errors on disk

  • Thread starter Thread starter JS
  • Start date Start date
J

JS

Greetings,
My Mcafee scan has frozen the pc 3 times in the same place, and the Mcafee
tech said there are some errors on the disk that could cause this. There is
a "scandisk" on xp and earlier versions, is there something similar on
Vista? What else can I do to identify and correct these errors?
Thanks,
JS
 
JS said:
My Mcafee scan has frozen the pc 3 times in the same place, and the
Mcafee tech said there are some errors on the disk that could cause
this. There is a "scandisk" on xp and earlier versions, is there
something similar on Vista? What else can I do to identify and
correct these errors?
Click to expand...

Correction: There is no SCANDISK on Windows XP. Windows XP is part of the
Windows NT line of products which use CHKDSK.

Windows Vista/Windows 7 is still part of the NT line of products.

My suggestions:

1) Ensure your backups are current. Don't have any - time to start!
Pictures, music, documents, Internet favorites/bookmarks, product
keys/serial numbers, installation media/executable installation files, etc
and so on. Want to make it easy on yourself - get a Seagate Replica 500GB
drive (external) and let it do all the heavy lifting for you and maintain
the backups with it.

2) Run CHKDSK... Here's one of many web pages explaining how to do this:
http://maximumpcguides.com/windows-vista/how-to-use-check-disk-in-windows-vista/

3) Figure out who manufactured your hard disk drive and download/use their
diagnostic utility to verify drive stability. You might use Belarc Advisor
(free) to scan your system (I'd use it and print it out and keep it safe
with your external backups - useful) and figure out who manufactured your
hard disk drive and visit their web page and download their diagnostic
utility/directions.

4) IMHO - I suggest dropping McAfee completely. Too much resource usage for
the same protection you can get for free or comparable price with less
resource usage (meaning your computer works better overall.) I suggest
Avira AntiVir (free) or eSet NOD32 (AV only - ~$59 U.S. for two years) in
combinations with MalwareBytes (free for scanning/cleanup or ~$25 U.S. for
active protection/scheduled scanning.)

5) Come back - since this post will be archived indefinitely on the
Internet - and let everyone who may ever come across it in the years to coe
how things worked out for you.... You may help someone else in the process.
 
My Mcafee scan has frozen the pc 3 times in the same place, and
the Mcafee tech said there are some errors on the disk that could
cause this. There is a "scandisk" on xp and earlier versions, is
there something similar on Vista? What else can I do to identify
and correct these errors? Thanks,
Click to expand...

Scandisk was a DOS utility that hasn't been included since Windows 98
(maybe ME).

Right-click in the disk in Windows Explorer and choose Properties |
Tools | Check for Errors. If you enable the "Fix file system errors" or
"Attempt recovery of bad sectors" options, you should backup your data
first, because it can sometimes cause loss of data while in the
process.
 
Nil,
thanks for your reply. I did what you said,and it won't run while in use. It
says to schedule,so I click ok, but nothing happens when I click ok or
restart. If it restarts,how will it scan,it will be running.
??

JS
 
thanks for your reply. I did what you said,and it won't run while
in use. It says to schedule,so I click ok, but nothing happens
when I click ok or restart. If it restarts,how will it scan,it
will be running. ??
Click to expand...

If you clicked OK, the scan will happen when you next restart the
computer. It may take some time - could be an hour or more if it's a
very large disk. Be patient - don't interrupt it.

When the Windows finally boots up, check the Event Log to see what
problems were found and corrections were made.
 
Nil,
Is there an indication that it is scanning? I have tried (to schedule)
several times, and it just restarts normally.
Also,where is the event log,I can't seem to find thingson Vista like I could
on XP.

Thanks,
JS
 
Is there an indication that it is scanning? I have tried (to
schedule) several times, and it just restarts normally.
Click to expand...

Yes, there is. As Windows starts to boot, a black screen will come up
telling you it's about to check the disk, and it gives you a chance to
bail out. If you choose to let it go, you will see some progress
indicators in the screen. It's obvious that the check is happening.

If it's NOT happening for you... I'm not sure what to tell you. Are you
SURE you hit Start and not Cancel?

Try opening a Command Prompt, and type at the prompt:

CHKDSK C: /R

You will be asked to confirm that you want to run the check on your
next boot-up.

If that doesn't do it, maybe it's a permissions thing. Not sure right
now how to get around that.
Also,where is the event log,I can't seem to find thingson Vista
like I could on XP.
Click to expand...

Control Panel | Administrative Tools | Event Viewer. Look in Windows
Logs | Application for Wininit events.

(I haven't spent much time in the Vista Event Viewer before. What a
mess that thing is. Information overload, and the Find function is
agonizingly slow. At least it's got one nice feature, Custom Views. I
just made one to show only Chkdsk events like this.)
 
