CHKDSK - Can it be aborted?

[Tom]

WinXP Pro SP3
80GB 5400rpm internal drive (Toshiba) [Drive C]
160GB 5400rpm external USB2 drive (Western Digital) [Drive F]
750GB external USB2 drive (Maxtor OneTouch) - unknown rpm... [Drive E]

This AM my laptop was going through a CHKDSK on the 750GB external Maxtor
OneTouch drive. I don't know why... it just was. The CHKDSK was about 84%
processed in Stage 4 when I first noticed it. Since I had a meeting out of
the office I let it run. After I got back the 160GB drive was about 94%
completed on Stage 5 so I let it finish. I then rebooted and we're fine...
;-))

1) Can I abort a CHKDSK by just turning off the computer?
2) If so, in what stages can I do this? It became painfully obvious that if
the 750GB Maxtor drive was only 5% complete that I'd be waiting all day for
the processing to end.
3) What are the implications here of turning off the computer during one of
the five (5) stages? If ESCaped out during Stage 1 but never turned off the
computer ... yet... [This is a threat to my computer's OS livelihood. Make
sure all comments are kind and considerate so as to not injury 'its'
personality or feelings! ;-)) ]
Can I take-back control from my one-eyed beast? '-)
TIA!

 

[db]

the chkdsk likely
initiated because
windows found that
file system to be
dirty,

which would ultimately
result in loss of data
if left unchecked.

my suggestion to avoid
future issues is to re
partition that large drive
into smaller ones.

as you may discover, there
are many benefits to be
gained from multiple
partitions instead of
one giant one.

