ChkDsk on new os install

[Rex A. Butcher]

Hi there,

I am in the process of reinstalling XP onto a new hd.

The existing system is a follows: 3 SATA hard disks, Disk 0 has six partitions and the os, D1 has five and D2 has one.

The new hd has only two partitions (at the moment.) The plan is to install XP and the programs, get it all running sweetly , take an image and restore that image to C on the existing hd.

But here is the thing. Every time I boot the new hd with the new os install, it runs chkdsk for all the partitions on d1 and d2.

How do I prevent this from happening.

Many thanks in a advance,

Rex

[SpywareDr]

Are any of these applicable?

• Chkdsk.exe or Autochk.exe starts when you try to shut down or restart your computer
  http://support.microsoft.com/kb/831426
  
  
• The Chkdsk tool automatically starts scanning a disk when you start a computer that is running Windows XP Service Pack 2
  http://support.microsoft.com/kb/929755
  
  
• Chkdsk Runs Each Time That You Start Your Computer
  http://support.microsoft.com/kb/316506

[SuperSparks]

Go to the Command Prompt (All Programs>Accessories) and type "chkntfs /D" without the quotes. That will restore the disk checker to its normal behaviour and clear the "dirty bit".

[Rex A. Butcher]

SpywareDr,

Unfortunately, none of those worked. Schedule Task is empty and the reg entry is as it should be.
'
SuperSparks. Presumably, the entry in command prompt should be 'C:/ chkntfs /D' without the quotes.

Rex

[Rex A. Butcher]

Supersparks,

Just tried 'chkntfs /D from C:/ and receive the Command not recognized message.

Rex

[SpywareDr]

Try (type) the command:

c:\windows\system32\chkntfs.exe /d

[SuperSparks]

If you need to specify a particular drive the syntax is:

chkntfs X: /D

(where X: is the drive letter that you want to check).

[Rex A. Butcher]

I have managed to get chkntfs command working but still, every time I reboot with the new os install, check disk runs.

Interestingly, the four partitions on disk 0 (with the new os install) )are not checked, but all the other partitions on the other two hds (disk 1 and disk2) are.

Because I am wasting too much time on this issue and I have only installed a few programs, I think it will be quicker to restore the image I took when I first installed the os, get back to a fresh disk and start again.

The whole point was to have a clean os install, but with this issue and some others that have reared their head, I figure it is no longer 'clean.'

As an aside, when I 'press any key' to stop check disk, and XP loads, the partitions that needed checking are all readable. If I chkdsk each partition to reset the dirty bit (one of them is 500gb so will take a lot of time) is there likely to be any implications with reading the partition with the older os install?

Rex

[SuperSparks]

Resetting the dirty bit will be instantaneous regardless of volume size. It won't have any affect on the volume's readability.

[Rex A. Butcher]

Thanks for the reassurance. But every time I have reset it and reboot, chkdsk runs.

Wondering if the issue stems from the fact that the old disk 1 has six partitions (C,D,E,F,H), disk 2 has a further five (J,K,L,M,N) and disk 3 has only one (O).

The new disk has only two partitions, C and the rest is empty. Would this cause the loading system to see all the disk with the wrong drive letters? When the new os is running, the old drive letters are all jumbled.

Rex

[SpywareDr]

Try this. In Regedit, browse to:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager

In the right pane, right-click BootExecute, select Modify and change the value to:

autocheck autochk *

Close Regedit and reboot.

[Rex A. Butcher]

I will have another look but when I checked HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager following a Google search, autocheck autochk * was the value! I did not alter it.

Rex

[SpywareDr]

Do any of those partitions have the dirty bit set? Try this command:

for %x in (c d e f g h i j k l m n o) do fsutil dirty query %x:

To check a single partition, such as drive C:, the command would be:

fsutil dirty query c:

[Rex A. Butcher]

Gee, there are SO many DOS commands!

Interestingly, checking the current hd (disk 1 with my two year old XP install) there are no dirty bits shown.

But the new hd with only two partitions, it shows all the partitions on the remaining two hd, as dirty. I think this may be because the drive letters are different as the system has allocated what it wants rather than what I have on the old install.

Rex

[SpywareDr]

If I'm understanding you correctly,:

1. You currently have this setup:
   Drive0 = C: [and an unformatted partition]
   Drive1 = D: E: F: G: H: I:
   Drive2 = J: K: L: M: N:
   Drive3 = O:
   
   (4 drives with 13 formatted partitions)
   
   
2. And, partitions C:, J:, K:, L:, M:, N:, and O: are shown as 'dirty'?

If this is correct, you should be able to disable chkdsk's boot time check on those 'dirty' partitions with the command:

chkntfs /x c: j: k: l: m: n: o:

--

The command:

chkntfs /x volume [...]

Excludes a drive from the default boot-time check. (Excluded drives are not accumulated between command invocations).


The command:

chkntfs /d

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