Ping Jose

[Twayne]

Hi Jose,

Maybe you can help me:

I notice you often recommend ChkDsk from the RC and run with
the /r flag. I do the same.
I had some time today so I tried playing with chkdsk a bit.
The /R is also indicated under a Command Prompt using chkdsk
/? and I don't recall that being the case.
/R Locates bad sectors and recovers readable
information
(implies /F).

HAS it always been the case?

IS there a difference between the RC chkdsk /r switch and the
Command Prompt chkdsk/r switch, do you know? I ran chkdsk /r
from the command prompt and it did the same thing /r does from
the RC.
IF I'm right, then why is it always suggested to run chkdsk
/r from the RC?
I'm using XP Pro SP3+.

Thanks to you or anyone who wishes to make a relevant comment,

Twayne`

 

[glee]

Hi Jose,

Maybe you can help me:

I notice you often recommend ChkDsk from the RC and run with the /r
flag. I do the same.
I had some time today so I tried playing with chkdsk a bit. The /R is
also indicated under a Command Prompt using chkdsk /? and I don't
recall that being the case.
/R Locates bad sectors and recovers readable information
(implies /F).

HAS it always been the case?

IS there a difference between the RC chkdsk /r switch and the Command
Prompt chkdsk/r switch, do you know? I ran chkdsk /r from the command
prompt and it did the same thing /r does from the RC.
IF I'm right, then why is it always suggested to run chkdsk /r from
the RC?
I'm using XP Pro SP3+.

Thanks to you or anyone who wishes to make a relevant comment,

AFAIK the /r switch has always been in chkdsk from the commandline in
Windows, even prior to Win XP. The /r switch does the same thing from
the command prompt in Windows as it does from recovery console. If you
try to run chkdsk /r on the boot volume, it will require you to restart
so it can run while Windows is not running, as it has to lock the drive,
IIRC.

You run it from the recovery console when you cannot start Windows. If
you have the recovery console installed on the hard drive, it may be
simpler to run chkdsk /r from there even if Windows can start, since
from within Windows you may have to restart to run it anyway.

 

[Twayne]

In

....


You run it from the recovery console when you cannot start
Windows. If you have the recovery console installed on the
hard drive, it may be simpler to run chkdsk /r from there
even if Windows can start, since from within Windows you
may have to restart to run it anyway.

D'oh!! Of course! I knew that but I guess it took you to
tell me! :^}

Thanks much,

Twayne`

 

[Jose]

In

D'oh!!  Of course!  I knew that but I guess it took you to
tell me! :^}

Thanks much,

Twayne`

I just generally suggest (when XP won't boot) to get into RC, run
chkdsk /r, then fix what is left. It gets you to a known good
starting point where you can then do some things and not just try some
things.

It doesn't make sense to me to start doing anything else until you
know that chkdsk /r will work, so I make it step 1. If it finds
something to do and fixes it, great - that may be the whole won't boot
problem. If it doesn't find anything to do - great - keep
troubleshooting, but now I know what it is not.

Since /r implies /f, I will never say use /f - why would /f it ever be
suggested? Make is simple.

It is sometimes all that is needed for the dreaded file missing or
corrupt type messages, since those conditions are frequently preceded
by some power issue. You know the ones I mean:

Windows XP could not start because the following file is missing or
corrupt:
\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\CONFIG\SYSTEM

Windows could not start because the following file is missing or
corrupt:
\windows\system32\hal.dll

Everybody wants to just jump in with KB307545 or start trying to
figure out how to replace hal.dll (or ntldr) because that is what
Google tells them to do when the event was the result of a power
failure usually. That is not the first place to start, but it is
almost always the first idea offered for a solution.

It makes sense to boot RC and let chkdsk /r have a shot at fixing it
first and you are going to need RC to do any other steps anyway, so
just run chkdsk /r first - please...