--

db·´¯`·...¸><)))º>
DatabaseBen, Retired Professional
- Systems Analyst
- Database Developer
- Accountancy
- Veteran of the Armed Forces
- Microsoft Partner
- @hotmail.com
~~~~~~~~~~"share the nirvana" - dbZen

WinXP Pro SP3
80GB 5400rpm internal drive (Toshiba) [Drive C]
160GB 5400rpm external USB2 drive (Western Digital) [Drive F]
750GB external USB2 drive (Maxtor OneTouch) - unknown rpm... [Drive E]

This AM my laptop was going through a CHKDSK on the 750GB external Maxtor
OneTouch drive. I don't know why... it just was. The CHKDSK was about 84%
processed in Stage 4 when I first noticed it. Since I had a meeting out of
the office I let it run. After I got back the 160GB drive was about 94%
completed on Stage 5 so I let it finish. I then rebooted and we're fine...
;-))

1) Can I abort a CHKDSK by just turning off the computer?
2) If so, in what stages can I do this? It became painfully obvious that if
the 750GB Maxtor drive was only 5% complete that I'd be waiting all day for
the processing to end.
3) What are the implications here of turning off the computer during one of
the five (5) stages? If ESCaped out during Stage 1 but never turned off the
computer ... yet... [This is a threat to my computer's OS livelihood. Make
sure all comments are kind and considerate so as to not injury 'its'
personality or feelings! ;-)) ]
Can I take-back control from my one-eyed beast? '-)
TIA!

 

[Tae Song]

WinXP Pro SP3
80GB 5400rpm internal drive (Toshiba) [Drive C]
160GB 5400rpm external USB2 drive (Western Digital) [Drive F]
750GB external USB2 drive (Maxtor OneTouch) - unknown rpm... [Drive E]

This AM my laptop was going through a CHKDSK on the 750GB external Maxtor
OneTouch drive. I don't know why... it just was. The CHKDSK was about
84%
processed in Stage 4 when I first noticed it. Since I had a meeting out
of
the office I let it run. After I got back the 160GB drive was about 94%
completed on Stage 5 so I let it finish. I then rebooted and we're
fine...
;-))

1) Can I abort a CHKDSK by just turning off the computer?
2) If so, in what stages can I do this? It became painfully obvious that
if
the 750GB Maxtor drive was only 5% complete that I'd be waiting all day
for
the processing to end.
3) What are the implications here of turning off the computer during one
of
the five (5) stages? If ESCaped out during Stage 1 but never turned off
the
computer ... yet... [This is a threat to my computer's OS livelihood.
Make
sure all comments are kind and considerate so as to not injury 'its'
personality or feelings! ;-)) ]
Can I take-back control from my one-eyed beast? '-)
TIA!

You might be facing imminent hard drive failure on the 750GB Maxtor. Is it
still under warrantee?

 

[Tom]

No it's not under warranty. ;-(
Are there known issues with the Maxtor drive or would Windows to the CHKDSK
because I plugged the device into a USB2 port on my laptop?

As to the original question, what do you think about aborting the CHKDSK?
Chkdsk did search drive E (750GB Maxtor) and the 160GB Western Digital.

Do I need to backup my backup drives? Drive F (160GB Western Digital) is an
external USB drive I use to store misc things that I can't store on my 80GB
internal due to space limitation issues.
TIA!

WinXP Pro SP3
80GB 5400rpm internal drive (Toshiba) [Drive C]
160GB 5400rpm external USB2 drive (Western Digital) [Drive F]
750GB external USB2 drive (Maxtor OneTouch) - unknown rpm... [Drive E]

This AM my laptop was going through a CHKDSK on the 750GB external Maxtor
OneTouch drive. I don't know why... it just was. The CHKDSK was about
84%
processed in Stage 4 when I first noticed it. Since I had a meeting out
of
the office I let it run. After I got back the 160GB drive was about 94%
completed on Stage 5 so I let it finish. I then rebooted and we're
fine...
;-))

1) Can I abort a CHKDSK by just turning off the computer?
2) If so, in what stages can I do this? It became painfully obvious that
if
the 750GB Maxtor drive was only 5% complete that I'd be waiting all day
for
the processing to end.
3) What are the implications here of turning off the computer during one
of
the five (5) stages? If ESCaped out during Stage 1 but never turned off
the
computer ... yet... [This is a threat to my computer's OS livelihood.
Make
sure all comments are kind and considerate so as to not injury 'its'
personality or feelings! ;-)) ]
Can I take-back control from my one-eyed beast? '-)
TIA!

You might be facing imminent hard drive failure on the 750GB Maxtor. Is it
still under warrantee?

 

[Tim Meddick]

Tom,
For 99.9% of the time, chkdsk is scanning various areas of the
drive. Only for a minute percentage of the time is chkdsk actually
fixing problems.

I don't think that it would cause harm to your drives if you were to