<snipped>
Is there an indication that it is scanning? I have tried (to
schedule) several times, and it just restarts normally.
Also,where is the event log,I can't seem to find thingson Vista
like I could on XP.
Click to expand...

I'll repeat the response I made originally in case you missed it...

Correction: There is no SCANDISK on Windows XP. Windows XP is part of the
Windows NT line of products which use CHKDSK.

Windows Vista/Windows 7 is still part of the NT line of products.

My suggestions:

1) Ensure your backups are current. Don't have any - time to start!
Pictures, music, documents, Internet favorites/bookmarks, product
keys/serial numbers, installation media/executable installation files, etc
and so on. Want to make it easy on yourself - get a Seagate Replica 500GB
drive (external) and let it do all the heavy lifting for you and maintain
the backups with it.

2) Run CHKDSK... Here's one of many web pages explaining how to do this:
http://maximumpcguides.com/windows-vista/how-to-use-check-disk-in-windows-vista/

3) Figure out who manufactured your hard disk drive and download/use their
diagnostic utility to verify drive stability. You might use Belarc Advisor
(free) to scan your system (I'd use it and print it out and keep it safe
with your external backups - useful) and figure out who manufactured your
hard disk drive and visit their web page and download their diagnostic
utility/directions.

4) IMHO - I suggest dropping McAfee completely. Too much resource usage for
the same protection you can get for free or comparable price with less
resource usage (meaning your computer works better overall.) I suggest
Avira AntiVir (free) or eSet NOD32 (AV only - ~$59 U.S. for two years) in
combinations with MalwareBytes (free for scanning/cleanup or ~$25 U.S. for
active protection/scheduled scanning.)

5) Come back - since this post will be archived indefinitely on the
Internet - and let everyone who may ever come across it in the years to coe
how things worked out for you.... You may help someone else in the process.
 
Nil,

I have tried several times(yes, I clicked ok) and it just doesn't happen. I
tried the command prompt and it says I don't have access priv.

What about the diagnostic utility at the hd mfg.? I may try that, any
suggestions for that?

Thanks again.

JS
 
(1 I tried to back up to my external hd,and got an error msg. that says it
cannot backup because of errors on the hd. It prompted me to check the disk,
but I am back to the problem of not being able to check the disk,it just does
not happen.
(2 I tried chkdsk by both methods that I know. from the directions that you
gave me the link to, and also by the command prompt, which says I don't have
access.
(3 I looked on the Toshiba website, and couldn't find anything helpful, so I
sent an email to support. waiting for a response.
(4 am contemplating the situation with McAfee,I am concentrating on the hd
errors right now.
(5 I came back.

Now what??

Thanks,
JS
 
Hi, JS.
I have tried several times(yes, I clicked ok) and it just doesn't happen.
I tried the command prompt and it says I don't have access priv.
Click to expand...

Use an "elevated" Command Prompt. That is, right-click on cmd.exe and
choose "Run as Administrator". You'll have to furnish Administrator
credentials. Once you've done that, the windows will open with a Title Bar
that says "Administrator:Command Prompt". Every command you execute from
this window will "run elevated", with Administrator privileges.

RC
--
R. C. White, CPA
San Marcos, TX
(e-mail address removed)
Microsoft Windows MVP
Windows Live Mail 2009 (14.0.8089.0726) in Win7 Ultimate x64
 
Hi, again, JS.

See the message I just posted. To repeat: Use your Administrator
credentials to open an Administrator:Command Prompt window and run CHKDSK
from there.

RC
--
R. C. White, CPA
San Marcos, TX
(e-mail address removed)
Microsoft Windows MVP
Windows Live Mail 2009 (14.0.8089.0726) in Win7 Ultimate x64

JS said:
(1 I tried to back up to my external hd,and got an error msg. that says it
cannot backup because of errors on the hd. It prompted me to check the
disk,
but I am back to the problem of not being able to check the disk,it just
does
not happen.
(2 I tried chkdsk by both methods that I know. from the directions that
you
gave me the link to, and also by the command prompt, which says I don't
have
access.
(3 I looked on the Toshiba website, and couldn't find anything helpful, so
I
sent an email to support. waiting for a response.
(4 am contemplating the situation with McAfee,I am concentrating on the hd
errors right now.
(5 I came back.

Now what??

Thanks,
JS
Click to expand...
 
JS said:
(1 I tried to back up to my external hd,and got an error msg. that
says it cannot backup because of errors on the hd. It prompted me
to check the disk, but I am back to the problem of not being able
to check the disk,it just does not happen.
(2 I tried chkdsk by both methods that I know. from the directions
that you gave me the link to, and also by the command prompt, which
says I don't have access.
(3 I looked on the Toshiba website, and couldn't find anything
helpful, so I sent an email to support. waiting for a response.
(4 am contemplating the situation with McAfee,I am concentrating on
the hd errors right now.
(5 I came back.
Click to expand...

