[karkalec]

Hello Folks! My computer is running chkdsk about every 1 in 5 times I start it up. It always checks out clean but it's pretty irritating because it takes so long. I googled around and found something about running a cmd prompt to check for a "dirty bit." I did that and it was clean. Can anybody tell me what else I can do to determine why I'm having this problem and put a stop to it?

Thanks,

Karkalec

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I'd immeditely check it with the appropiate Hard Drive Diagnostic Tool:

Hard drive diagnostic utilities are used primarily for determining the physical condition of your hard drive, (drive integrity and read/write verification). If you are having computer problems which you suspect are hard drive related, you can test it with one of the following:

• Fujitsu
  http://www.fujitsu.c.../utilities.html
  
• Hitachi "Drive Fitness Test"
  http://www.hgst.com/...ownload.htm#DFT
  
• Samsung
  http://www.samsung.c...port_HUTIL.html
  
• Seagate / Maxtor "SeaTools"
  http://www.seagate.c...nloads/seatools
  
• Western Digital
  (Use the "Find by Model Number" on the right)
  http://support.wdc.c...oad.asp?lang=en

Let us know what you find out ...

[SpywareDr]

I'd immeditely check it with the appropiate Hard Drive Diagnostic Tool:

Hard drive diagnostic utilities are used primarily for determining the physical condition of your hard drive, (drive integrity and read/write verification). If you are having computer problems which you suspect are hard drive related, you can test it with one of the following:

• Fujitsu
  http://www.fujitsu.c.../utilities.html
  
• Hitachi "Drive Fitness Test"
  http://www.hgst.com/...ownload.htm#DFT
  
• Samsung
  http://www.samsung.c...port_HUTIL.html
  
• Seagate / Maxtor "SeaTools"
  http://www.seagate.c...nloads/seatools
  
• Western Digital
  (Use the "Find by Model Number" on the right)
  http://support.wdc.c...oad.asp?lang=en

Let us know what you find out ...

[karkalec]

I ran the "quick test" with the Western Digital Data Lifeguard tool. It's a WD Velociraptor which is only 3 months old (replaced under warranty when the other one failed after 2 years). It passed the test with flying green check marks.

[wannabe1]

Hello karkalec...

I suspect there is a problem with the file system rather than a problem with the hardware.

Open a command session as you did to check for the dirty bit. Input the command chkdsk /r c: and press Enter. You will be told the drive is busy and asked if you want to run this on the next boot...type Y and press Enter. Type exit and press Enter to close the command session.

Reboot and go get a cup of coffee...this check will be longer than the autocheck that's been running at boot, but will do a much more thorough job of checking the file system...and will recover or repair any abnormalities it finds.

wannabe1

[karkalec]

Thanks wannabe1! It's running now. Is there going to be a log file saved somewhere which will tell if it found and corrected any file system errors? I'm assuming it will just continue startup when the process is complete.

[SpywareDr]

chkdsk /r c:

Is there going to be a log file saved somewhere which will tell if it found and corrected any file system errors?

CHKDSK logfile - Click the Start button, type in "eventvwr.msc" (without the quotes) and press [Enter]. Expand the Windows logs heading, then select the Application log file entry. Double click on the Source column header. Scroll down the list until you find the Chkdsk entry (wininit for Windows 7) (winlogon for XP).

[karkalec]

I am unable to access the logs in the event viewer. When I try to do so I get the attached error (when I click on Application). Any idea what is causing that?

Attached Thumbnails

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[wannabe1]

In the Management Console (where you found event viewer), expand "Services and Applications", then click on "Services". In the list of services, scroll down to Windows Event Logs and double click on it. Does it show as "Started" with a startup type of "Automatic"?

[karkalec]

Yes it does.

[wannabe1]

Hmmmm

Look at the services again. What is the status and startup type of Windows Error Reporting Service and Windows Event Collector?

Is chkdsk still trying to run on boot?

[karkalec]

Windows Error Reporting Service: Manual, Stopped
Windows Event Collector: Manual, Stopped

So far Windows is starting normally, but it was an intermittent problem before, so I can't be sure yet.

[wannabe1]

Sorry it's taking me so long to reply. I'm trying to duplicate the problem on a Vista machine I have here. So far I have been unable to duplicate the error you get, though I can stop the snap in from starting by stopping the Windows Event Log service. Research shows lots of these problems, but the only fix I've found is an in place upgrade (repair install)...which I'd like to avoid, at least for the moment. Let me look into this a little further.

The services we've checked are all correctly configured.

Have you had any other issues with the machine lately?

[karkalec]

Not really. It's a 3 month old install of Windows 7 on a 3 month old hard drive. I think I mentioned it freezes every once in a while, and upon doing the hard restart sometimes it will start to a black screen with white blinking cursor and nothing else. I then have to hold down power button again to get it to start normally. That happens maybe a couple of times a month.

Thanks for looking into it. This website has saved my bacon more than once. You guys are an excellent resource for us laymen.

[karkalec]

Chkdsk just ran on startup again, so apparently the error is still there. It always checks out clean, so I suppose I can live with it, but it's still pretty irritating!

[Incoming]

Are you by any chance turning off your computer from either unplugging it or holding down the power button? This is the cause if so, because your computer isn't manually being able to shut down every program and when it starts back up it thinks it may have an issue.