turn it [your computer] off if it were taking an unusually long time to
complete it's tasks.

Why did you feel the need to perform a scan for recovery of bad sectors?

The three-point scan with the /f switch is quicker (the /p switch in
RC).

If you are using chkdsk in Windows, then also using the /c switch cuts a
little more time off the scan also.

Hope this is some help to you.

==

Cheers, Tim Meddick, Peckham, London.

No it's not under warranty. ;-(
Are there known issues with the Maxtor drive or would Windows to the
CHKDSK
because I plugged the device into a USB2 port on my laptop?

As to the original question, what do you think about aborting the
CHKDSK?
Chkdsk did search drive E (750GB Maxtor) and the 160GB Western
Digital.

Do I need to backup my backup drives? Drive F (160GB Western Digital)
is an
external USB drive I use to store misc things that I can't store on my
80GB
internal due to space limitation issues.
TIA!

WinXP Pro SP3
80GB 5400rpm internal drive (Toshiba) [Drive C]
160GB 5400rpm external USB2 drive (Western Digital) [Drive F]
750GB external USB2 drive (Maxtor OneTouch) - unknown rpm...
[Drive E]

This AM my laptop was going through a CHKDSK on the 750GB external
Maxtor
OneTouch drive. I don't know why... it just was. The CHKDSK was
about
84%
processed in Stage 4 when I first noticed it. Since I had a
meeting out
of
the office I let it run. After I got back the 160GB drive was
about 94%
completed on Stage 5 so I let it finish. I then rebooted and we're
fine...
;-))

1) Can I abort a CHKDSK by just turning off the computer?
2) If so, in what stages can I do this? It became painfully
obvious that
if
the 750GB Maxtor drive was only 5% complete that I'd be waiting all
day
for
the processing to end.
3) What are the implications here of turning off the computer
during one
of
the five (5) stages? If ESCaped out during Stage 1 but never
turned off
the
computer ... yet... [This is a threat to my computer's OS
livelihood.
Make
sure all comments are kind and considerate so as to not injury
'its'
personality or feelings! ;-)) ]
Can I take-back control from my one-eyed beast? '-)
TIA!

You might be facing imminent hard drive failure on the 750GB Maxtor.
Is it
still under warrantee?

 

[Patrick Keenan]

No it's not under warranty. ;-(

As to warranties, disk companies deal with this by replacing the drive. If
you send in your drive, you will never see your data again... unless someone
else gets the drive and takes a look.

Are there known issues with the Maxtor drive

There are a number of complaints.

But in some cases it appears that the problem is teh *enclosure*, not the
*disk*. Try removing the drive from the enclosure and using another one,
or connecting it directly to a SATA or IDE connector.

or would Windows to the CHKDSK
because I plugged the device into a USB2 port on my laptop?

Possibly if the enclosure circuitry was flaky.

As to the original question, what do you think about aborting the CHKDSK?
Chkdsk did search drive E (750GB Maxtor) and the 160GB Western Digital.

Do I need to backup my backup drives?

Yes. It's not a good idea to have only one copy of your backup, either.
Many offices I deal with have a rotating set of backups, one for each day of
the week.

At the moment, I will suggest moving some more critical files off to DVD.
When prices for burners and disks drop to something reasonable, I will
suggest usign Blu-Ray disks for backup. And again, burn two copies - move
one offsite.

Or, get another hard disk and copy to it as well.

I don't know if Maxtors have improved since their class action suit and
takeover by Seagate, as I stopped using them after too many of the ones I
had, failed.

I don't even consider buying pre-assembled external drives, since I may not
know the most important and basic fact - what is the drive inside?

Drive F (160GB Western Digital) is an
external USB drive I use to store misc things that I can't store on my
80GB
internal due to space limitation issues.
TIA!

WinXP Pro SP3
80GB 5400rpm internal drive (Toshiba) [Drive C]
160GB 5400rpm external USB2 drive (Western Digital) [Drive F]
750GB external USB2 drive (Maxtor OneTouch) - unknown rpm... [Drive E]

This AM my laptop was going through a CHKDSK on the 750GB external
Maxtor
OneTouch drive. I don't know why... it just was. The CHKDSK was about
84%
processed in Stage 4 when I first noticed it. Since I had a meeting
out
of
the office I let it run. After I got back the 160GB drive was about
94%
completed on Stage 5 so I let it finish. I then rebooted and we're
fine...
;-))

1) Can I abort a CHKDSK by just turning off the computer?
2) If so, in what stages can I do this? It became painfully obvious
that
if
the 750GB Maxtor drive was only 5% complete that I'd be waiting all day