Is Toshiba the manufacturer of your hard disk drive or of the machine in
question?
Now what??
Click to expand...

No Problem, so far.

Sounds like the hard disk drive *is* defective - you need to make an image
of it or at least manually copy the stuff off you can of yours.

Toshiba is not one that has a diagnostic utility AFAIK.

Can you boot with something like BartPE and/or Ultimate Boot CD for Windows?

http://www.ubcd4win.com/

May be several tools included on that you can use to backup your system and
check for errors - although in the end you are likely going to have to
replace the defective hard disk drive.
 
Hi RC,
I used your suggestion and it said it could not scan now, but the next time
I reboot. I restarted and it booted right up, no scan on bootup. ??
JS

R. C. White said:
Hi, again, JS.

See the message I just posted. To repeat: Use your Administrator
credentials to open an Administrator:Command Prompt window and run CHKDSK
from there.

RC
--
R. C. White, CPA
San Marcos, TX
(e-mail address removed)
Microsoft Windows MVP
Windows Live Mail 2009 (14.0.8089.0726) in Win7 Ultimate x64
Click to expand...
 
Toshiba is the mgr. of the hd on a Dell laptop.
It boots up just fine, it just doesn't scan when it is supposed to.
I will check your links and report back.
Can I "copy" to my ext.hd instead of backing up? How do I do that? I have a
usb external hd.
Thanks,
JS
 
This is from the administrator prompt:

Microsoft Windows [Version 6.0.6002]
Copyright (c) 2006 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

C:\Windows\system32>chkdsk C: /R
The type of the file system is NTFS.
Cannot lock current drive.

Chkdsk cannot run because the volume is in use by another
process. Would you like to schedule this volume to be
checked the next time the system restarts? (Y/N) y

This volume will be checked the next time the system restarts.

C:\Windows\system32>

When I restart, it just reboots normally.

JS
 
Have you tried running CHKDSK, but instead of restarting, trun the machine
off, wait for 2minutes (so the hd gets a chance to stop spinning) then power
up the machine?
JS said:
This is from the administrator prompt:

Microsoft Windows [Version 6.0.6002]
Copyright (c) 2006 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

C:\Windows\system32>chkdsk C: /R
The type of the file system is NTFS.
Cannot lock current drive.

Chkdsk cannot run because the volume is in use by another
process. Would you like to schedule this volume to be
checked the next time the system restarts? (Y/N) y

This volume will be checked the next time the system restarts.

C:\Windows\system32>

When I restart, it just reboots normally.

JS




JS said:
Toshiba is the mgr. of the hd on a Dell laptop.
It boots up just fine, it just doesn't scan when it is supposed to.
I will check your links and report back.
Can I "copy" to my ext.hd instead of backing up? How do I do that? I have
a
usb external hd.
Thanks,
JS
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
 
<snipped>
http://groups.google.com/group/micr...a.general/browse_frm/thread/cd1108f51e627461/

This is from the administrator prompt:

Microsoft Windows [Version 6.0.6002]
Copyright (c) 2006 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

C:\Windows\system32>chkdsk C: /R
The type of the file system is NTFS.
Cannot lock current drive.

Chkdsk cannot run because the volume is in use by another
process. Would you like to schedule this volume to be
checked the next time the system restarts? (Y/N) y

This volume will be checked the next time the system restarts.

C:\Windows\system32>

When I restart, it just reboots normally.
Click to expand...

So it tells you it is setting the 'dirty bit' - but doesn't seem to have an
effect.

Backups are still important.

Having your Windows DVD (preferrably one with the same service pack you have
installed on the running system integrated into it) will be needed...

Open an elevated command prompt and type in:
sfc /scannow
and press enter.

Reboot afterwards and try to do the CHKDSK again (it will require its own
reboot.)

You may be able to boot with the Windows Vista DVD and do a repair on the
system as well. If the above fails - try this.
http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows-vista/What-happened-to-the-Recovery-Console

Failing that - I still suggest the use of the BartPE/Ultimate Windows Boot
CD. You could do a CHKDSK from there, use other tools to copy your stuff,
image the partition, check the drive for issues, etc.

As far as copying your stuff to an external disk drive (USB drive, network
drive, etc...) - copying *your stuff* is easy... Drag/drop. You might be
able to use the BartPE/Ultimate Windows Boot CD to make an image of the
entire partition/disk with some of its tools.

However - even with that - I would copy your important data independently.
Documents, music, pictures, emails, bookmarks/Internet Favorites, contacts,
installable executables, serial numbers, product keys, etc...
 
Pete,
It seems like I have done that, but I will try again.

