chkdsk in command prompt

Hi,

I am trying to do a complete chkdsk on drive C. This is the command I am putting in: chkdsk /r When I run chkdsk in a command prompt I get this message. "The type of the file system is NFTS. Cannot lock current drive.

Chkdsk cannot run because the volume is in use by another process. Would you like to schedule this volume to be checked the next time the system restarts? (Y/N)

Am I putting in the correct command and if so why can't I do a complete chkdsk?

Also how do I close the chkdsk window. I am closing it by clicking on the X and them I get an end program window.

Thanks a lot for any help you can give me.

Marilyn

 

Marilyn,
You are starting the process correctly... here is the rest of the info you need. When asked if you want to run checkdisk the next time the computer restarts, answer yes (type Y then hit Enter). To exit the Command Prompt, type in 'exit' (no quotes), then hit Enter. Then you will need to restart your computer and checkdisk will run during the boot process. HTH

B

 

Mr. Bill thank you for helping me.
I did the chkdsk once again just the way you said, and when I restarted the computer it was a little difficult to write down the results but this is what I was able to read. Cannot open volume for direct access. Windows has (not sure here) finished the scanning the disk,

I believe I need some one to explain how a scan disk of C can only take seconds to complete. I had Win98SE with a 10GB drive and when I did the long scan disk it took 45 to 50 min. The drive I have now is 80 Gb and is scanned in seconds. What am I missing here. Please explain.
Thanks Mr. B

 

The full scan should take quite a while. Longer with NTFS since there is more to check but with /r to get a surface test, even checking a FAT32 drive should take a while.

Try it again but this time rather than rebooting, shut down and wait about 10 seconds then start up again.

What ever happened the first time, you did not get a good scan of the drive. I have had the same sort of thing happen on rare occasions.

If you get the same sort of behavior after trying it again, there is a registry setting you can change to tell the OS that the drive is dirty and absolutely must be scanned.

 

Newt,
Tried it again with the same results 10 to 15 seconds.

Thanks for taking the time to help me.
Marilyn

 

Try booting from your XP CD to the recovery console (note there are directions for installing the recovery console and directions for running it from CD - follow the ones to run it from CD).

Once you are at the recovery console command prompt, do a chkdsk for any drives/partitions you have, starting with C:

Note that from the recovery console you only have two switches, /p & /r, available. /r is the one you want and is basically the same as from a normal cmd prompt. So

chkdsk c: /r
chkdsk x: /r (where 'x' is the drive letters for any other drives or partitions)

 

Newt,

I will follow your instructions and post back the results.
Can't thank you enough for helping.
Marilyn

 

Newt,
Hope you will have some patience with this 75 yr. ole lady.

Put in the XP CD and this came up

Install WinXP
Install optional Win Components
Perform additional tasks
Check system compatibility

Then this

Set up remote Desktop Connection
Set up a home or small office network
transfer files and settings
browse this CD
view the release notes
install Net Framework

Where do I look for the recovery console?
Thank you.

 

No problems.

The trick here is to have your PC boot from the CD rather than putting it in while windows is running.

Your PC should have a BIOS setting that controls the order it looks for devices to start from. Not sure on your PC but there will be a message when the system is first starting to tell you what key to press to get into the settings. On mine it is the Delete key but others use F1 or some other F key.

Set up in your BIOS to have it boot from CD as the first choice. Then with your XP CD in the drive, restart the PC. At that point what you see should match the microsoft article in the link.

 

Newt,

I tried to boot with the WinXP but after putting it in and restarting the computer it did not boot from the CD. It restarted the normal way. Did I do something wrong?
Marilyn

 

Is there a specific problem that is causing you to want to run the CheckDisk function? If you suspect damaged or corrupted system files, alternatives include using System Restore or SFC (System File Checker) which will replace bad files on your computer with clean ones from your XP install disk.