for
the processing to end.
3) What are the implications here of turning off the computer during
one
of
the five (5) stages? If ESCaped out during Stage 1 but never turned
off
the
computer ... yet... [This is a threat to my computer's OS livelihood.
Make
sure all comments are kind and considerate so as to not injury 'its'
personality or feelings! ;-)) ]
Can I take-back control from my one-eyed beast? '-)
TIA!

You might be facing imminent hard drive failure on the 750GB Maxtor. Is
it
still under warrantee?

 

[Tom]

Good point on the "knowing what's inside the enclosure". When I purchased
the drive it was cheaper than a separate enclosure and drive. It's the only
single-unit combo I have as I have purchased separate IDE/SATA and drives
before and since then. I DO think there may be issues with the
enclosure/circuitry/drive but I haven't been able to focus on any issue. I
know the drive does NOT work well w/ our Win2K3 server whether that's a
compatibility issue or what I don't know. So, I essentially plug in, turn on
and copy files from my laptop etc to the drive and then disconnect it and
turn it off. This reduces our risk. I also have a separate 300GB SATA drive
on our network that we copy files to. It was in a SATA enclosure and the
previous drive's life was shorted due to lack of heat dissipation. After we
received a replacement drive we opened up the enclosure so that the heat is
dissipated immediately into the air rather than hold the heat inside the
enclosure etc.
One of our next purchases on either a server or a set of external drives is
to RAID them but that's currently not in the '90-day budget'.
On copying files to DVD etc. we do that from time to time but one of our
files is now nearly 7GB. We need to break it down into several smaller files
for the DVD copying option. BUt this all takes time which is small now
unless you know of an automated DVD creation app. We tried WinZip a couple
of years ago but it wouldn't support active DVD copying.
Thanks!
[Oh, on the CHKDSK... why did we 'do it'? My laptop evidently restarted
'on-its-own' and did the CHKDSK during the night.]
Tom

No it's not under warranty. ;-(

As to warranties, disk companies deal with this by replacing the drive. If
you send in your drive, you will never see your data again... unless someone
else gets the drive and takes a look.

Are there known issues with the Maxtor drive

There are a number of complaints.

But in some cases it appears that the problem is teh *enclosure*, not the
*disk*. Try removing the drive from the enclosure and using another one,
or connecting it directly to a SATA or IDE connector.

or would Windows to the CHKDSK
because I plugged the device into a USB2 port on my laptop?

Possibly if the enclosure circuitry was flaky.

As to the original question, what do you think about aborting the CHKDSK?
Chkdsk did search drive E (750GB Maxtor) and the 160GB Western Digital.

Do I need to backup my backup drives?

Yes. It's not a good idea to have only one copy of your backup, either.
Many offices I deal with have a rotating set of backups, one for each day of
the week.

At the moment, I will suggest moving some more critical files off to DVD.
When prices for burners and disks drop to something reasonable, I will
suggest usign Blu-Ray disks for backup. And again, burn two copies - move
one offsite.

Or, get another hard disk and copy to it as well.

I don't know if Maxtors have improved since their class action suit and
takeover by Seagate, as I stopped using them after too many of the ones I
had, failed.

I don't even consider buying pre-assembled external drives, since I may not
know the most important and basic fact - what is the drive inside?

Drive F (160GB Western Digital) is an
external USB drive I use to store misc things that I can't store on my
80GB
internal due to space limitation issues.
TIA!

WinXP Pro SP3
80GB 5400rpm internal drive (Toshiba) [Drive C]
160GB 5400rpm external USB2 drive (Western Digital) [Drive F]
750GB external USB2 drive (Maxtor OneTouch) - unknown rpm... [Drive E]

This AM my laptop was going through a CHKDSK on the 750GB external
Maxtor
OneTouch drive. I don't know why... it just was. The CHKDSK was about
84%
processed in Stage 4 when I first noticed it. Since I had a meeting
out
of
the office I let it run. After I got back the 160GB drive was about
94%
completed on Stage 5 so I let it finish. I then rebooted and we're
fine...
;-))

1) Can I abort a CHKDSK by just turning off the computer?
2) If so, in what stages can I do this? It became painfully obvious
that
if
the 750GB Maxtor drive was only 5% complete that I'd be waiting all day
for
the processing to end.
3) What are the implications here of turning off the computer during
