17 replies to this topic

[1695814]

I need help running chkdsk.

 

Gateway mpc laptop

Windows Vista Business

Service Pack 2

Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo CPU T8100 @ 2.10GHz

RAM: 2.00 GB

System Type: 32-bit Operating System

 

The machine was bought used about 1 year ago.  At that time it was at least 3 years old, so it's at least 4 years old by now...probably more.

 

I posted here for some malware and I am now clean. (http://forums.whatth...c=127646&page=1)

 

Please direct your attention to Post # 11 and the extras log showing the ========== Last 20 Event Log Errors ========== (http://forums.whatth...127646&p=841199)

 

This is what I've attempted to do:

Regarding chkdsk...this is what I've done:

 

Run a command prompt as administrator.

Type "chkdsk c:"

 

This is the message I get ("..." means "the same thing as the above line I just don't want to type it out again"):

 

---

The type of the file system is NTFS.

WARNING! F parameter not specified.
Running CHKDSK in read-only mode.

CHKDSK is verifying files (stage 1 of 3)...
Attribute record (160, $I30) from file record segment 95915d) is corrupt.
... (128, "") ... 96679 ...
... (160, $I30) ... 141802d) ...
... (128, "") ... 150065 ...
... (128, "") ... 150945 ...

  282240 file records processed.
File verification completed.
  1290 large file records processed.

Errors found.  CHKDSK cannot continue in read-only mode.

---

 

When I try to run it with the "/f" option it tells me that it can't do it except on a reboot, so I say, "Sure, go ahead & schedule that."  But, when I reboot nothing really happens.

 

So, I'm left a little confused.

 

 

It may also be useful for you to know that I'm involved with Grid Computing (BOINC software (running World Community Grid)).

 

Thank you for your help.

[paws]

Hi 1695184,
I took a look at some of your logs where Ken was assisting you clean your computer.

I did not peruse them all, nor examine them in detail as its clear that you have severe problems with the file structure on your computer. One explanation for this is that your hard drive could be on its last legs and about to enter into a phase of catastophic electro mechanical failure.

1 It is by no means certain that failure is imminent, but it's necessary for us to recommend that before you do anything at all on your computer you should check your back ups, and make sure you are 100% happy that they are all completely accurate, up to date, reproducible and contain everything on your computer that is important (stuff you don't want to lose permanently) make sure that you have at least one (preferably more) extra copies kept safe offsite on removable media, together with all your disc images and bootable CD's to enable you to access your images/back ups in the event that Windows will no longer boot up.

2 Please do not do anything on your computer until your back up position is secure and you are totally happy with them..... do not turn off your computer until the back ups have been completed.... If you machine currently is switched off, then start it up ONLY when you are fully ready to complete the back up work at one sitting.... Time could be of the essence so immediate actions is needed.

3 Running check disk or any other disc checking utility stresses the hard drive and could precipitate its failure....

4 Once you are happy with the back ups you could try running check disk again.... here's the standard way of doing this:

5 make sure your power wire/ is connected (Do not try this whilst running on battery power only!)

Open a command prompt with elevated privileges.

Here's how:

6 Click on Start

7 type  the following in the search box

cmd

8  press CTRL+SHIFT+ENTER 

9  You should now be at the "Administrator: Command Prompt"

10 at the flashing cursor type:
chkdsk /r
press the Enter key on your keyboard.
Note there is a space twixt the k and the / it needs to be there.
You will see a message along the lines of:

Microsoft Windows [Version 6.0.6002]
Copyright © 2006 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

C:\Windows\system32>chkdsk /r
The type of the file system is NTFS.
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)

 

11 Press the Y key

12 Press the Enter key (you should get an acknowledgement)

13 type at the flashing cursor

exit

Press the Enter key and the command window will be dismissed

14 You should now close down your machine, (a full shutdown not a sleep hibernate etc.) wait 30 seconds with a blank black screen and then reboot.

 

15 check disk should now attempt to run.... do not interrupt it, it may take several hours to complete all 5 passes... If it finds problems with your hard drive it will attempt a fix using its in built utilities (you need take no action as this will be automatic) when it's finished it will show what has been done and then it will try to reboot your computer.

 

16 I  think I noticed that some of your logs indicated that Avast anti virus and Microsoft Security Essentials anti virus had been installed at some time...... please check that you have only one anti virus application running resident in memory (more than one is likely to cause slowdowns, freezes, conflicts etc ) Spybot is unlikely to be a problem, so for the time being you can ignore it.

