[Anathema]

I have a problem... every time my computer starts, it wants to run disk check. Now this wouldnt be a problem if it was letting me "press any key to cancel"...but it stopped doing that last night (I pressed and pressed and pressed, but it ignored me..). After 1-3 hours (I fell asleep, woke because of the blue login screens light/or the sound it makes) it finally finished and I was able to work.


This started happening shortly after I made a new user account for my visiting friend. Yesterday I deleted the account and files as she had left (after a little over a month of using it), and she claims that the check disk was happening to her all the time. I got angry that she didnt tell me, she told me it wasnt a big deal because she has to "reformat her laptop once a month" .

This is a new computer to me still, so I'm quite afraid she broke it somehow .


I ran TuneUp Utilities last night: defragmented, ran the file check it has, did the one click maintenance. I also ran a full virus scan and spyware scan overnight, and it came back clean, but for a few cookies (I used Zone Alarm for this). When I return home I plan to check the registry (with TuneUp Utilities) and fix any possible issues there. Also Spybot, which I have to upgrade.

I cannot afford to have to wait hours for it to start up...can we fix the issue or disable disk checking? What causes disk checking? My friend said that it's from the computer being shut down incorrectly...but the computer has been shut down correctly each time it's happened... is it not shutting itself down right?

Thanks in advance

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Check and see if the hard drive is dirty. Please click on START-->RUN and type cmd. In the new window that appears, type fsutil dirty query c: and hit ENTER. If what appears on the screen says Volume - c: IS Dirty, then please do the following:

Please check the following before proceeding:

• If you have Spyware Doctor installed, uninstall it.
• If you have ZoneAlarm installed, open it, click the "Overview" tab, then select "Preferences", and UNcheck the "Protect ZA Client" check box.

Click Start, then Run, type cmd in the Open box and click "Ok". At the prompt in the Command window, type the following commands, pressing "Enter" after each one:

Substitute the drive letter for the drive your want to check for the ? in the following commands. Please note the spaces.

• chkntfs /d ..... (This will reset autocheck options to default...will come back invalid on some installations)
• chkntfs /c ?: ..... (This will allow checking the specified drive )
• chkntfs /x ?: ..... (The x switch tells Windows to NOT check the specified drive on the next boot)

At this point, restart your computer, it will not do a chkdsk and will boot directly to Windows.

This next step is important as this is where the Dirty Bit will be unset.

Substitute the drive letter for the drive your want to check for the ? in the following commands.

Click Start, then Run, type cmd in the Open box and click "Ok". At the command prompt, type the following, pressing "Enter" after each one: (Again, note the spaces.)

• chkdsk /f /r ?: ..... (To manually run a full chkdsk operation on the specified drive)
• Y ..... (To accept having it run on the next boot)

This should take you through 5 stages of the scan and will unset the Dirty Bit. Be patient...this is a very thorough check and will take quite a while.

Finally, when the chkdsk operation has completed, type fsutil dirty query ?:, press "Enter", and Windows will confirm that the Dirty Bit is not set on that drive.

Reboot again and see if chkdsk still runs on startup. If the machine boots back up to the command prompt, type exit and press "Enter"...it should boot to Windows.

[dsenette]

Check and see if the hard drive is dirty. Please click on START-->RUN and type cmd. In the new window that appears, type fsutil dirty query c: and hit ENTER. If what appears on the screen says Volume - c: IS Dirty, then please do the following:

Please check the following before proceeding:

• If you have Spyware Doctor installed, uninstall it.
• If you have ZoneAlarm installed, open it, click the "Overview" tab, then select "Preferences", and UNcheck the "Protect ZA Client" check box.

Click Start, then Run, type cmd in the Open box and click "Ok". At the prompt in the Command window, type the following commands, pressing "Enter" after each one:

Substitute the drive letter for the drive your want to check for the ? in the following commands. Please note the spaces.

• chkntfs /d ..... (This will reset autocheck options to default...will come back invalid on some installations)
• chkntfs /c ?: ..... (This will allow checking the specified drive )
• chkntfs /x ?: ..... (The x switch tells Windows to NOT check the specified drive on the next boot)

At this point, restart your computer, it will not do a chkdsk and will boot directly to Windows.

This next step is important as this is where the Dirty Bit will be unset.

Substitute the drive letter for the drive your want to check for the ? in the following commands.

Click Start, then Run, type cmd in the Open box and click "Ok". At the command prompt, type the following, pressing "Enter" after each one: (Again, note the spaces.)

• chkdsk /f /r ?: ..... (To manually run a full chkdsk operation on the specified drive)
• Y ..... (To accept having it run on the next boot)

This should take you through 5 stages of the scan and will unset the Dirty Bit. Be patient...this is a very thorough check and will take quite a while.

Finally, when the chkdsk operation has completed, type fsutil dirty query ?:, press "Enter", and Windows will confirm that the Dirty Bit is not set on that drive.

Reboot again and see if chkdsk still runs on startup. If the machine boots back up to the command prompt, type exit and press "Enter"...it should boot to Windows.

[Anathema]

It says it's not, and I did just restart after defraging the registry (9% needed it apparently, so don't know if it DID help or not)... it DID NOT try to run a check, however I believe it will later.. (my reasoning is that my friend had it EVERY time she turned the PC on, I only had it ONCE - before the time it stopped responding..then I pulled the plug 3 times trying to get around it, no use)

What can I do to further scan and help my computer? I have Secunia PSI and it says there's no insecurities, I've got Zone Alarm Security Suite as a firewall, and for anti-v and Spyware, and I have TuneUp Utilities (has so many features I wont list them). In about 20 minutes I'll have Spybot again.

Is there anything I can do to keep my computer in good working order? I don't want to start having BSOD again . That's how the last one died (we think it was hardware, as it was a 10 year old hand built computer)..