help with Chkdsk XP hanging

[internaughtfull]

Hi,

I have a problem with chkdsk on XP sp3. I have never run chkdsk on it
before, and decided to do a defrag/chkdsk on it as regular
maintenance.
The system has been running fine and has ATT McCafee antivirus/spy
running on it and is suposedly clean.

I selected chkdsk from disk/tool properties tab and it said to
restart.

After restarting, the bios screen shows and the XP splash screen shows
with the progress bar, then it goes blank and appears to hang.

The drive light is on as if something is running. I have run chkdsk
on my netbook with XP and it shows a blue progress screen, so I am
assuming something is wrong.

I have looked at the internet and found the following:

1. sometimes chkdsk runs with a blank screen and you have to change a
paremeter 'noguiboot' in a autoexec file.

2. run a system recovery by pressing f8 during the boot process.

3. disable chkdsk somehow and then reboot.

Anyone have any experience with this problem?

Currently I just shut the computer off and quit rebooting until I get
some more information. I havent just let it sit on the hang screen
for that long because I thought it might overheat the drive.

Thanks,

itchy

 

[John John - MVP]

See inline below.

Hi,

I have a problem with chkdsk on XP sp3. I have never run chkdsk on it
before, and decided to do a defrag/chkdsk on it as regular
maintenance.

Running chkdsk as a regular maintenance routine is not necessary nor is
it recommended. You should only run chkdsk when required.

The system has been running fine and has ATT McCafee antivirus/spy
running on it and is suposedly clean.

I selected chkdsk from disk/tool properties tab and it said to
restart.

After restarting, the bios screen shows and the XP splash screen shows
with the progress bar, then it goes blank and appears to hang.

The drive light is on as if something is running. I have run chkdsk
on my netbook with XP and it shows a blue progress screen, so I am
assuming something is wrong.

I have looked at the internet and found the following:

1. sometimes chkdsk runs with a blank screen and you have to change a
paremeter 'noguiboot' in a autoexec file.

That is a fix for DOS, perhaps also W9x but it doesn't apply to Windows
XP, XP doesn't use this file.

2. run a system recovery by pressing f8 during the boot process.

Hit the F8 key and select "Last Known Good Configuration"

3. disable chkdsk somehow and then reboot.

If you can't get any farther with the F8 options then you will have to
mount the disk in another Windows XP computer to try to fix this. You
can use a USB enclosure for this.

Anyone have any experience with this problem?

Currently I just shut the computer off and quit rebooting until I get
some more information. I havent just let it sit on the hang screen
for that long because I thought it might overheat the drive.

Pulling the plug on a chkdsk in progress is a big no-no! You should
never interrupt a chkdsk in progress, but in this case I understand that
you might not have had any other choice. Pulling the plug might damage
the file system or leave the drive in an inconsistent state. In any
case, we don't yet know if there is damage or not, if there is damage
you can try booting to the Recovery Console and run chkdsk from there.
After (if) you can regain control of the computer you will have to fix
the problem, you need this to work properly in case you ever have a real
need for it.

John

 

[internaughtfull]

Hit the F8 key and select "Last Known Good Configuration"

If you can't get any farther with the F8 options then you will have to
mount the disk in another Windows XP computer to try to fix this.  You
can use a USB enclosure for this.

John-

I restarted the computer and looked for the screen
message 'last good....', and did
not see it, so I just held the f8 key. It booted
normally and gave a

'windows has recovered from a serious error,
please send this report' message. I did not send
it but copied the error codes it gave.

From this I did a shutdown and reboot and it
booted ok.

Is the F8 option the same thing as entering
'safe mode'? I did not see where it said to
hit F8. Does that come right before the XP splash
screen or way before. Possibly I do not have
the proper box selected in XP to have that
selection pop up during the bootup process.

Also, would running chkdsk from the command prompt be a safer
alternative after disabling all antivirus and spyware programs?


Thanks,

itchy

 

[Daave]

I restarted the computer and looked for the screen
message 'last good....', and did
not see it, so I just held the f8 key. It booted
normally and gave a

'windows has recovered from a serious error,
please send this report' message. I did not send
it but copied the error codes it gave.

