SCANDISK doesn't seem to end

[COPO]

How long should scandisk run for a 30gb HD. It runs and the PC access light blinks 2x's/sec while on checking folders & files.
I have to do a ctrl/alt/del to end it and it says the system is busy so I end up doing another ctrl/alt/del to reboot. The same thing happens in safe mode. I did get through it all when I ignore cross linked files in advanced button, but it said it did not fix all errors.

What do I do next...thx in advance.

Mark

[amarok-sookgah]

i know that i had the same trouble & was advised by the webopedites (is that a word?) to make sure i turned off the screen saver & wallpaper & any other start up programs that might be the reason that i would be told that the system is "busy" before doing the scan disk in the safemode...which i'm told is the preferred mode...BUT..... i'm sure someone that knows more about computers than i do, as i know nothing, can tell you exactly what you can do. just wait & i'm sure someone will help you.
(fyi..i don't know how big my computer is but the last time i did a complete scandisk it took me over 8 hrs but it was doing the scan..not stuck)

[Train]

That is going to take a while to straighten out. And if the hdd is not partitioned, it may take all day.

This has helped me in the past so you might want to try it.
Go to Start, Run [type in]scandisk.ini , hit enter.
Scroll down to this line:
NumPasses = 1 ; 1 through 65,535 (anything over 10 is slow)

and change it to:
NumPasses = 5 ; 1 through 65,535 (anything over 10 is slow)

In the Menu at top left click file and select Save
Try running scandisk again.

Myself, I never use automatic fix as I want to see the errors and make my own mind up as to what I want it to do.

Might want to leave scandisk at the numpasses = 5 , I do .
Hope it helps you.

[COPO]

I am doing only the standard test and get cross-linked file errors. What fix option do I choose?

Here are the errors. I guess when I had the copy opt selected for the cross-limked errors it was probably trying to copy the RESTORE file, since these are large files.

The following files or folders were crosslinked:
I 1) C:\WINDOWS\.jpi_cache\file\1.0\mostly1.gif-65de013d-551ff7d2.idx
I 2) C:\_RESTORE\ARCHIVE\RG3D695A46.CAB
I 3) C:\WINDOWS\.jpi_cache\file\1.0\mostly2.gif-65ec18be-5fb6be5c.gif
Resolution: Ignore this error and continue

The following files or folders were crosslinked:
I 1) C:\WINDOWS\.jpi_cache\file\1.0\mostly1.gif-65de013d-551ff7d2.gif
I 2) C:\_RESTORE\ARCHIVE\FS495.CAB
Resolution: Ignore this error and continue

The following files or folders were crosslinked:
I 1) C:\WINDOWS\.jpi_cache\file\1.0\mostly2.gif-65ec18be-5fb6be5c.idx
I 2) C:\_RESTORE\LOGS\vxdsfp.log
Resolution: Ignore this error and continue

The C:\WINDOWS\.jpi_cache\file\1.0
folder contained incorrect information about mostly1.gif-65de013d-551ff7d2.gif (MS-DOS name MOSTLY~1.GIF):
The size of the file was different from the size recorded for it in its folder.
Resolution: Repair the error
Results: Error was corrected as specified above.

The C:\WINDOWS\.jpi_cache\file\1.0
folder contained incorrect information about mostly2.gif-65ec18be-5fb6be5c.idx (MS-DOS name MOSTLY~2.IDX):
The size of the file was different from the size recorded for it in its folder.
Resolution: Repair the error
Results: Error was corrected as specified above.

ScanDisk found errors on this drive but did not fix all of them.

[Train]

I'd try;
I 2) C:\_RESTORE\ARCHIVE\RG3D695A46.CAB

[WhitPhil]

The first thing I would do is disable and re-enable your System Restore.
In the case of crosslinked files, at least one cluster is being shared by the files. Meaning, at least one of them is corrupted. By flushing the cache, you will get rid of one of them.


C:\WINDOWS\.jpi_cache\file\1.0\mostly1.gif-65de013d-551ff7d2.idx
C:\WINDOWS\.jpi_cache\file\1.0\mostly2.gif-65ec18be-5fb6be5c.gif
C:\WINDOWS\.jpi_cache\file\1.0\mostly1.gif-65de013d-551ff7d2.gif
C:\WINDOWS\.jpi_cache\file\1.0\mostly2.gif-65ec18be-5fb6be5c.idx

These appear to be INDEX files in some cache area, used by jpi software?? After flushing the restore files, these may now be ok, OR, you will need to find the software that uses this, and "empty the cache".

C:\WINDOWS\.jpi_cache\file\1.0\mostly1.gif-65de013d-551ff7d2.gif (MS-DOS name MOSTLY~1.GIF)
C:\WINDOWS\.jpi_cache\file\1.0\mostly2.gif-65ec18be-5fb6be5c.idx (MS-DOS name MOSTLY~2.IDX)

These files are now corrupted because scandisk has truncated them.

Figure out what software is using this graphics cache, and empty the cache.

As train indicates, do not run with automatic fix, or you may get some surprises.

train: FYI - The scandisk.ini file is only used by the DOS version of scandisk in 2 cases. First, after a bad shutdown and secondly if you run it from DOS with the \CUSTOM option.
As well, the Numpasses only applies to Through mode and indicates the number of times a sector is to be tested.

[COPO]

Scandisk ended fixing all errors.

[WhitPhil]

"fixed all errors"

1. What did you do before you ran scandisk again?

2. WHAT errors??

[COPO]

I selected to automatically fix errors (I had crosslinked files) that needed fixing and I didn't want to delete them.

9/11
Later last night I decided to restore back to Sept 1. Does the errors scandisk fixed last night stay fixed when I restored to Sept 1st? I ran scandisk after the restore completed and it didn't have any errors.

[WhitPhil]

Crosslinked files can not really be fixed.

When you tell scandisk to fix them, and the option for crosslinks is set to "copy", scandisk copies the cluster that is in common (shared, thus the crosslink), and gives a copy to both (or more) files.
As a result, one file is most likely OK, BUT the others will definitely be corrupted. These will need to be deleted and restored. This is why it is important to have logging set, so you can review the log after the fact, to see what "fixes" scandisk did.

I don't run Me, but I would think that if you do a restore, it will restore the files to the way they were as of the restore date. Ie: The scandisk fixes will be gone.