Path to scandisk

[Gottfried Helms]

Hi -

with older windows-versions I was quite experienced
using system-features like scandisk etc.
In Xp I seem unable to understand the logic behind,
and cannot find the access to the program.
I vaguely remember, I found it in "computer/verwaltung"
(maybe in english "mycomputer/service(s)" or similar) once
and may be I'm unfortunately one of the bad guys needing
it at all...
I have a nice laptop with the feature of rotating the
screen (for instance to read A4-pdf's) - but after rotating, often
some files (cluster) seem to get corrupted - so on each
hang of any software I now suppose such a corruption
first - and would like to apply scandisk on a
more regular base.

But how? And where?

Best were to start it before startng up windows
at all, so no clusters would be locked. But autoexec.bat
seems to be completely disabled (though it exists in
the root)
Best would be a tool such that I could start any sort
of scandisk from gui (maybe restarting wondows or not)

Any help appreciated

Gottfried Helms

 

[Dr Teeth]

I was just thinking how wonderful life was, when Gottfried Helms

Any help appreciated

In win xp it is called 'chkdsk'.

--
Cheers,

Guy

** Stress - the condition brought about by having to
** resist the temptation to beat the living daylights
** out of someone who richly deserves it.

 

[Wesley Vogel]

There is no Scandisk.exe in Windows XP.

Open a command prompt, type: chkdsk /? and hit Enter.

Use Error Checking (chkdsk.exe) in XP.
1. In My Computer or Windows Explorer, right-click the drive you want to
check and then click Properties.
2. On the Tools tab, click Check Now.
3. Check both boxes:

Automatically fix file system errors
Runs Chkdsk by using the /f parameter.
[[Specifies whether Windows repairs file-system errors found during disk
checking. All files must be closed for this program to run. If the drive is
currently in use, a message asks if you want to reschedule
the disk checking for the next time you restart your computer. Your drive is
not available to run other tasks while the disk is being checked.]]

Scan for and attempt recovery of bad sectors
Runs Chkdsk by using the /r parameter.
[[Specifies whether Windows repairs file-system errors found during disk
checking, locates bad sectors, and recovers readable information. All files
must be closed for this program to run. If the drive is currently in use, a
message asks if you want to reschedule the disk checking for the next time
you restart your computer. Your drive is not available to run other tasks
while the disk is being checked. If you select this option, you do not need
to select Automatically fix file system errors. Windows fixes any errors on
the disk.]]

A message will popup.

[[The disk check could not be performed because the disk check utility needs
exclusive access to some Windows files on the disk. These files can be
accessed only by restarting Windows. Do you want to schedule this disk check
to occur the next time you restart the computer?]]

Click YES.

Then reboot.

For a look at the chkdsk log.

Open the Event Viewer...
Start | Run | Type: eventvwr | Click OK |
Look in Application | Listed as Information |
Event ID: 1001
Source: Winlogon
[[Description: This includes file system type; drive letter or GUID, and
volume name or serial number to help determine what volume Chkdsk ran
against. Also included is whether Chkdsk ran because a user scheduled it or
because the dirty bit was set.]]

[[When Autochk runs against a volume at boot time it records its output to a
file called Bootex.log in the root of the volume being checked. The Winlogon
service then moves the contents of each Bootex.log file to the Application
Event log.]]

[[This file states whether Chkdsk encountered any errors and, if so,
whether they were fixed.]]

Bootex.log is then deleted. The Application Event log is AppEvent.Evt and
is viewed in the Event Viewer, under Application.

Bootex.log can be acessed with recovery software such as Restoration.


Chkdsk
http://www.microsoft.com/resources/...windows/xp/all/reskit/en-us/prmb_tol_pwfd.asp

Chkdsk
http://www.microsoft.com/resources/documentation/windows/xp/all/proddocs/en-us/chkdsk.mspx

Describes how to use the chkdsk command at the command line.
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/...WINDOWSXP/home/using/productdoc/en/chkdsk.asp

Understanding what CHKDSK does
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/314835/en-us#XSLTH3154121123120121120120

From...
An explanation of the new /C and /I Switches that are available to use with
Chkdsk.exe
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/314835


--
Hope this helps. Let us know.

Wes
MS-MVP Windows Shell/User

In

 

[Bruce Chambers]

Hi -

with older windows-versions I was quite experienced
using system-features like scandisk etc.

Forget everything you know about any OS older then Win2K, if you're
trying to apply the information to WinXP.

In Xp I seem unable to understand the logic behind,
and cannot find the access to the program.
I vaguely remember, I found it in "computer/verwaltung"
(maybe in english "mycomputer/service(s)" or similar) once
and may be I'm unfortunately one of the bad guys needing
it at all...
I have a nice laptop with the feature of rotating the
screen (for instance to read A4-pdf's) - but after rotating, often
some files (cluster) seem to get corrupted - so on each
hang of any software I now suppose such a corruption
first - and would like to apply scandisk on a
more regular base.

