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Check disk running at every boot


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#1
adams0423

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For the last few weeks, everytime I boot my Windows XP laptop it runs a Checkdisk and goes through a lengthy process of "recovering orphaned files." They appear to be mostly Internet temp files.

Once the process finishes the system runs great. Does this mean that the drive is bad? Is there a way I can mark those sectors as bad so it doesn't continue to write there?

Thanks
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#2
rshaffer61

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Please follow the next steps in order:

Click Start, then Run
Type cmd, and click Ok
At the prompt in the command window that opens, type fsutil dirty query ?: and press Enter (Where ? is the letter of the drive to queried)

Does the result of this indicate the drive is "Dirty"?
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#3
adams0423

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Yes, Volume - c: is Dirty
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#4
rshaffer61

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To unset the Dirty Bit


  • 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.
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#5
adams0423

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After sticking on the same file in the chkdsk step for about 3 hours, I hit a button and it reported that the Chkdsk had finished. When it came back up it still reports as 'dirty.'

Any thoughts?
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#6
rshaffer61

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Redo post 4 and allow chkdsk to run till it finishes on it's own. It could take a lot longer then the 3 hours it ran if there is alot of problems.

This is important because the dirty bit was created due to the following reasons:

• A piece of Memory that has not corrected itself after being checked
• It fails to do this when it has not been able to write to storage before the system was turned off.
• This results in a basically corrupted memory hole that gets stuck in a constant loop till it is corrected.[/b]

If this does not fix the problem then we may have to do a SFC /SCANNOW which will require your XP Installation disk to run in most cases.
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#7
Digerati

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Great posts rshaffer. If I can make one comment, if you run chkdsk /?, you will see an explanation of the various options and the syntax for each. If you look at /r, you will note it "implies /f". Therefore, instead of entering chkdsk /f /r, it should just be chkdsk /r. No harm is done with both, however.

I have had large drives take over 12 hours. Some have reported more than a day. Just let it run.
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#8
adams0423

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Agreed, great posts! Thanks for your help. I'm restarting the scan process now (redoing all steps in Post 4). I will let you know the results. Thanks!
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#9
adams0423

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After about 7 hours it is still running (not touching it this time, will let it run as long as needed tonight). It made it into stage 2 of 5 within 20 minutes or so. The last few lines read:

Index verification completed.
CHKDSK is recovering lost files
Recovering orphaned file temp (41102) into directory file 5.

This is where it has sat for most of the day.

I will give an update tomorrow morning. If it still shows this at 7am tomorrow, should I let it continue, or call it a loss?

Thanks!
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#10
Digerati

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How big is this drive? As far as when to toss in the towel, that's your call - and level of patience. I think I would use it for target practice after 24 hours. If me, I just would not want to trust my data on that drive - nor do I see the need for the bother or worries wondering if it will last when there are 1Tb drives for $90!
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#11
adams0423

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BRILLIANT! It ran for almost 24 hours, but I came back into the room and the system had rebooted. No longer 'dirty' and no longer running CHKDSK at boot.

THANK YOU!!
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#12
rshaffer61

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Congratulations. :) I told you it would take a long time. Your system was really bad since it took that long. I have a 250 gig HD and it takes about 3 hours to go through mine. Hopefully now everything will run great for you. With all that being said I am very happy to say:


You are very welcome. I'm glad we could help and please let us know how everything works out for you.
If there is anything else we can do to help please feel free to ask. I appreciate that you allowed me to assist you with your issue and for your patience. Thank you for choosing GeeksToGo for help. :) :)
This issue now appears to be resolved.


If other members are reading this and have a similar problem please begin a New Topic and someone will assist you as soon as possible

Edited by rshaffer61, 21 May 2009 - 08:34 AM.

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#13
Digerati

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Yes, that's good news. So how big is that drive and how long did it finally take?
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