Thanks,
JS

Pete N Leanne said:
Have you tried running CHKDSK, but instead of restarting, trun the machine
off, wait for 2minutes (so the hd gets a chance to stop spinning) then power
up the machine?
JS said:
This is from the administrator prompt:

Microsoft Windows [Version 6.0.6002]
Copyright (c) 2006 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

C:\Windows\system32>chkdsk C: /R
The type of the file system is NTFS.
Cannot lock current drive.

Chkdsk cannot run because the volume is in use by another
process. Would you like to schedule this volume to be
checked the next time the system restarts? (Y/N) y

This volume will be checked the next time the system restarts.

C:\Windows\system32>

When I restart, it just reboots normally.

JS




JS said:
Toshiba is the mgr. of the hd on a Dell laptop.
It boots up just fine, it just doesn't scan when it is supposed to.
I will check your links and report back.
Can I "copy" to my ext.hd instead of backing up? How do I do that? I have
a
usb external hd.
Thanks,
JS

:

JS wrote:
(1 I tried to back up to my external hd,and got an error msg. that
says it cannot backup because of errors on the hd. It prompted me
to check the disk, but I am back to the problem of not being able
to check the disk,it just does not happen.
(2 I tried chkdsk by both methods that I know. from the directions
that you gave me the link to, and also by the command prompt, which
says I don't have access.
(3 I looked on the Toshiba website, and couldn't find anything
helpful, so I sent an email to support. waiting for a response.
(4 am contemplating the situation with McAfee,I am concentrating on
the hd errors right now.
(5 I came back.

Is Toshiba the manufacturer of your hard disk drive or of the machine
in
question?


Now what??

No Problem, so far.

Sounds like the hard disk drive *is* defective - you need to make an
image
of it or at least manually copy the stuff off you can of yours.

Toshiba is not one that has a diagnostic utility AFAIK.

Can you boot with something like BartPE and/or Ultimate Boot CD for
Windows?

http://www.ubcd4win.com/

May be several tools included on that you can use to backup your system
and
check for errors - although in the end you are likely going to have to
replace the defective hard disk drive.

--
Shenan Stanley
MS-MVP
--
How To Ask Questions The Smart Way



.
Click to expand...
Click to expand...

.
Click to expand...
 
Here is a bit of a status report. I rebooted and did F8 and "repair computer"
was highlighted,so I ran that and the analysis said everything was successful.
So I ran a backup and that was successful,or so I think. Won't it show up
when I open the "F" drive,which is the ext hd that I used? It has the name of
my pc, but says folder is empty. I specified that drive before I started the
backup.
And btw, chkdsk still doesn't work.
Any suggestions and/or comments.
Thanks for your help.
JS



JS said:
Pete,
It seems like I have done that, but I will try again.

Thanks,
JS

Pete N Leanne said:
Have you tried running CHKDSK, but instead of restarting, trun the machine
off, wait for 2minutes (so the hd gets a chance to stop spinning) then power
up the machine?
JS said:
This is from the administrator prompt:

Microsoft Windows [Version 6.0.6002]
Copyright (c) 2006 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

C:\Windows\system32>chkdsk C: /R
The type of the file system is NTFS.
Cannot lock current drive.

Chkdsk cannot run because the volume is in use by another
process. Would you like to schedule this volume to be
checked the next time the system restarts? (Y/N) y

This volume will be checked the next time the system restarts.

C:\Windows\system32>

When I restart, it just reboots normally.

JS




:

Toshiba is the mgr. of the hd on a Dell laptop.
It boots up just fine, it just doesn't scan when it is supposed to.
I will check your links and report back.
Can I "copy" to my ext.hd instead of backing up? How do I do that? I have
a
usb external hd.
Thanks,
JS

:

JS wrote:
(1 I tried to back up to my external hd,and got an error msg. that
says it cannot backup because of errors on the hd. It prompted me
to check the disk, but I am back to the problem of not being able
to check the disk,it just does not happen.
(2 I tried chkdsk by both methods that I know. from the directions
that you gave me the link to, and also by the command prompt, which
says I don't have access.
(3 I looked on the Toshiba website, and couldn't find anything
helpful, so I sent an email to support. waiting for a response.
(4 am contemplating the situation with McAfee,I am concentrating on
the hd errors right now.
(5 I came back.

Is Toshiba the manufacturer of your hard disk drive or of the machine
in
question?


Now what??

No Problem, so far.

Sounds like the hard disk drive *is* defective - you need to make an
image
of it or at least manually copy the stuff off you can of yours.

Toshiba is not one that has a diagnostic utility AFAIK.

Can you boot with something like BartPE and/or Ultimate Boot CD for
Windows?

http://www.ubcd4win.com/

May be several tools included on that you can use to backup your system
and
check for errors - although in the end you are likely going to have to
replace the defective hard disk drive.

--
Shenan Stanley
MS-MVP
--
How To Ask Questions The Smart Way



.
Click to expand...

.
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
 
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