Johanna

 

Marilyn - if your BIOS is set to look for a bootable CD first then it should have worked.

Johanna - for us old-timers (who came up thru DOS and Win9x) being able to run a scandisk was a necessary part of life and we often continued into the NT systems 'just because'.

OTOH I have found with XP-pro (and probably XP-home as well) that for strange 'one-off' sorts of problems, chkdsk will do for XP what a good cleaning including scandisk would do for 9X.

I'd also have to suspect that Marilyn's inability to get a chkdsk /w repair to run indicates that someting is busted.

 

Newt,
I'm going to have to read up on chkdsk because I don't understand it that well. The info flashes too fast to be of any use to me, and from what I have read, it doesn't actually DO anything, so I always judged it superfluous. I guess I don't know much about it. Off to the online library we call the "internet "...

Johanna

ps sounds like MarilynC isn't familiar with changing boot order. If you'll tell us what kind of computer you have, we can probably look it up for your specific machine, MarilynC.

 

Johanna.
Thanks for helping.
When I run sfc /scannow this is the window that appears windows cannot find sfc/scannow. Make sure you typed the name correctly and then try again. to search a file click the start button and then click search. I did a search on sfc and 10 files were found.
SFC.DLL C;1386
SFC C:1386
SFCFILES.DLL C:1386
SFC_OS.DLL C:1386
sfc.dll C:\windows\system32
sfc C:\windows\system32
sfcfiles.dll C:\windows\system32
sfc_os.dll C:\windows\system32
sfcwall31.dll C:\windows\system32
skpsfcd1.ppd C:\windows\system32

NEWT

I suppose that means my bios is not set to look for a bootable CD. I put in a search for how to boot from a CD and the instrucions were way over my head I can get around the computer fairly well but the very technical instr. are difficult for me to understand.
Marilyn

 

You have to put in a space. sfc[space]/scannow

 

Start > Run > cmd
sfc /scannow
(you can cut and paste that command for convenience)
and have your XP cd.

sfc - system file checker, retrieves the correct version of the file from %Systemroot%\System32\Dllcache or the Windows installation source files, and then replaces the incorrect file.

If you want to see what was replaced, right click My Computer > manage, expand event viewer > system.

HTH
Johanna

More:
Parameters
/scannow
Scans all protected system files immediately.
/scanonce
Scans all protected system files once.
/scanboot
Scans all protected system files every time the computer is restarted.
/revert
Returns the scan to its default operation.
/purgecache
Purges the Windows File Protection file cache and scans all protected system files immediately.
/cachesize=x
Sets the size, in MB, of the Windows File Protection file cache.
/?
Displays help at the command prompt.
Remarks
You must be logged on as a member of the Administrators group to run sfc.
If sfc discovers that a protected file has been overwritten, it retrieves the correct version of the file from the %systemroot%\system32\dllcache folder, and then replaces the incorrect file.
If the %systemroot%\system32\dllcache folder becomes corrupt or unusable, use sfc /scannow, sfc /scanonce, or sfc /scanboot to repair the contents of the Dllcache directory.

 

noahdfear,

Thank you for the heads up for me leaving the space out.

Marilyn

 

Johanna,

I have a Dell 8300
Pentium 4 288GB
WinXP

Marilyn

 

Hello marilyn,

Are you running the ZA firewall? One of the problems with the new 5.0 version is that for some, it creates problems with chkdisk.

Regards - Charles

 

Johanna - if you do a chkdsk /f or chkdsk /r (fix or repair) you should have the scan run at next boot and an eventlog event that gives details. From one I just did

Marilyn - when I was doing the above scan so I could post the results I goofed and tried to have it scan an empty CD drive. I got the same error you originally reported - first time I'd ever seen it. Charlesvar may have nailed it and there may be some sort of software glitch that is causing issues. If Johanna can give you directions for changing your BIOS load order, I am betting the chkdsk will run when you are booted from CD rather than hard drive.