From this I did a shutdown and reboot and it
booted ok.

Is the F8 option the same thing as entering
'safe mode'? I did not see where it said to
hit F8. Does that come right before the XP splash
screen or way before. Possibly I do not have
the proper box selected in XP to have that
selection pop up during the bootup process.

After you power on your PC, tap F8 repeatedly until you see this screen:

http://msinfluentials.com/blogs/jesper/Disable Automatic Restart.jpg

Sometimes a similar screen (but not with all those choices) will
automatically appear without you hitting F8 if there is a problem (as it
did in your case). But the full-fledged Advanced Options Menu appears
after you hit F8 at the right time.

F8 gives you the *option* to run Windows in Safe Mode. But it also gives
you other options.

Also, would running chkdsk from the command prompt be a safer
alternative after disabling all antivirus and spyware programs?

*You* don't run chkdsk (unless you're in the RC); the system does. What
you do is enter the command so that chkdsk runs at next bootup (before
all your programs even have a chance to load).

 

[John John - MVP]

I restarted the computer and looked for the screen
message 'last good....', and did
not see it, so I just held the f8 key. It booted
normally and gave a

'windows has recovered from a serious error,
please send this report' message. I did not send
it but copied the error codes it gave.

From this I did a shutdown and reboot and it
booted ok.

Is the F8 option the same thing as entering
'safe mode'? I did not see where it said to
hit F8. Does that come right before the XP splash
screen or way before. Possibly I do not have
the proper box selected in XP to have that
selection pop up during the bootup process.

Also, would running chkdsk from the command prompt be a safer
alternative after disabling all antivirus and spyware programs?

Daave has already answered some of your other questions. Disabling your
AV programs, or even booting to safe mode wouldn't make any difference
when trying to run chkdsk on the Windows drive. To run on a drive
chkdsk needs to gain exclusive access to the drive and put a lock on it,
obviously it cannot do this with the Windows drive while Windows is
running so that is why it must be run when the computer is rebooted and
just before Windows is loaded.

You should really fix this, if ever the drive becomes "dirty" the system
will automatically schedule a chkdsk on reboot without you knowing
anything about it. A drive can become "dirty" due to hardware or
software glitches or in the event of a power interruption while the disk
is being written to. The setting of the dirty bit and the subsequent
chkdsk that is run when the computer reboots is very important to the
health of the Windows installation and the file system.

Maybe what happened was just a one time glitch, but you will have to try
running a chkdsk again to see if it runs properly, it's a risk that you
will have to take to get to the bottom of this. At the command prompt
run these commands:

chkntfs /d

This will restore the machine to the default behavior; all drives are
checked at boot time and chkdsk is run on those that are
dirty.

After you run the command you can reboot for good measure and to make
sure that the computer if booting properly. Then, again from the
command prompt, run this command:

chkdsk c: /f

Chkdsk will give you a message stating that it cannot lock the drive and
ask you if you want to schedule a chkdsk for the next reboot, answer yes
and then reboot the computer... and keep your fingers crossed!

John

 

[GS]

I will never do chckdsk /f on any drive unless I am positive that my UPS
will shield me from any power interruption during the process

also a caveat for people using SATA Raid drives: don't boot and walk away
until you are sure all volumes are in good shape, otherwise the OS will do
chkdsk on you and may cause data loss

 

[internaughtfull]

chkntfs /d

This will restore the machine to the default behavior; all drives are checked at boot time and chkdsk is run on those that are
dirty.

After you run the command you can reboot for good measure and to make sure that the computer if booting properly.  Then, again from the
command prompt, run this command:

chkdsk c: /f

Chkdsk will give you a message stating that it cannot lock the drive and
ask you if you want to schedule a chkdsk for the next reboot, answer yes
  and then reboot the computer... and keep your fingers crossed!

John-

Ok, I will try the above after I get some files backed
up. I assume that running chkdsk from the CMD
prompt is better than the properties/tools gui choice.

