[Plutox]

When I start up I always (for the past year or so) get that message which if I let run can take some time. It never comes up with any problems.

I can always stop it within 10 secs. by pressing any key, if I am there to do it I know, but why is this happening when it doesn't on my other computers which have identical set ups?

Thanks for any advice or solution to stop this.

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Hello Plutox

Couple of things that can cause this are the computer not being shut down properly (less likely over the space of a year) and a "dirty bit" on the HDD, a better explanation than I would give available @ http://social.techne...c5-5131b2589bbe

Go to Start and then to Run
Type in Chkdsk /r Note the space between k and /
Click Enter ...It will probably ask if you want to do this on the next reboot...click Y

If the window doesn't shutdown on its own then reboot the system manually.
On reboot the system will start the chkdsk operation
This one will take longer then chkdsk /f

Note... there are 5 stages...

It may appear to hang at a certain percent for an hour or more or even back up and go over the same area...this is normal...
DO NOT SHUT YOUR COMPUTER DOWN WHILE CHKDSK IS RUNNING OR YOU CAN HAVE SEVERE PROBLEMS
This can take several hours to complete.
When completed it will hopefully boot the system back into Windows and the issue will be resolved.

Let us know how the above goes.

[phillpower2]

Hello Plutox

Couple of things that can cause this are the computer not being shut down properly (less likely over the space of a year) and a "dirty bit" on the HDD, a better explanation than I would give available @ http://social.techne...c5-5131b2589bbe

Go to Start and then to Run
Type in Chkdsk /r Note the space between k and /
Click Enter ...It will probably ask if you want to do this on the next reboot...click Y

If the window doesn't shutdown on its own then reboot the system manually.
On reboot the system will start the chkdsk operation
This one will take longer then chkdsk /f

Note... there are 5 stages...

It may appear to hang at a certain percent for an hour or more or even back up and go over the same area...this is normal...
DO NOT SHUT YOUR COMPUTER DOWN WHILE CHKDSK IS RUNNING OR YOU CAN HAVE SEVERE PROBLEMS
This can take several hours to complete.
When completed it will hopefully boot the system back into Windows and the issue will be resolved.

Let us know how the above goes.

[Plutox]

Thank you very much for your response.

About 2 hours ago I received exactly the same advice from another helper. I completed the operation without, thankfully, getting the possible lengthy time frame which you say can occur.

The 29GB used space took 30 mins to complete the checking and 15 mins for the free space of 43GB. It re started OK and is running normally - if the glitch continues or all is OK I will confirm here in the next few days.

I didn't note any 5 stages - would that be seen to happen in some way?

Thanks again.

[phillpower2]

You are welcome

You will not see the stages numbered 1-5 but as long as the process is not interrupted the cycles will complete.

Just a FYI and I would not recommend it but checkdisk can be stopped from running automatically http://support.micro...kb/158675/en-us

Good luck and I hope that the issue is now resolved.

[Plutox]

Switching on just now started with that Checking - oh dear!

Two clues perhaps:-

My CMOS battery is dead (for more time than this glitch, I think) so I must 'Adjust Date & Time'each time. Also I seem always to get the message, 'Chrome did not close properly do you want to restore...'.

Would these have anything of relevance? I haven't checked that MS link you gave yet - some dangers?

I must say that this glitch hasn't seemed to have affected the running of the computer but it is annoying.

Edited by Plutox, 29 April 2013 - 06:58 AM.

[rshaffer61]

Just to add some things. The cmos battery needs to be replaced and you should be able to buy one at any computer or watch store.
Secondly the Dirty Bit issue doesn't seem to have been taken care of so I am including a more detailed instructions to check it.


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.

[Plutox]

Thanks for that detailed procedure. I'll print that out for future ref.

Doing the dirty check it came up ..'NOT dirty'

Further goings on:

I had Panda free AV which after a few minutes after every start up would turn off and wouldn't restart even after reboots (as advised by them) and just relied on MS Essentials. So I uninstalled it and installed Windows Defender.

I turned off the computer for 3 hours and turning it back on it booted normally without the File Checking. Whether those actions have solved this glitch only time will tell - seems rather a coincidence to me but who knows?

Will update here on future start ups.

Thanks for your attention on this matter, very helpful.

[phillpower2]

Further goings on:

I had Panda free AV which after a few minutes after every start up would turn off and wouldn't restart even after reboots (as advised by them) and just relied on MS Essentials. So I uninstalled it and installed Windows Defender.

I wish we had known this sooner as it most likely would have saved you a lot of time and stress, you should never use more than one AV as it will make your system unstable, please refer to the tutorial provided courtesy of admin and in particular the text in red beneath Free Antivirus Software heading. http://www.geekstogo...yware-software/

Hopefully the issue is now resolved and please do let us know

[Plutox]

Well as Panda turned off after a few minutes I was in effect only running MSE. If as both were running initially could have caused my glitch then this is possible. I installed MSE as Panda couldn't run.

However I don't have this Panda switching off when together with MSE on two other computers I have and they have apparently got on well together for at least 2 years without having any virus, malware, glitches, instability or any other infection AS FAR AS I KNOW! The innocent can be lucky I guess!

However I take your pertinent point- I should run only one. I liked Panda as it updated itself in the cloud whereas MSE always soon gets an ! and takes an age to do a complete scan to get rid of the ! and get a tick. I've checked your AV link and will decide on something.

Oh by the way this present switch on rebooted OK except it didn't show my Phoenix BIOS page to access options and to press F1 to continue - still it may come back (it came out of the blue on its own somehow) and I never fiddle with that anyway.

Hoping this is all done - and appreciating your input,
Plutox

[phillpower2]