 

17 I also noticed that your C: drive is almost full, having less than 14% free space left (Windows needs space "elbow room"....  to create temporary files for efficient working  and we recommend that 15% free space is an absolute minimum, and 25% a good target to aim for. Once you have backed everything up then start shifting files to achieve as near as possible 25% free disc space.

 

Let us know how you get on, and post back if you need instructions on how to access check disc's log file  (In case you miss seeing it come up on the screen before it reboots your computer)

 

If you manage to get check disc to run satisfactorily then we will send you the link to download your hard drive manufacturer's disc checking utility so that further checks can be made.

 

Regards

paws

Edited by paws, 20 January 2014 - 12:36 PM.
typo

[1695814]

Thank you, paws.

 

I'm working on the back up now & will report back later once I've moved on to re-trying chkdsk.

 

###

[paws]

[1695814]

I'll start with #16 & #17:

 

16 I  think I noticed that some of your logs indicated that Avast anti virus and Microsoft Security Essentials anti virus had been installed at some time......

 

I uninstalled avast.

 

17 I also noticed that your C: drive is almost full...

 

I ran ccleaner & I've got just under 15% free space now.  I'm not sure what could be taking up all that room.  There aren't a lot of pictures/videos or other files (like MS Word/Excel) on this computer.

 

There are a couple of weird folders ("b7d91c785ec6223345937f2237bf4bb3" (3.67MB) & "c3c0095d6594f1536675577e" (237 MB)) directly under the c:\ drive.

 

The only other thing I can think of is that this computer has four "The Sims 3" games on it.  The "Electronic Arts" folder under "Program Files" takes up 11.4 GB.

 

If you have any suggestions I'd love to hear them.

 

 

Now, regarding chkdsk, I followed your instructions (making sure to ctrl-shift-enter & all that), shut down the computer, waited a bit, then booted it up.  I didn't *closely* monitor it while it booted up, but if it ran anything it was really quick because I didn't see anything & the log in screen came up rather quickly.

 

Would it have left a log anywhere?

 

I'm not sure how to proceed.

 

Thank you for your help,

###

[Ztruker]

How to run chkdsk or System File Checker (SFC) from the Recovery Console. I'd suggest doing both.

• Boot your Vista installation DVD
• When you see "Press any key to boot from CD or DVD", press Enter
• At the "Install Windows" screen, click on Repair your computer at lower left
• At the System Recovery Options screen, make note of the drive letter assigned to your boot drive (normally C:) and click Next
• At the Chose a Recovery Tool window, click on Command Prompt. You will be sitting at X:\Sources directory
• Run chkdsk or SFC
• If you did not note the drive letter of your boot disk, you can enter bcdedit and look at the osdevice line to see what it is.
• For chkdsk, type chkdsk c: /r and press Enter (use the letter from above if not C:).
• For sfc, type sfc /scannow /offbootdir=c:\ /offwindir=c:\windows and press Enter (use the letter from above)

Let either run to completion undisturbed.

If you do not have a Windows Vista installation DVD, you can download a legal copy with SP1 integrated from here:

Download Official Windows Vista RTM with SP1 Setup Files (32-bit and 64-bit).

Only Windows Vista Ultimate with SP1 (X64 or X86) download is available, but if, during the install, you do not enter the product key when initially prompted for it (which you must have to use the download), then you will be prompted to select the version of Vista you want to install. You can activate once the install is done.

You do need a valid installation key, which should be on the COA sticker on the computer, to activate the installation.

Windows Vista Home Basic
Windows Vista Home Premium
Windows Vista Business
Windows Vista Ultimate

Downloaded the Vista X64 or X86 files.

X64: You must be running on a 64bit (X64) system to create a 64Bit install DVD or flash drive
install.wim
boot.wim
X14-63453.exe

X86:
install.wim
boot.wim
X14-63452.exe

Double click on X14-63453.exe or X14-63452.exe. It extracts all the files into a Vista sub-folder.

Downloaded Windows Bootable Image Creator zip then extract the files to a folder.

Open the folder and run WBICreator.exe
Click Next
Select OS Type: Windows Vista
CD/DVD Label: VistaX64 or VistaX86
Setup Location: The Vista folder created when you double clicked on X14-63453.exe or X14-63452.exe.
Output Path: Somewhere with enough free space to hold the .iso file that will be created (X64 = 3,837,112KB, X86 = 3,013,816KB).
Click GO.