If you have frequent problems with your file system becoming corrupted,
it would be wiser by far to address the underlying hardware issues. You
may have marginally defective or overheating RAM, but the likeliest
cause, based on your very brief description, would seem to point to a
defective hard drive. It could, I suppose, even boil down to a problem
with the display drivers, if the corruption occurs only after rotating
the display; although, come to think of it, laptop video adapters must,
perforce, share system RAM, so here's another indication of a
memory-related problem.

But how? And where?

WinXP does not have a program called "Scandisk," as this was a
Win9x/Me program. Instead, because WinXP is descended from the WinNT/2K
OS family, it has a command line utility called "Chkdsk," which usually
performs much better.

Start > Run > Cmd > Chkdsk.exe /? for the correct syntax and
available options.

Alternatively, double-click My Computer > right-click the desired
hard drive > Properties > Tools > Error-checking/Check Now. This will
run Chkdsk, normally on the next reboot.

However, unless you are actually experiencing a specific problem
related to your hard drive's file system, there's no real need to run
Chkdsk. The utility is not designed to be used as part of any period
maintenance plan. Oh, I don't think using Chkdsk periodically would
hurt anything, beyond causing unnecessary wear and tear to the hard
drive. But, if you happen to have a failing hard drive, using Chkdsk
too often might just push it over the edge, so to speak.

Best were to start it before startng up windows
at all, so no clusters would be locked.

Chkdsk will start automatically, if and when Windows detects any
problems with the hard drive or the files recorded on it during the boot
process.

But autoexec.bat
seems to be completely disabled (though it exists in
the root)

Correct. WinXP doesn't use AUTOEXEC.BAT or CONFIG.SYS. The empty
files are present simply to provide some backwards compatibility with
legacy applications that look for the presence of these file during
installation. (The same can be said for such files as Win.ini,
System.ini, etc.)

To set environmental variables, Right-Click My Computer >
Properties > Advanced > Environment Variables > System Variables/New (or
Edit, as applicable). You can also add the appropriate line(s) to
C:\Windows\System32\Autoexec.nt and/or C:\Windows\System32 Config.nt, if
you want the setting to apply in the CLI (Command Line Interface) window.

Best would be a tool such that I could start any sort
of scandisk from gui (maybe restarting wondows or not)

Double-click My Computer > right-click the desired hard drive >
Properties > Tools > Error-checking/Check Now. This will run Chkdsk,
normally on the next reboot.


--

Bruce Chambers

Help us help you:



They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary
safety deserve neither liberty nor safety. -Benjamin Franklin

 

[Gottfried Helms]

Wow, Bruce and Wesley -

these are exhaustive answers, thanks.

The reason for the harddisk-corruption is simply
(though only:assumed) the rotation of the laptop.
I'm now switching the laptop to standby before rotating
the display; the hardware itself is quite new and should
be generally errorfree.
Without thinking of any possible problems -although I'm
used to handle my laptop with care - each time
I rotated the laptop some clusters were scratched;
and this problem popped up accidently later, when
I used winword and winword tried to access not-accessible-
sectors; the automatic xp-check didn't recognize this
problem beforehand. So some recovery files as well
as dll-s were unreadable; well I know this now.
But since winword is crashing often recently
I want to exclude this specific error before
deeper analysis of the actual crash-problems
(maybe problems with the equation-editor, don't know)

Thanks again for your helpful input -

Gottfried Helms


Am 08.04.2006 17:19 schrieb Bruce Chambers:

 

[Bruce Chambers]

Wow, Bruce and Wesley -

these are exhaustive answers, thanks.

You're quite welcome.

The reason for the harddisk-corruption is simply
(though only:assumed) the rotation of the laptop.

You're physically rotating the laptop, rather than just using software
to rotate the display? That can definitely cause the hard drives heads
to collide with the platters, if there's any "slop" in the armature's
bearings. The tight tolerances inside today’s notebook hard drives
render them particularly sensitive to “head crashes.†While a new drive
isn’t as expensive as other items, the data you’ve just trashed could
have been invaluable. Never, ever move the notebook when the drive
activity LED is on, and try not to move it when it is powered up. In
fact, it’s better to wait a few moments after turning the notebook off
to make sure everything has stopped spinning.

I'm now switching the laptop to standby before rotating
the display; the hardware itself is quite new and should
be generally errorfree.

One would certainly like to think that new hardware is flawless, but
this is always the case, despite the manufacturers' best efforts. And
when you add in the dynamic of potentially -- albeit unintentional --
rough handling, the chances of a problem developing increase dramatically.

Without thinking of any possible problems -although I'm
used to handle my laptop with care - each time
I rotated the laptop some clusters were scratched;
and this problem popped up accidently later, when
I used winword and winword tried to access not-accessible-
sectors; the automatic xp-check didn't recognize this
problem beforehand. So some recovery files as well
as dll-s were unreadable; well I know this now.
But since winword is crashing often recently
I want to exclude this specific error before
deeper analysis of the actual crash-problems

Unfortunately, no software can repair any physical damage thus caused.
You might be able to recover some of the data, but it sounds more and
more as if the hard drive needs to be replaced.


--

Bruce Chambers

Help us help you:



They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary
safety deserve neither liberty nor safety. -Benjamin Franklin