Access Denied Message when running Checkdisk

[Guest]

I have an HP laptop with Windows XP Home SP1. When I run Checkdisk, under
the administrator account (Owner) and the system reboots, I get an error
message stating the access is denied. It seems that the hard drive is locked
or read/write protected. Checkdisk then aborts and the system boots up
normally. Does anyone know how can I resolve this?

 

[Will Denny]

Hi

Please see if the following helps:

"How to take ownership of a file or folder in Windows XP"
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;308421&Product=winxp

 

[Dave Patrick]

If you get an error something to the effect "cannot open volume for direct
access" There is some system/boot start device that is reading/writing to
the drive before chkdsk can get a lock on the drive. Some anti-virus
applications do this.

You can also run
chkdsk /r
from the recovery console command line. (/r implies /f and /p)

To start the Recovery Console, start the computer from the Windows XP CD-Rom
Press ENTER at the "Setup Notification" screen. Press R to repair a Windows
XP installation, and then press C to use the Recovery Console. The Recovery
Console then prompts you for the administrator password. If you do not have
the correct password, Recovery Console does not allow access to the
computer. If an incorrect password is entered three times, the Recovery
Console quits and restarts the computer. Note: If the registry is corrupted
or missing or no valid installations are found, the Recovery Console starts
in the root of the startup volume without requiring a password. You cannot
access any folders, but you can carry out commands such as chkdsk, fixboot,
and fixmbr for limited disk repairs. Once the password has been validated,
you have full access to the Recovery Console, but limited access to the hard
disk. You can only access the following folders on your computer: drive
root, %systemroot% or %windir%



--
Regards,

Dave Patrick ....Please no email replies - reply in newsgroup.
Microsoft Certified Professional
Microsoft MVP [Windows]
http://www.microsoft.com/protect

:
|I have an HP laptop with Windows XP Home SP1. When I run Checkdisk, under
| the administrator account (Owner) and the system reboots, I get an error
| message stating the access is denied. It seems that the hard drive is
locked
| or read/write protected. Checkdisk then aborts and the system boots up
| normally. Does anyone know how can I resolve this?

 

[Guest]

These are both good suggestions. I'll try them tonite and see if one of them
works.

 

[Don MI]

I have an HP laptop with Windows XP Home SP1. When I run Checkdisk, under
the administrator account (Owner) and the system reboots, I get an error
message stating the access is denied. It seems that the hard drive is
locked
or read/write protected. Checkdisk then aborts and the system boots up
normally. Does anyone know how can I resolve this?

Zone Alarm version 5 can cause this problem with Windows XP SP-1. One
solution is to install SP-2 or uninstall Zone Alarm. If you are using Zone
Alarm, please check for the latest version before any other actions. Zone
Alarm may have a version that corrects this problem with Windows XP SP-1
{not been keeping track}.

The problem is that Zone Alarm loads a driver prior to the start of check
disk which prevents access. Other applications may also have this problem
{do not know}. If so, SP-2 should correct for them also.

Don

 

[Guest]

Thanks. I am running ZA on that box. It is fully patched and updated. I'll
try turning it off and see what happpens.

 

[Don MI]

Thanks. I am running ZA on that box. It is fully patched and updated.
I'll
try turning it off and see what happpens.

As I recall, turning off Zone Alarm is not sufficient. You either must
uninstall or disable a Zone Alarm driver in Device Manager {View, Show
Hidden Devices}. There was a lot of discussion in Windows XP newsgroups and
Zone Alarm forum just prior to the release of Windows XP SP-2.

Sorry, I cannot be of more help as I gave up an Zone Alarm due to other
problems I had with version 5. Suggest you check there support. The FAQ may
have some more information.

As I recall, the best solution was to install SP-2 which manages driver
loading better to prevent the problem.

Don

 

[Don MI]

Thanks. I am running ZA on that box. It is fully patched and updated.
I'll
try turning it off and see what happpens.

If you want to try to disable the Zone Alarm Vector driver, here is a
procedure I found in my old notes:


Disable the Zone Alarm driver {VSDATANT} that is causing the problem. Then

enable the driver after chkdsk runs. Summary procedure:

Go to Device Manager and from the View menu select show hidden driver.

Right click on VSDATANT and select disable. Reboot.

Chkdsk should now run. Ignore any Zone Alarm error messages that may

occur as Windows XP loads.

Go back to Device Manager and right click on VSDATANT and select enable.

Reboot.




Don

 

[Alex Nichol]

These are both good suggestions. I'll try them tonite and see if one of them
works.

And make sure that 'SYSTEM' has full control access to the partition
(R-click the drive in My Computer, Properties, Security page)