When done a VistaX64.iso or VistaX86.iso file will be created in the Output Path you chose.

You can use the .iso as input to a burner program like ImgBurn to create a Vista Install DVD, or you can use it as Input to
Universal USB Installer Easy as 1 2 3 to create a Vista install flash drive.

Update: If you are going to burn a DVD to install with, you can skip the creation of the .ISO file and burn a bootable DVD to install with using ImgBurn. See the guide here for how to do this:

How to create a Windows Vista / 7 / 8 installation disc (bootable) using ImgBurn

I created a X86 flash drive and used it to install a clean copy of Vista Home Basic on my HP DV2200 Laptop. Worked great using the key on the COA sticker of the laptop.

Remember to use the X64 or X86 version of Vista you currently have.

Note: You may need to download drivers for the computer from the manufacturers web site so I would suggest getting the Network (LAN and Wireless) and video/VGA drivers ahead of time so you can install them as soon as you finish installing Vista.

[1695814]

okay, I was able to locate the Vista installation cd & was able to boot from it.

 

Then, I ran chkdsk as you instructed.  It went through 5 stages.

 

There were a bunch of these messages:

"Deleting corrupt attribute record..."

"Correcting error in index ... for file ..."

"Recovering orphaned file ... into directory file ..."

 

 

Finally, it ended with this:

CHKDSK discovered free space marked as allocated in the volume bitmap.

Windows has made corrections to the file system.

 

78148160 KB total disk space.

66607348 KB in 139494 files.

71552 KB in 21814 indexes.

0 KB in bad sectors.

397652 KB in use by the system.

65536 KB occupied by the log file.

11071608 KB available on disk.

 

4096 bytes in each allocation unit.

19537040 total allocation units on disk.

2767902 allocation units available on disk.

 

The final message was "Failed to transfer logged messages to the event log with status 50."

 

I'm going to run SFC & will report back with those results tomorrow.

 

Thank you,

###

[paws]

Hi 1695814,

it looks like you did a good job running check disc from the disc and it has certainly cleared up some corruption in the file structure. 

 

Run the SFC as Rich recommended and then reboot and run checkdisc again folowing Rich's directions as you did before.

 

If it still finds errors to correct on this second run then it is not looking too promising and your hard drive may be in the initial stages of failure .

Let us know how you get on and one of us will advise the next steps.

Regards

paws

[1695814]

SFC has finished.  I didn't make nay notes of the messages on the screen, however.

 

I am re-running chkdsk now ("chkdsk c: /r" as before) & will report back when it is finished.

[1695814]

chkdsk has finished. 

 

I'm not sure if there's a log file somewhere (see the last message from chkdsk below), so I'll just type out the last messages (after stage 5 of 5):

 

Windows has checked the file system and found no problems.

 

78148160 kb total disk space.

66693324 kb in 141261 files.

72460 kb in 21814 indexes.

0 kb in bad sectors.

398680 kb in use by the system.

65536 kb occupied by the log file.

10983698 kb available on disk.

 

4096 bytes in each allocation unit.

19537040 total allocation units on disk

2745924 allocation units available on disk.

Failed to transfer logged messages to the event log with status 50.

--------------------------------------------------------------

 

So, I've left the computer at the command prompt.  I haven't restarted it or anything like that.  I'll wait for your direction.

 

Thank you,

###

Edited by 1695814, 24 January 2014 - 09:41 PM.

[Ztruker]

Reboot and see what happens.

[1695814]

okay...I've rebooted. 

 

Things seem to be working fine.

 

Am I looking for anything in particular?

[Ztruker]

Not sure I understand what you are asking. This thread asked how to run chkdsk. That's now done. Is there something else?????

[paws]

Hi 1695814,

That second run of checkdisc indicated that the first time you ran it..... it managed to correct all the file corruptions that it found (so that's good news!)

Regards

paws

[1695814]

Hi 1695814,

That second run of checkdisc indicated that the first time you ran it..... it managed to correct all the file corruptions that it found (so that's good news!)

Regards

paws

 

Okay, thank you.  Is there anything else I need to do here or does that message indicate then that I should be "good to go"?

Edited by 1695814, 25 January 2014 - 01:43 PM.