How to cancel pending CHKDSK

[J Warren]

This morning, my Win2kPro system froze up, requiring a Reset to get
things going again.

Now, when I try to run Executive Software's defragmenter, it reports
that a CHKDSK run was scheduled for C: upon the next boot, and refused
to defragment.

The trouble is, rebooting does NOT cause CHKDSK to run.

I would like to somehow cancel the pending CHKDSK and then run it
manually from a boot-time cmd window. How do I do this?

TIA

Jason

 

[Greg Stigers]

Well, you really do want to run CHKDSK before defragmenting. I would
recommend booting to the Recovery Console, and running CHKDSK from there.

 

[Torgeir Bakken \(MVP\)]

This morning, my Win2kPro system froze up, requiring a Reset to get
things going again.

Now, when I try to run Executive Software's defragmenter, it reports
that a CHKDSK run was scheduled for C: upon the next boot, and refused
to defragment.

The trouble is, rebooting does NOT cause CHKDSK to run.

I would like to somehow cancel the pending CHKDSK and then run it
manually from a boot-time cmd window. How do I do this?

Hi

Run "chkdsk C: /f", and then reboot, and see if it helps...

 

[J Warren]

- snip -

Run "chkdsk C: /f", and then reboot, and see if it helps...

I tried that. chkdsk does not run. chkntfs still reports that c: is
dirty.

Jason

 

[J Warren]

Well, you really do want to run CHKDSK before defragmenting. I would
recommend booting to the Recovery Console, and running CHKDSK from there.

I did that, with the /r repair option. It ran for quite a long time and
then seemed to terminate normally without reporting anything the matter.
The system boots fine, but I tried another boot-time chkdsk and it
failed. chkntfs still reports that c: is dirty and chkdsk at boot claims
that it cannot open the volume for direct access.

Is there anything else I can try?

Jason

 

[Greg Stigers]

chkntfs /x volume should allow you to "turn off" the default boot time
check.

I assume that you have been able to run chkdsk before, and the inability to
do so is a new development. Make sure that chkdsk from the Recovery Console
does not report errors. If it does report errors, do try rerunning that
chkdsk. But, repeated problems like this are indicative of hardware failure.
Your harddrive vendor likely provides a diagnostic that you can download and
run, to see if the drive itself is failing. Other culprits can include the
cable and the drive controller. Incorrect changes to the BIOS settings can
cause interesting problems as well.

A good article is "Description of Enhanced Chkdsk, Autochk, and Chkntfs
Tools in Windows 2000" at
<<http://support.microsoft.com/?id=218461>>

 

[J Warren]

chkntfs /x volume should allow you to "turn off" the default boot time
check.

I assume that you have been able to run chkdsk before, and the inability to
do so is a new development. Make sure that chkdsk from the Recovery Console
does not report errors. If it does report errors, do try rerunning that
chkdsk. But, repeated problems like this are indicative of hardware failure.
Your harddrive vendor likely provides a diagnostic that you can download and
run, to see if the drive itself is failing. Other culprits can include the
cable and the drive controller. Incorrect changes to the BIOS settings can
cause interesting problems as well.

A good article is "Description of Enhanced Chkdsk, Autochk, and Chkntfs
Tools in Windows 2000" at
<<http://support.microsoft.com/?id=218461>>

chkdsk only began giving trouble in the past few days, following a
system hang that I had to undo with the Reset button - no clean shutdown
was possible. Running chkdsk from the Recover Console seemed to work
fine - no problems reported. I did run it a second time for good
measure... Per your suggestion, I ran the WD diags on the drive and
they, too, report nothing amiss. I know of no recent BIOS settings
changes.

I'm now considering reformatting the c: partition and restoring its
contents. I presume that will fix things unless the problem is in
damaged/conflicting Registry settings.

