"cannot open volume for direct access" - error message re chkdsk

G

Guest

The chkdsk utility will no longer run. Instead, I get this error message:
"cannot open volume for direct access." I found some old KB articles
indicating that this problem had come up under Windows XP and was going to be
fixed by an upcoming service pack. Why am I getting this error message with
Vista Ultimate?
 
R

Rick Rogers

Hi,

Any volume in use cannot be dismounted, which is required for chkdsk to run
a full check. Normally, one is prompted for it to be completed on the next
reboot, does this not occur for you?

--
Best of Luck,

Rick Rogers, aka "Nutcase" - Microsoft MVP

Windows help - www.rickrogers.org
My thoughts http://rick-mvp.blogspot.com
 
G

Guest

The error message comes up AFTER the scan has been requested and scheduled
and the computer has been rebooted so that the scan can run.
 
G

Guest

I have already tried disabling my antivirus progam before setting up the
scan, and it made no difference - the scan would not run. Besides, when
chkdsk was working, it ran without regard to whether the antivirus program
was running.
 
R

Rick Rogers

Hi,

AV programs are not the only problems, any disk management software can
cause this issue. In addition, an update to your existing AV and security
software can cause the issue (have you done any prior to this problem
beginning?).

--
Best of Luck,

Rick Rogers, aka "Nutcase" - Microsoft MVP

Windows help - www.rickrogers.org
My thoughts http://rick-mvp.blogspot.com
 
G

Guest

What do you mean by "disk management software"? How does it cause this
issue, and how do you undo the damage?

There was a recent update to Norton Antivirus 2007, but I have uninstalled
the program and installed AVG Free, and I still have the same problem.
Another possibility would be a rootkit scanner called gmer that I tried out
recently. After it caused my computer to freeze, I uninstalled it. I have
searched the registry and the file system for any lingering traces of the
program and found nothing. I have also run Autoruns, and I saw nothing on
the list of what was loading at start-up that struck me as unusual.



:
..
 
G

Guest

Per the KB article, I disabled all non-Microsoft services and rebooted.
(There was very little there except for the antivirus program.)

I then tried running chkdsk with various combinations of /f, /r and /x, and
I got the following results:

/f No text screen came up
/r The screen with the error message re "direct
access" came up
/x No text screen came up
/f /x No text screen came up
/r /x The screen with the error message re "direct
access" came up

Do you know of anything else that I should be looking for if the problem is
not attributable to a boot-loading third-party service or driver, which
should have shown up on the Autoruns scan?

Thanks for all of your time and effort.
 
G

Guest

Rick,

I tried this twice, with services enabled and with services disabled, and I
saw the same thing both times. After hitting enter at the command line for
chkntfs /d, a new command line appeared (i.e., no text confirming success
with resetting defaults, which may be the normal behavior). I then ran
chkdsk /r and got the same error message when it tried to run after the
reboot.
 
R

Rick Rogers

Hi Conley,

Raxco, a maker of another disk utility, has this page of programs known to
cause this issue. You may want to run through the list to see if any of them
apply:
http://www.raxco.com/support/windows/kb_details.cfm?kbid=494&issue=3

There isn't going to be a simple answer here, as under normal circumstances
the disk checker utility will run fine when scheduled. What you have is some
program that has altered the system and is gaining access to the drive and
running prior to the disk checker, thus preventing the exclusive access it
requires. Deciphering it will require some detective work, and simple
removal of any offending program will not always resolve the problem as it
may not undo all of the changes that the original installation made. This is
particularly so if the software was not designed for Vista.

--
Best of Luck,

Rick Rogers, aka "Nutcase" - Microsoft MVP

Windows help - www.rickrogers.org
My thoughts http://rick-mvp.blogspot.com
 
G

Guest

Thanks for coming up with the article. It greatly clarified the nature of
the problem.

I tried to run boot-time defragmentation with Diskeeper, and I got an error
message similar to the one that has been coming up with chkdsk.

I had never tried viewing "hidden devices" with Device Manager, and I was
surprised at how many items showed up under "non-plug and play drivers." I
have tried tinkering with disabling some of the items but that has not helped.

I am going to give up and try a Complete PC Restore from the Windows
Recovery Environment. If the program works as advertised, I will be back at a
point before I noticed the problem. Unfortunately, the problem may have been
there for some time before I noticed it.
 
G

Guest

The restore operation succeeded, but the problem with boot-time
defragmentation and error-checking is still there. I am going to contact
Diskeeper's customer support and see if they can shed any light on this.
 
G

Guest

Did you recently add or upgrade any Symantec products, such as Norton
Antivirus, Norton Internet Security or Norton Antibot?
 
J

jbreault

Did you recently add or upgrade any Symantec products, such as Norton
Antivirus, Norton Internet Security or Norton Antibot?






- Show quoted text -
Click to expand...


I'm having the same problem, after installing Norton System Tools (XP)
 
G

Guest

I finally discovered that the source of my problems with chkdsk and Diskeeper
was a program called Haute Secure. I had thought that it was a toolbar or
BHO that would do nothing if IE was not open and would not in any event dig
deep into the OS like an antivirus program. I tried every possible
uninstall/reinstall/version rollback on my Symantec software before I grasped
at one last straw today and uninstalled Haute Secure. Chkdsk then ran on my
next reboot. It turns out that that program is quite powerful and involves
some kind of kernel-level driver.

System Restore is still not working from within Vista Ultimate, but I have,
at all times, been able to run System Restore and Complete PC Restore from
the Vista DVD.

All of the messing around with the computer seems to have generated some new
problems, and I may have to post some new questions on this forum in order to
get back to where this all began.
 

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