On Wed, 14 Jan 2004 13:34:23 -0500, "Tom Swift"
There are two types of disk error checking in Windows XP: 'fix' and
'repair'. Their technical names are chkdsk/f and chkdsk/r. You need to
choose either one or both.
There seems to be a third; rt-clicking a drive letter and finding your
way to "check for errors". This appears to do nothing at all - it
passed several volumes that had multiple and serious logic errors.
The 'fix' option attempts to correct errors in the organization of your
files and folders (known as 'logical' errors.)
The 'repair' option checks the surface of your hard disk for physical
damage. If it finds any damage, it attempts to copy all data in the damaged
area elsewhere, and then marks the damaged area as 'not to be used'.
A tip: You can't run chkdsk/f on your Windows partition while Windows is
running. If you try it, you'll get a message explaining what I just wrote,
and then asking you if you want to let chkdsk/f run on your next re-start
(i.e. before Windows loads.) You can answer 'ok'.
Bear in mind that:
- ChkDsk /F is NOT interactive, you get no chance to back out !!
- no summary is displayed telling what it did
- you have to scratch in Event Viewer for that information
That's the one that doesn't seem to do anything.
If you are using FATxx, I'd get out of Windows XP and use Win98 or
later boot diskette with that version of Scandisk instead. That at
least will *tell* you want it wants to do *before* doing it, so you
can Just Say No and proceed to data recovery, call a tech, etc.
If NTFS, then you are forced to live with the rudimentary DOS 3.3 era
user-hostile interface of ChkDsk - you have no other choice within the
OS's tool bag. You'd have to run it as a command, as:
ChkDsk (safe, but misleading; shows spurious errors if "in use")
ChkDsk /F (auto-fix logic errors)
ChkDsk /R (auto-fix logic errors, then check/"fix" surface defects)
Note that you can also run ChkDsk in this way from the Recovery
Console, which should be available via R after booting the XP CD.
--------------- ---- --- -- - - - -
"We have captured lightning and used
it to teach sand how to think."