I was wondering if I install the Recovery Console,
would that help if I run into the 'hanging chkdsk'
problem again, or would it have to boot to
CD to overcome that.

Thanks for the info,

itchy

 

[Daave]

Ok, I will try the above after I get some files backed
up. I assume that running chkdsk from the CMD
prompt is better than the properties/tools gui choice.

No difference. When you are in Normal Mode (with the GUI), you won't be
"running" chkdsk; you'll merely be running the command to have it run
when you reboot *before* Windows loads completely.

I was wondering if I install the Recovery Console,
would that help if I run into the 'hanging chkdsk'
problem again, or would it have to boot to
CD to overcome that.

I wouldn't bother installing RC. Just boot off the CD and run it from
there if you wish.

 

[John John - MVP]

Ok, I will try the above after I get some files backed
up. I assume that running chkdsk from the CMD
prompt is better than the properties/tools gui choice.

I was wondering if I install the Recovery Console,
would that help if I run into the 'hanging chkdsk'
problem again, or would it have to boot to
CD to overcome that.

Booting to the Recovery Console wouldn't do much to help you, you could
run chkdsk from the Recovery Console but it won't reset the registry
entry that causes chkdsk to run when the computer boots so you will
still be stuck at the 'hanging chkdsk'. What you need to do before you
run the chkdsk is figure out the F8 advanced boot menu, if chkdsk hangs
again boot to the Last Known Good Configuration.

John

 

[Jose]

Booting to the Recovery Console wouldn't do much to help you, you could
run chkdsk from the Recovery Console but it won't reset the registry
entry that causes chkdsk to run when the computer boots so you will
still be stuck at the 'hanging chkdsk'.  What you need to do before you
run the chkdsk is figure out the F8 advanced boot menu, if chkdsk hangs
again boot to the Last Known Good Configuration.

John

Riddle me this, John John:

Which registry entry is that?

I know about:

HKLM\SYSTEM\CURRENTCONTROLSET\CONTROL\Session Manager

That usually contains:

autocheck autochk *

That will run autochk on all drives and subsequently run chkdsk on
drives where the dirty bit is set. It runs every time you reboot, but
does not invoke chkdsk unless the dirty bit is set on the drive.

When chkdsk completes successfully, the dirty bit is cleared.

I don't know of a registry entry that causes chkdsk to run, but I do
know about the one that causes autochk to run. What am I missing?

A successful chkdsk /f or /r (even from Recovery Console) will
certainly clear the dirty bit.

I know how to tell autochk NOT to check a drive - like in situations
where the dirty bit will not clear.

Do you know of another way to clear the dirty bit without letting
chkdsk do it?

 

[Jose]

See inline below.



Running chkdsk as a regular maintenance routine is not necessary nor is
it recommended.  You should only run chkdsk when required.

MS (if you believe everything they say) says you should occasionally
run chkdsk:

You should use chkdsk occasionally on each disk to check for errors.

http://www.microsoft.com/resources/documentation/windows/xp/all/proddocs/en-us/chkdsk.mspx?mfr=true

It most definitely should not hang though...

 

[John John - MVP]

Riddle me this, John John:

Which registry entry is that?

I know about:

HKLM\SYSTEM\CURRENTCONTROLSET\CONTROL\Session Manager

That usually contains:

autocheck autochk *

That will run autochk on all drives and subsequently run chkdsk on
drives where the dirty bit is set. It runs every time you reboot, but
does not invoke chkdsk unless the dirty bit is set on the drive.

When chkdsk completes successfully, the dirty bit is cleared.

I don't know of a registry entry that causes chkdsk to run, but I do
know about the one that causes autochk to run. What am I missing?

Schedule a chkdsk then look at the registry entry again. If you want to
cancel the scheduled chkdsk you can manually edit the BootExecute value
but it's simpler to cancel it with chntfs.

A successful chkdsk /f or /r (even from Recovery Console) will
certainly clear the dirty bit.

I know how to tell autochk NOT to check a drive - like in situations
where the dirty bit will not clear.

Do you know of another way to clear the dirty bit without letting
chkdsk do it?

