[statsgamer]

How do I boot up in safe mode in Windows 7?

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Reboot system and at the second post screen start tapping F8.
This will get you to the Advance Boot Options Menu.
One of the options will be Safe Mode
Using your arrow buttons scroll down to Safe Mode and then click Enter
The system will boot using the generic drivers to run the system.
Let me know how it works then.

[rshaffer61]

Reboot system and at the second post screen start tapping F8.
This will get you to the Advance Boot Options Menu.
One of the options will be Safe Mode
Using your arrow buttons scroll down to Safe Mode and then click Enter
The system will boot using the generic drivers to run the system.
Let me know how it works then.

[statsgamer]

booting up on Safe mode went OK, but I had the same result when I tried "chkdsk /f /r c:" ; "The volume is in use by another process".

[rshaffer61]

The command should be chkdsk /r

[statsgamer]

I tried both "chkdsk /r" and "chkdsk /r c:" while running as an administrator in safe mode and still got the same result.

[rshaffer61]

Try it this way then.

How To Run Chkdsk /r from Recovery Console:


How to run checkdisk from recovery console (Windows xp). (Courtesy dsenette)

• Insert the Windows XP startup disk into the floppy disk drive, or insert the Windows XP CD-ROM into the CD-ROM drive, and then restart the computer.
  Note:Click to select any options that are required to start the computer from the CD-ROM drive if you are prompted to do so.
• When the "Welcome to Setup" screen appears, press R to start the Recovery Console.
  Note:If you have a dual-boot or multiple-boot computer, select the installation that you want to access from the Recovery Console.
• When you are prompted to do so, type the Administrator password. If the administrator password is blank, just press ENTER.
• At the Recovery Console command prompt, type the following then press Enter:
  

  chkdsk /r

• Allow this to run UNDISTURBED until completed (45 min or so)
• Report any errors

[rshaffer61]

Also are these the instructions for the chkdsk you are following originally?

Please follow the next steps in order:

Click Start, then Run (Search In Vista)
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"?

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.

[statsgamer]

I did follow those steps originally and everything went OK until I got to the chkdsk part. FYI, I have Windows 7 but I assume the instructions about running it from the CD-ROM are still the same as the instructions for XP above. Now if I can only locate the disk...

[rshaffer61]

Ok but you have XP and not Win 7 correct?
I would suggest a Repair Installation on the XP
If you have Win 7 you can do a startup repair and hopefully that should resolve the issue.

Edited by rshaffer61, 29 July 2010 - 06:54 PM.

[statsgamer]

I do have Windows 7. How do I do a start-up repair?

[rshaffer61]

You will have to Perform a Repair Installation For Win 7\Vista...guide is HERE
This will allow you to repair your Win 7 installation and keep all of your personal user account files, settings, and programs

Edited by rshaffer61, 30 July 2010 - 03:37 AM.

[statsgamer]

I think the start-up repair may have worked, at least at the moment. I will post again if I need further help. Thank you so much for your help and patience.

[rshaffer61]

That is so great top hear. Let me know in a day or two how things are working. Then we can consider this resolved then. Let me know either way as it will help someone later with the same issue.