 

[Jim Byrd]

Hi J. Warren - See if the info here helps: How to Cancel CHKDSK After It
Has Been Scheduled
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;158675

--
Please respond in the same thread.
Regards, Jim Byrd, MS-MVP



In

 

[Greg Stigers]

If chkdsk and diags report no problems, I would be reluctant to reformat the
drive, especially if experiencing suspicious behavior. Does Disk Manager
show the disks as healthy? Can you run Microsoft's defrag utility, or does
it similarly complain?

The idea of the tools described at the link provided is to give the admin
complete control to either force a chkdsk, or prevent one. You can of course
check the involved registry keys, and see how they are set, and reset them
manually as desired.

 

[Larry Serflaten]

chkdsk only began giving trouble in the past few days, following a
system hang that I had to undo with the Reset button - no clean shutdown
was possible. Running chkdsk from the Recover Console seemed to work
fine - no problems reported.

I will be watching for answers here myself. I had a program that just today
aborted loading due to an error, so my first response was to try CHKDSK
but I found, like you did, that CHKDSK did not work. I tried to get into SafeMode
but getting there took an inordinate amount of time, like the scheduled CHKDSK
was running before I could get into Safe Mode. So, I let it run but it rebooted
at the end so I don't know what it was actually doing. When I did get into
SafeMode I found that it did not let CHKDSK work there either, then I went
looking for help from the KB:

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;160654
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;823439


The first is a statement about XP that they know about, but no fix for yet,
the second link has a few instructions to try to stop other programs from
locking the partition at startup. I tried stopping my anti-virus and firewall
from loading up, but that did not help. I did not try a different profile....

I finally un/re-installed the software which fixed that original problem but I am
still concerned about CHKDSK not working correctly.

I did see mention of the Recovery Console in Help but I thought SafeMode
should have worked. So, I may have that route, but still, it should work
as it did before. I don't know when it stopped working, I don't use it all
that often, I do know I had no problems with SP3. When I re-formatted and
re-installed the OS in April, I was forced to take SP4.

In addition to the OS, I spent a lot of time re-installing software and I seem to
recall having a problem with Visual Studio.NET, which caused me to use
CHKDSK between attempts to be sure the disk was still good.

Today was the first time I tried to use it since then. Like you, I found it wanted to
boot into CHKDSK at startup but then could not get access to the disk. When I
did get into SafeMode (with Command Prompt) and tried CHKDSK there, it reported
that it could not do it, and asked if I wanted to schedule it for the next reboot,
I said No there, and did not see it try to boot into CHKDSK after that.

About the only other thing I can think of, (to stop some software from locking
the partition) is to empty out the (HKLM) Run key in the Registry. I guess that
will be my next move because there are 6 things there, 3 of which are from
Norton AntiVirus....

LFS

 

[Larry Serflaten]

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;160654
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;823439


The first is a statement about XP that they know about, but no fix for yet,
the second link has a few instructions to try to stop other programs from
locking the partition at startup.

Sorry, that was backwards. The second is about XP...

LFS

 

[Greg Stigers]

If chkdsk is scheduled to run at reboot, you only need to reboot. Safe Mode
is not necessary. However, you can run chkdsk from the Recovery Console.
That is advisable. At this time, you cannot run chkdsk after you have signed
on, which is unfortunate.

 

[Larry Serflaten]

If chkdsk is scheduled to run at reboot, you only need to reboot.

The problem is it _doesn't run at reboot_, it says it can't access the disk,
and then continues in the boot up.

Safe Mode is not necessary.

That is the only way I have been able to stop CHKDSK from trying
to run at startup, after being scheduled to run. Once it has been scheduled,
it returns every boot cycle and says the same thing, that it can't get direct
access to the disk, then the normal boot prcess continues.

However, you can run chkdsk from the Recovery Console.

That may be, I have not tried that yet, because, it seems to me, it is running
before going into Safe Mode. It always reboots after it finishes so I never
see any report that it ran, but I don't know of any other processes that would
be keeping the HD lite on for 40 minutes (thereabouts) when trying to boot into
Windows (Safe Mode)....

That is advisable. At this time, you cannot run chkdsk after you have signed
on, which is unfortunate.

