[lpchris85]

Hey guys, quick question.

I just installed Service Pack 1 on my father's desktop with Vista home Premium 32 bit. After installation the PC reboots, then the windows screen pops up with the green bar scrolling. The next step is my issue. After this screen, a black screen appears that begins what looks to be a scan on the HDD files. for example it will be 1032/97347. That is a lot of files to scan! Problem is, it keeps getting frozen on this screen and I am worried I may have bricked my father's PC. Anybody else with this issue?

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What you are describing sounds like chkdsk is running on the hard drive. Yes it seems to stick but give it time. Depending on the size of the hard drive this could take a couple of hours to complete.

[rshaffer61]

What you are describing sounds like chkdsk is running on the hard drive. Yes it seems to stick but give it time. Depending on the size of the hard drive this could take a couple of hours to complete.

[lpchris85]

I let it run overnight for about 10 hours and it was stuck the following morning at the same point at which I left it. It seems to be getting stuck around the 9000 mark when it is checking something in the registry. I have found it stuck at the same point two separate times. I also attempted to boot into Safe Mode and I could not even do that.

[rshaffer61]

Try booting to Advance Boot Menu where you go to get into Safe Mode. One of the other options is to boot with Last Known Good Configuration that worked
Does that finally get you back into windows normally?

[lpchris85]

I have not attempted Advanced to get to safe mode, but I have attempted to boot with last known good config, and it took me to the same chdsk screen.

[rshaffer61]

Ok then lets see if you have what is called a Dirty Bit causing the issue. I realize you can't get into windows but you should have the option to boot to a Command Prompt or you will need the OS installation disk and you will have to boot to it and click on Repair a Windows Installation to get to a command prompt that way.





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.

[lpchris85]

Okay, gave that a shot.

I inserted a vista OS disk and got a command prompt to come up. I typed in the fsutil script that you had mentioned. All I was able to get after pressing enter was a message that said something to the extent of: fsutil is not a valid command prompt.

[rshaffer61]

Wait did you type this?

fsutil dirty query c:

[lpchris85]

yes I typed that in exactly. At first the command prompt was from source X, I then attempted it on source C and got the same result.

[rshaffer61]

OK not going to work then.
Try this and let me know if it works.


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

[lpchris85]

I read the guide, it says that if SP1 is installed this method will not work. Is this correct?

[rshaffer61]

You may have to make a slipstream disk to include SP1. This HERE may help make a disk that will work.

[lpchris85]

Okay, this isn't the solution that I wanted, but I would hate to be held responsible to bricking my father's desktop "that worked fine before you touched it" as he would say. Not everybody understands that the service packs are important, but I digress. I ran the system recovery utility and restored to a prior time before SP1, and the computer boots fine into Windows now. I think I'll wash my hands of it and tell him to plan on getting a new Desktop in the coming months, for now, he'll be satisfied. I want to thank you, Ron, for your assistance. You are extremely valuable to this community!

[rshaffer61]

The repair installation will not erase the drive but only replace or repair the faulty OS.

[lpchris85]

completely agree. This will be a band-aid solution, but I spoke with him last night and he knows that he will need a new desktop in the coming months.