[RESOLVED] Chkdsk will not complete

[Welshjim]

The PC seems to work fine, EXCEPT that Chkdsk hangs with the message
"CHKDSK is verifying files. Stage 1 (File verification). (Stage 1 of 3 completed)
CHKDSK is verifying indexes (Stage 2 of 3) 4 percent complete"
And there it hangs.
I have tried starting in Safe Mode. I cannot get all the way into Safe Mode. It hangs at the first screen with the list of drivers. I cannot get out of either hung screen except by manual turn off. Upon reboot, I get the same hung screen(s). I can get into Windows only by using a boot disk. The Chkdsk command is then apparently deleted.
I have run sfc /scannow and System Restore to a date three days ago. But I have no idea when this problem started. (I probably last ran Chkdsk successfully about 10 days ago.) I have tried to start Chkdsk both from C:\ drive Properties|Tools (requesting auto fix) and from a command window (chkdsk /F). (Both of course require a reboot which is when Chkdsk hangs.)
I have made no recent hardware changes. I did install the Sept. 19-20 Windows Updates and a Zone Alarm Free update. At one point I uninstalled both and as mentioned also ran System Restore to the 18th.
I have a Western Digital Hard Drive (WD1600JD-75HBB0 in a Dell Dimension 4600). I checked that with Windlg (Diagnostic) using the SMART setting. All OK.
Can anyone suggest a fix so I can use Chkdsk again?
Thanks.
P.S. Please move if this is not the correct forum.

[Train]

See if chkdsk /R will complete.

Seems /F is hanging up on folks lately.

[SuperSparks]

Try "chkntfs /c", without the quotes, at the ommand Prompt, then reboot the computer.

[Welshjim]

Train and SuperSparks--Many thanks for your comments. I will keep them in mind for the future.
I may have raised a false alarm. I could have sworn I let the screen hang yesterday PM for at least 20 minutes before I gave up. This morning, since I knew I would be out for an extended period, I tried once again. Chkdsk hung at the 4% level in Stage 2 for about 10 minutes before I left, and I just left it running. When I came back 2½ hours later, the PC had booted into normal Windows. So Chkdsk must have completed at some point. Based on the data in Event Viewer|Application it seems to have completed only about 10 minutes after I left.
Here is the report (which looks successful)
" Cleaning up minor inconsistencies on the drive.
Cleaning up 56 unused index entries from index $SII of file 0x9.
Cleaning up 56 unused index entries from index $SDH of file 0x9.
Cleaning up 56 unused security descriptors.
CHKDSK is verifying Usn Journal...
Usn Journal verification completed.

156208027 KB total disk space.
45338008 KB in 130722 files.
63736 KB in 8073 indexes.
0 KB in bad sectors.
249919 KB in use by the system.
65536 KB occupied by the log file.
110556364 KB available on disk.

Even 20 minutes seems much slower than before. Maybe it was the "minor inconsistencies".
I also can get into Safe Mode again, although that driver list seems to stay on the screen longer than I remember. Maybe the PC is getting old. (3½ years old.)

For anyone reading this thread who wants to know what the various Chkdsk command switches are
http://www.ss64.com/nt/chkdsk.html

[Train]

Well, I can see why the cleanup of system files can slow things down.

I generally follow this link.
http://www.microsoft.com/resources/d....mspx?mfr=true

Thanks for Posting the good news.

[Train]

Run chkdsk /r and it took 35 minutes.

Windows will now check the disk.
Cleaning up minor inconsistencies on the drive.
Cleaning up 76 unused index entries from index $SII of file 0x9.
Cleaning up 76 unused index entries from index $SDH of file 0x9.
Cleaning up 76 unused security descriptors.
CHKDSK is verifying file data (stage 4 of 5)...
File data verification completed.
CHKDSK is verifying free space (stage 5 of 5)...
Free space verification is complete.

38909398 KB total disk space.
23266160 KB in 51590 files.
23284 KB in 3940 indexes.
0 KB in bad sectors.
141706 KB in use by the system.
65536 KB occupied by the log file.
15478248 KB available on disk.

4096 bytes in each allocation unit.
9727349 total allocation units on disk.

For those who do not know how to find the log.
Eventviewer, application, and in the source column find winlogon.
Now double click the line and the log will open up.