I am not very impressed when 'upgrades' degrade earlier performance.
I was able to schedule and run CHKDSK prior to SP4.

FWIW I also tried clearing out the HKLM Run key but that did not
solve the problem.....

LFS

 

[J Warren]

Hi J. Warren - See if the info here helps: How to Cancel CHKDSK After It
Has Been Scheduled
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;158675

Thanks! I'll stash that in my ever-growing file of MSKB articles...

Jason

 

[J Warren]

If chkdsk and diags report no problems, I would be reluctant to reformat the
drive, especially if experiencing suspicious behavior. Does Disk Manager
show the disks as healthy? Can you run Microsoft's defrag utility, or does
it similarly complain?

The idea of the tools described at the link provided is to give the admin
complete control to either force a chkdsk, or prevent one. You can of course
check the involved registry keys, and see how they are set, and reset them
manually as desired.

Well, I [re]ran chkdsk from the Recovery Console and Disk Manager thinks
the partition is healthy. Diskeeper now proceeds to defrag the drive as
does the built-in defrag program (which I presume is just a cut-down
version of Diskeeper). Fingers crossed at all times.

 

[John Wunderlich]

It always reboots after it finishes so I never
see any report that it ran,

There is a record in the Event Viewer, Applications folder, from
application "Winlogon" that gives the results of the chkdsk.

HTH,
John

 

[Greg Stigers]

It seems like you are not sure whether or not CHKDSK is in fact running.
John Wunderlich is right; check your event logs. As for stopping CHKDSK from
running, it does prompt you to cancel the CHKDSK, before it runs it. So,
again, Safe Mode is not necessary. I do not think that your problem was
caused by SP4. Neither of my home lab 2000 Servers exhibit the behavior you
describe. Now, if it should run, and does not, you can ensure that it runs
by booting Recovery Console, and running it manually. I have done this after
ungraceful shutdowns, just to be sure CHKDSK runs.

 

[Larry Serflaten]

It seems like you are not sure whether or not CHKDSK is in fact running.
John Wunderlich is right; check your event logs.

They did confirm that CHKDSK ran.

As for stopping CHKDSK from
running, it does prompt you to cancel the CHKDSK, before it runs it.

Evidently you are not seeing the same screens I am. The normal messages
that CHKDSK uses are not showing up, there was no option to cancel,
just as there was no report after it ran, prior to booting into SafeMode.
As I said, I saw no indication that it was running other than the HD lite.
Now however, I can check the event log to confirm it ran....

So, again, Safe Mode is not necessary.

Safe mode is easier to get to than the Recovery console. I keep my
setup CD tucked away for safe keeping.

I do not think that your problem was caused by SP4.
Neither of my home lab 2000 Servers exhibit the behavior you describe.

It was only speculation on my part. I did not have trouble before, and
now I do. Obviously something has changed.

Now, if it should run, and does not, you can ensure that it runs
by booting Recovery Console, and running it manually. I have done this after
ungraceful shutdowns, just to be sure CHKDSK runs.

It is not something I would normally be using all that often. Hopefully MS
will have it nailed down in this month's round of patches....

LFS

 

[Greg Stigers]

Evidently you are not seeing the same screens I am.
No, I'm not. I'm seeing the screen right here on my desk. ;-) Obviously, if
you are seeing something out of the ordinary, chances are, others have not
seen it. There's something to be said for being right there to see it first
hand.

Safe mode is easier to get to than the Recovery console. I keep my
setup CD tucked away for safe keeping.

Install the Recovery Console, so that this is a choice in the boot menu.
Well worth the effort and the 7MB of disk, so you don't have to bother
booting from CD, especially when that is not an option. From "Description of
the Windows 2000 Recovery Console" at
<<http://support.microsoft.com/?id=229716>>
Add the Windows Recovery Console to the Windows Startup folder by using
Winnt32.exe with the /cmdcons switch. This procedure requires approximately
7 MB of hard disk space on your system partition to hold the Cmdcons folder
and files.