance ...
>> >
>> >
>>
>>