More we get on the drive and longer between run, the longer it takes.

[Welshjim]

Train--From what I have read the R switch causes Chkdsk to take longer than F. Recovery of bad sectors must take longer than automatically fixing file system errors. Note that my disk is larger than yours, too.

[Train]

Still, not Found folders.

The other 3 partitions are the same size.
Broke the the hdd into 4 equal parts to fit my needs.

[BarnabyR]

I have also recently applied the Sept 2007 XP fixes, and I suspect something in there is causing the chkdsk to perform as it now does, as NOTHING else has changed on my machine.

I took heart from the previous posters to "just let it run", and it sorted itself out, but for me the wait was close to 20 minutes.

Perhaps the setting of the "dirty bit" is being responded to "differently" at bootup (ie different options being set in the auto chkdsk). Just a hunch.

230 GB SATA drive being checked.

-barnaby

[Train]

230 GB hdd and 20 minutes is not bad at all.
chkdsk is a old slow program from way back when.

[HAN]

Jim: I thought for a moment you had switched to Kaspersky! KAV/KIS versions 6 or 7 have serious slowdown issues with CHKDSK. If you poke around the web, you'll find some very angry users who are stirred up about it...
http://support.kaspersky.com/kav7/error?qid=208279501

Sounds like you're safe from that issue...

[Welshjim]

I thought I would run Chkdsk again just to see what, if any, differences in performance there were. (Basically no changes to the software since the last run and certainly no hardware changes.)
This time the operation hung at 4% of Stage 2 again. But the hang was for a much shorter time (perhaps 5 minutes, perhaps less--I was not expecting it to be so quick) and then the rest of the operation proceeded. Total time elapsed was less than 10 minutes.
The Event Viewer message this time was
"Checking file system on C:
The type of the file system is NTFS.

Cleaning up minor inconsistencies on the drive.
Cleaning up 7 unused index entries from index $SII of file 0x9.
Cleaning up 7 unused index entries from index $SDH of file 0x9.
Cleaning up 7 unused security descriptors.
CHKDSK is verifying Usn Journal...
Usn Journal verification completed.

156208027 KB total disk space.
44281356 KB in 134093 files.
67576 KB in 8070 indexes.
0 KB in bad sectors.
250995 KB in use by the system.
65536 KB occupied by the log file.
111608100 KB available on disk.

4096 bytes in each allocation unit.
39052006 total allocation units on disk.
27902025 allocation units available on disk. "

The number of those "unused index and security" entries is way down. I have no idea what their significance is. But it would seem Chkdsk is much faster than the last time and closer to what I remember.

BarnabyR--Maybe you should try again and see if things are faster for you the second time around after installation of the latest Windows Updates.

HAN--No Kaspersky! (Except for several registry entries from when I ran an online scan.)
Thanks for telling us about the problems. I almost "bought" KIS a week ago when one of the local office supply stores had a freebie after rebates.

[tommyriggs]

Try "chkntfs /c", without the quotes, at the ommand Prompt, then reboot the computer.

hi supersparks, I have been trying to resolve a hang on my xp comapq now for several days, I have had all the same problems as the others , I cannot get past stage 2 no matter how long I wait, I cannot boot to safe mode, and the repair function will not run from the installation cd due to a currupt ntdll.dll file. which I replaced by using the drive as a slave in another xp machine and using xcopy . I also tried to run the chkdsk while the drive was a slave drive as well and got the same results.
do you have any suggestions.

thanks

[SuperSparks]

I think you need to run diagnostic utility on that drive. Download this and burn it to CD, it has all the hard drive diagnostic utilities plus many more besides. You don't need to boot into Windows to run them, just boot up with the CD in the drive, select the utility that you want and it will run:

Ultimate Boot CD

If you aren't sure of the make of drive that is installed use the Seagate Seatools, or Hitachi Drive Fitness Test utilities, as they will work with any make of drive.

[COPO]

If you aren't sure of the make of drive that is installed use the Seagate Seatools, or Hitachi Drive Fitness Test utilities, as they will work with any make of drive.

I have the same prob as post #1 and have a seagate HD. Do I download the Seagate Seatools for dos?

I downloaded the file and executed it with a blank floppy then rebooted the system. The program ran and said there were no hard drives found? What gives?