As far as I know the volume dirty bit can only be cleared with a chkdsk,
manually reseting the dirty set by the operating system could/would
possibly lead to a bit of a disaster and loss of data.

John

 

[Unknown]

What is wrong with hitting start --run-- type is chkdsk and clicking OK?

 

[John John - MVP]

There's nothing wrong with that but it runs in read-only mode and it
can't fix any errors... and when chkdsk is done the console window
abruptly closes and you have to chase over to the Event Viewer to see
the chkdsk report.

John

 

[Jose]

There's nothing wrong with that but it runs in read-only mode and it
can't fix any errors... and when chkdsk is done the console window
abruptly closes and you have to chase over to the Event Viewer to see
the chkdsk report.

John

See what you think about this:

If the chkdsk was "scheduled" to run on the next reboot for the C
drive based on something like this in the registry:

autocheck autochk /p \??\C:
autocheck autochk *

and autochk triggered chkdsk to run and the system hangs for some
reason because chkdsk is having some problem, you could run chkdsk
from RC (which will not clear up the registry but will clear the dirty
bit if it completes), or you use RC to rename autochk.exe so it does
not exist.

Then when you reboot normally, XP would like to run autochk, but will
not be able to since it does not exist and complain about it and
continue booting without running chkdsk.

Then you can continue troubleshooting.

That seems to work okay for me here and of course this doesn't solve
the problem of why chkdsk does not seem to run properly, but you will
be able to boot and do something.

 

[John John - MVP]

See what you think about this:

If the chkdsk was "scheduled" to run on the next reboot for the C
drive based on something like this in the registry:

autocheck autochk /p \??\C:
autocheck autochk *

and autochk triggered chkdsk to run and the system hangs for some
reason because chkdsk is having some problem, you could run chkdsk
from RC (which will not clear up the registry but will clear the dirty
bit if it completes), or you use RC to rename autochk.exe so it does
not exist.

Then when you reboot normally, XP would like to run autochk, but will
not be able to since it does not exist and complain about it and
continue booting without running chkdsk.

Then you can continue troubleshooting.

That seems to work okay for me here and of course this doesn't solve
the problem of why chkdsk does not seem to run properly, but you will
be able to boot and do something.

We are dealing with two completely different things here, you seem to
think that scheduling a chkdsk sets the dirty bit on the volume, it
doesn't, a scheduled chkdsk has absolutely nothing to do with the dirty bit.

If you schedule a chkdsk it will be recorded in the BootExecute entry
and when you reboot you will be afforded two options at the GUI screen:

1- Allow the chkdsk to run.
2- Press any key to *Cancel* the scheduled chkdsk.

One way or the other, a scheduled chkdsk will *never* remain in the Last
Known Good Configuration, when the computer successfully boots the
scheduled chkdsk has been removed from the BootExecute value, this is
done before the user logs on and as such it never makes it on to the
LKGC. There is almost never any need to go in the Recovery Console to
deal with a misbehaved scheduled chkdsk, a simple use of the F8 boot
menu and the Last Known Good Configuration will easily overcome this. A
scheduled chkdsk can be canceled and it will not come back when you reboot.

As for the dirty bit, whether set by the user or the operating system it
can only be removed with the successful completion of a chkdsk. When
you reboot the machine you will be afforded two options at the GUI screen:

1- Allow the chkdsk to run.
2- Press any key to *Skip* the chkdsk.

If chkdsk is allowed to run successfully the dirty bit will be reset, if
chkdsk is skipped the dirty bit will not be reset and when you reboot
you will be presented with the same chkdsk GUI screen, the Last Known
Good Configuration is of no use if the dirty bit is set. Running chkdsk
at the Recovery Console will clear the dirty bit on the volume and the
computer should then be able to boot without further action, there is no
need rename autochk.exe if chkdsk runs successfully. At the Recovery
Console running chkdsk without any parameters will report the status of
the dirty bit. That being said, if the computer is sufficiently borked
and if it continues to experience chkdsk problems at boot time then
renaming the autochk.exe file would be the next logical choice and an
effective workaround.

John