Beware Doing a CHKDSK in Fix Errors Mode

[JBL]

Wow,

Soon after I installed SP2 on all three computers that I own, I ran CHKDSK
on my IBM T40 laptop and after about an hour I was able to get it to boot
again. When the CHKDSK command is issued with the fix errors switch, the
computer simply does not boot afterwards...you get a "sorry for the
inconvenience, but"...

It happend with a second machine, a Dell Desktop. Same deal. The only way
I could get it to boot was to "choose the last good configuration", but that
is NOT the solution...what gives? Has anyone else had this issue?

Many thanks for any feedback.

 

[CS]

Wow,

Soon after I installed SP2 on all three computers that I own, I ran CHKDSK
on my IBM T40 laptop and after about an hour I was able to get it to boot
again. When the CHKDSK command is issued with the fix errors switch, the
computer simply does not boot afterwards...you get a "sorry for the
inconvenience, but"...

It happend with a second machine, a Dell Desktop. Same deal. The only way
I could get it to boot was to "choose the last good configuration", but that
is NOT the solution...what gives? Has anyone else had this issue?

Many thanks for any feedback.

Why did you feel you had to run chkdsk /f after installing SP2 on your
laptop and desktop? Were there errors on the disks prior to updating
to SP2? Sounds like you may have problems with both machines that
possibly can occur again.

Download IBM's disk diagnostics from their support web site and run it
in thorough mode. Do the same with the Dell. I'm sure Dell also has
disk diagnostics available.

 

[Jeff Lloyd]

Why did you feel you had to run chkdsk /f after installing SP2 on your
laptop and desktop? Were there errors on the disks prior to updating
to SP2? Sounds like you may have problems with both machines that
possibly can occur again.

Download IBM's disk diagnostics from their support web site and run it
in thorough mode. Do the same with the Dell. I'm sure Dell also has
disk diagnostics available.

That's the most ridiculous thing I have ever heard. Two totally different
machines that have the same problems. Do you work for Microsoft? Come on,
Man.

I installed SP2 a week or so ago, and as I always did before, I would run
chkdsk to check for errors - I saw some minor errors on the drive so I ran
it with the /F switch. The desktop machine is two weeks old, with the
minimal amount of extra software on it...I don't get it? Run some other
utility instead of the CHKDSK utility that comes with Windows? Sure IBM and
Dell have diagnostics...Dell's complete disk check takes ALL DAY to run.
Now that's practical.

 

[CS]

That's the most ridiculous thing I have ever heard. Two totally different
machines that have the same problems. Do you work for Microsoft? Come on,
Man.

I installed SP2 a week or so ago, and as I always did before, I would run
chkdsk to check for errors - I saw some minor errors on the drive so I ran
it with the /F switch. The desktop machine is two weeks old, with the
minimal amount of extra software on it...I don't get it? Run some other
utility instead of the CHKDSK utility that comes with Windows? Sure IBM and
Dell have diagnostics...Dell's complete disk check takes ALL DAY to run.
Now that's practical.

I don't work for Microsoft (and never would). But you're trying to
blame hardware problems on SP2 while it appears that you have two hard
drives (on different machines) that have errors. That's why I asked
why you felt you had to run chkdsk /f.

Why not run the diagnostics and ease your mind about the drives?
Just because a machine is two weeks old doesn't mean that it can't
have problems. I have had defective hard drives that were brand new
out of the box. Your Dell should still be under warranty. If the
drive is in fact defective, Dell is going to ask you to run the
diagnostics anyway before they RMA the machine.

 

[JBL]

I don't work for Microsoft (and never would). But you're trying to
blame hardware problems on SP2 while it appears that you have two hard
drives (on different machines) that have errors. That's why I asked
why you felt you had to run chkdsk /f.

Why not run the diagnostics and ease your mind about the drives?
Just because a machine is two weeks old doesn't mean that it can't
have problems. I have had defective hard drives that were brand new
out of the box. Your Dell should still be under warranty. If the
drive is in fact defective, Dell is going to ask you to run the
diagnostics anyway before they RMA the machine.

All three machines that I have now have had the same result when doing a
CHKDSK /F command...I hardly believe all three of them are defective, with
all due respect.

 

[Guest]

I got the sam thing every time i run chkdsk
See the following
***************************************
Correcting errors in the master file table's (MFT) DATA
attribute.
CHKDSK discovered free space marked as allocated in the
master file table (MFT) bitmap.
CHKDSK discovered free space marked as allocated in the
volume bitmap.
Windows found problems with the file system.
Run CHKDSK with the /F (fix) option to correct these.
*****************************************

chkdsk could not work correctly in SP2 ?
Bug ?
chkdsk c: /F could fix nothing about it ?
run chkdsk in reboot or in recover consol, all ok, no error found
but just in windows cmd , come out with the error message

feel bad about it ~

 

[CS]

All three machines that I have now have had the same result when doing a
CHKDSK /F command...I hardly believe all three of them are defective, with
all due respect.

One thing I forgot to ask last night when I replied to your last
post.......