one
of
the five (5) stages? If ESCaped out during Stage 1 but never turned
off
the
computer ... yet... [This is a threat to my computer's OS livelihood.
Make
sure all comments are kind and considerate so as to not injury 'its'
personality or feelings! ;-)) ]
Can I take-back control from my one-eyed beast? '-)
TIA!

You might be facing imminent hard drive failure on the 750GB Maxtor. Is
it
still under warrantee?

 

[Tom]

Tim,
The CHKDSK started when my laptop 'restarted-on-its-own'. Hence, I had no
control over the CHKDSK parameters. You commented that "Only a minute
percentage of the time is CHKDSK actually fixing problems.' How do I know
when it's safe and when it's not? Normally, it would appear, that Phase 1 is
the most critical, if I remember correctly. So I try not to turn off the
process during a Phase 1 process.
Other perspectives here????
TIA,
Tom

Tom,
For 99.9% of the time, chkdsk is scanning various areas of the
drive. Only for a minute percentage of the time is chkdsk actually
fixing problems.

I don't think that it would cause harm to your drives if you were to
turn it [your computer] off if it were taking an unusually long time to
complete it's tasks.

Why did you feel the need to perform a scan for recovery of bad sectors?

The three-point scan with the /f switch is quicker (the /p switch in
RC).

If you are using chkdsk in Windows, then also using the /c switch cuts a
little more time off the scan also.

Hope this is some help to you.

==

Cheers, Tim Meddick, Peckham, London.

No it's not under warranty. ;-(
Are there known issues with the Maxtor drive or would Windows to the
CHKDSK
because I plugged the device into a USB2 port on my laptop?

As to the original question, what do you think about aborting the
CHKDSK?
Chkdsk did search drive E (750GB Maxtor) and the 160GB Western
Digital.

Do I need to backup my backup drives? Drive F (160GB Western Digital)
is an
external USB drive I use to store misc things that I can't store on my
80GB
internal due to space limitation issues.
TIA!

WinXP Pro SP3
80GB 5400rpm internal drive (Toshiba) [Drive C]
160GB 5400rpm external USB2 drive (Western Digital) [Drive F]
750GB external USB2 drive (Maxtor OneTouch) - unknown rpm...
[Drive E]

This AM my laptop was going through a CHKDSK on the 750GB external
Maxtor
OneTouch drive. I don't know why... it just was. The CHKDSK was
about
84%
processed in Stage 4 when I first noticed it. Since I had a
meeting out
of
the office I let it run. After I got back the 160GB drive was
about 94%
completed on Stage 5 so I let it finish. I then rebooted and we're
fine...
;-))

1) Can I abort a CHKDSK by just turning off the computer?
2) If so, in what stages can I do this? It became painfully
obvious that
if
the 750GB Maxtor drive was only 5% complete that I'd be waiting all
day
for
the processing to end.
3) What are the implications here of turning off the computer
during one
of
the five (5) stages? If ESCaped out during Stage 1 but never
turned off
the
computer ... yet... [This is a threat to my computer's OS
livelihood.
Make
sure all comments are kind and considerate so as to not injury
'its'
personality or feelings! ;-)) ]
Can I take-back control from my one-eyed beast? '-)
TIA!

You might be facing imminent hard drive failure on the 750GB Maxtor.
Is it
still under warrantee?

 

[John John - MVP]

Regardless of which stage it is at it is *never* safe to abort a chkdsk
in progress. That doesn't mean that you will automatically have
problems if you do, but it is nonetheless a risky thing to do. The
problem with chkdsk is that many users are impatient and they think that
chkdsk should be over in 5 minutes, if it runs for 15 minutes they think
that it is taking an eternity. Many don't understand that chkdsk can
take hours, or even more than a day to complete!

John

Tim,
The CHKDSK started when my laptop 'restarted-on-its-own'. Hence, I had no
control over the CHKDSK parameters. You commented that "Only a minute
percentage of the time is CHKDSK actually fixing problems.' How do I know
when it's safe and when it's not? Normally, it would appear, that Phase 1 is
the most critical, if I remember correctly. So I try not to turn off the
process during a Phase 1 process.
Other perspectives here????
TIA,
Tom

Tom,
For 99.9% of the time, chkdsk is scanning various areas of the
drive. Only for a minute percentage of the time is chkdsk actually
fixing problems.

I don't think that it would cause harm to your drives if you were to
turn it [your computer] off if it were taking an unusually long time to
complete it's tasks.

Why did you feel the need to perform a scan for recovery of bad sectors?

The three-point scan with the /f switch is quicker (the /p switch in
RC).