Are you by chance running Zone Alarm on your machines? There is a
known problem with Zone Alarm (free and Pro versions) and chkdsk for
ZA versions earlier than the latest (5.1.011). I might add here that
before I updated my ZA Pro to the latest, I too had a problem running
chkdsk /f but it was not specifically limited to SP2. It also
occurred with SP1.

If you were not running ZA please disregard. Since the problem is
happening on three machines, I have to agree that it is unusual and
would make SP2 suspect. I can only relate to you that I have updated
three machines, two desktops and one notebook without any conflict
with running chkdsk /f.

Sorry I can't be of help. Good luck on your pursuit of a solution.

 

[Guest]

hi all :

just after posting my problem last night, i did two things.

1. defrag my C:
2. upgrade .Net Frameword 1.0 SP2 to .Net Frameword 1.0 SP3

and then the error (chkdsk c gone away ~ feel so good for "a while"
and then ~ @_@
instead ~ i got boot up blue screen sometimes ~ with error 0x00....07E

that reallly @#&%! ....

any ideal ?

step 1. or 2. or 1. + 2. may solve the error (chkdsk c problem, but come
out with blue screen sometimes during boot-time

 

[Jeff Lloyd]

One thing I forgot to ask last night when I replied to your last
post.......

Are you by chance running Zone Alarm on your machines? There is a
known problem with Zone Alarm (free and Pro versions) and chkdsk for
ZA versions earlier than the latest (5.1.011). I might add here that
before I updated my ZA Pro to the latest, I too had a problem running
chkdsk /f but it was not specifically limited to SP2. It also
occurred with SP1.

If you were not running ZA please disregard. Since the problem is
happening on three machines, I have to agree that it is unusual and
would make SP2 suspect. I can only relate to you that I have updated
three machines, two desktops and one notebook without any conflict
with running chkdsk /f.

Sorry I can't be of help. Good luck on your pursuit of a solution.

Nope - Not running ZA. Just Gates' firewall. I do think it is SP2 - I have
been reading about other issues and one guy actually said that during a
phone conversation with M$FT, they admitted that the upgrade wasn't without
it's bugs. Other than this little hangup, everything is running fine.
Guess I'll just use my machines with dirty drives for awhile until the come
out with an SP2a...

 

[Jeff Lloyd]

One thing I forgot to ask last night when I replied to your last
post.......

Are you by chance running Zone Alarm on your machines? There is a
known problem with Zone Alarm (free and Pro versions) and chkdsk for
ZA versions earlier than the latest (5.1.011). I might add here that
before I updated my ZA Pro to the latest, I too had a problem running
chkdsk /f but it was not specifically limited to SP2. It also
occurred with SP1.

If you were not running ZA please disregard. Since the problem is
happening on three machines, I have to agree that it is unusual and
would make SP2 suspect. I can only relate to you that I have updated
three machines, two desktops and one notebook without any conflict
with running chkdsk /f.

Sorry I can't be of help. Good luck on your pursuit of a solution.

Also, I have run the Dell Diagnostics on both Dell machines that I have. It
took awhile, but both machines passed every test - most notably the hard
drive tests. Didn't run the laptop through the paces as I am convinced this
problem lies with SP2, because this never happened before installing the
update...

 

[Barry Henley]

Same problem here on an e-Machine T2742 after installing SP2. FYI, the
problem does not occure when doing a chkdsk on my D: volume, only on
C: where the OS is installed.

Barry

 

[L.Webber]

Wow,

Soon after I installed SP2 on all three computers that I own, I ran CHKDSK
on my IBM T40 laptop and after about an hour I was able to get it to boot
again. When the CHKDSK command is issued with the fix errors switch, the
computer simply does not boot afterwards...you get a "sorry for the
inconvenience, but"...

It happend with a second machine, a Dell Desktop. Same deal. The only way
I could get it to boot was to "choose the last good configuration", but that
is NOT the solution...what gives? Has anyone else had this issue?

Many thanks for any feedback.

Did you ever find a solution?

I ran CHKDSK immediately before installing SP2 (standard precaution)
without problem on a Compaq workstation and on an old Dell laptop. The
next time I ran CHKDSK after installing SP2 on each machine, the reboot
failed just as you described. The laptop stopped with a black screen,
but the workstation produced a blue-screen message
SESSION5_INITIALIZATION_FAILED with STOP 0x00000071. After a week of
email conversations with a Microsoft technician, the only solution
offered is "reinstall Windows." For this problem, I don't consider that
an option.

I did try installing XP on a test machine with updates through SP2 and
then adding bits and tweaks and start-up software corresponding to my
other machines hoping to reproduce the problem. So far, no luck.
Twice, though, CHKDSK itself appeared to lock up before starting a
reboot. In both cases, the boot was successful after restarting the
machine and CHKDSK ran normally for several runs thereafter without any
change to the system.

Considering the differences in machines, I can't see how hardware could
be an issue, but the STOP message apparently implies some sort of driver
conflict. I don't think the problem is going to be fixed soon;
Microsoft has "temporarily closed" my case.