If you are using chkdsk in Windows, then also using the /c switch cuts a
little more time off the scan also.

Hope this is some help to you.

==

Cheers, Tim Meddick, Peckham, London.

No it's not under warranty. ;-(
Are there known issues with the Maxtor drive or would Windows to the
CHKDSK
because I plugged the device into a USB2 port on my laptop?

As to the original question, what do you think about aborting the
CHKDSK?
Chkdsk did search drive E (750GB Maxtor) and the 160GB Western
Digital.

Do I need to backup my backup drives? Drive F (160GB Western Digital)
is an
external USB drive I use to store misc things that I can't store on my
80GB
internal due to space limitation issues.
TIA!

:

WinXP Pro SP3
80GB 5400rpm internal drive (Toshiba) [Drive C]
160GB 5400rpm external USB2 drive (Western Digital) [Drive F]
750GB external USB2 drive (Maxtor OneTouch) - unknown rpm...
[Drive E]

This AM my laptop was going through a CHKDSK on the 750GB external
Maxtor
OneTouch drive. I don't know why... it just was. The CHKDSK was
about
84%
processed in Stage 4 when I first noticed it. Since I had a
meeting out
of
the office I let it run. After I got back the 160GB drive was
about 94%
completed on Stage 5 so I let it finish. I then rebooted and we're
fine...
;-))

1) Can I abort a CHKDSK by just turning off the computer?
2) If so, in what stages can I do this? It became painfully
obvious that
if
the 750GB Maxtor drive was only 5% complete that I'd be waiting all
day
for
the processing to end.
3) What are the implications here of turning off the computer
during one
of
the five (5) stages? If ESCaped out during Stage 1 but never
turned off
the
computer ... yet... [This is a threat to my computer's OS
livelihood.
Make
sure all comments are kind and considerate so as to not injury
'its'
personality or feelings! ;-)) ]
Can I take-back control from my one-eyed beast? '-)
TIA!
You might be facing imminent hard drive failure on the 750GB Maxtor.
Is it
still under warrantee?

 

[Twayne]

....

I don't know if Maxtors have improved since their class action suit
and takeover by Seagate, as I stopped using them after too many of
the ones I had, failed.

I can say no to that one; and on top of that, they used a "special"
connector so you can't easily plug it into your PC PSU for power. It's
one of those tiny black connectors that look like a jumper head on the
one I have. I had to gerry-rig it to get power to it. Turned out the
drive itself was bad as it'd spin up, then spin down after about 5
seconds, same as it did in the enclosure so I assume it was the internal
controller in this case. It was out of warranty of course; by about a
month but they wouldn't have anything to do with me.

I don't even consider buying pre-assembled external drives, since I
may not know the most important and basic fact - what is the drive
inside?

Actually, you can usually tell that by looking in the online specs for
their drives. All the ones I've looked at clearly stated the drive
manufacturer in the cases. I've found ACOM and WD to both still be OK;
at least that's what I'm using. External 1 Gig WD and an ACOM 500 Gig
are in use here. Each machine gets it own external drive. I plan to
add another 1 Gig to my main machine soon for multiple externals that
can be swapped back and forth.

HTH,

Twayne`

Drive F (160GB Western Digital) is an
external USB drive I use to store misc things that I can't store on
my 80GB
internal due to space limitation issues.
TIA!

WinXP Pro SP3
80GB 5400rpm internal drive (Toshiba) [Drive C]
160GB 5400rpm external USB2 drive (Western Digital) [Drive F]
750GB external USB2 drive (Maxtor OneTouch) - unknown rpm... [Drive
E] This AM my laptop was going through a CHKDSK on the 750GB
external
Maxtor
OneTouch drive. I don't know why... it just was. The CHKDSK was
about 84%
processed in Stage 4 when I first noticed it. Since I had a
meeting out
of
the office I let it run. After I got back the 160GB drive was
about 94%
completed on Stage 5 so I let it finish. I then rebooted and we're
fine...
;-))

1) Can I abort a CHKDSK by just turning off the computer?
2) If so, in what stages can I do this? It became painfully
obvious that
if
the 750GB Maxtor drive was only 5% complete that I'd be waiting
all day for
the processing to end.
3) What are the implications here of turning off the computer
during one
of
the five (5) stages? If ESCaped out during Stage 1 but never
turned off
the
computer ... yet... [This is a threat to my computer's OS
livelihood. Make
sure all comments are kind and considerate so as to not injury
'its' personality or feelings! ;-)) ]
Can I take-back control from my one-eyed beast? '-)
TIA!

You might be facing imminent hard drive failure on the 750GB
Maxtor. Is it
still under warrantee?