problem Scheduled chkdsk command cancels without my intervention on a Win 7 laptop

[apairofpcs]

[SIZE=+1][SIZE=+1][SIZE=+1][SIZE=+1]My Lenovo Thinkpad T530 laptop[SIZE=+1] ( Model 2359-CTO, buy date: 11/11/2012 )[/SIZE][/SIZE][/SIZE] developed a problem that I can't seem to fix. When I schedule a c[SIZE=+1]hkdsk [SIZE=+1]with the /F or /R[/SIZE][/SIZE] command line parameters, namely making i[SIZE=+1]t a read / write operation by having it fi[SIZE=+1]x errors [SIZE=+1]and recover bad sectors,[/SIZE][/SIZE] instead of being a read only operation such as "chkdsk c:[SIZE=+1][SIZE=+1]", the screen s[SIZE=+1]how[SIZE=+1]s the scan about to begi[SIZE=+1]n, but cancels without my input. Ther[SIZE=+1]e is a 10 sec. timeout, allowing a user to cancel the operat[SIZE=+1]ion.[/SIZE][/SIZE][SIZE=+1] My cancellation is "instantaneous." I run the command line, by opening a Command Prompt window with the "Run as administrator" selection.

I've scheduled the scan from GUI and Safe Mode, with the same result. The only way I can scan my drive to fix errors and recover bad sectors is [SIZE=+1]by going to [SIZE=+1]"[/SIZE]Comput[SIZE=+1]er", right clicking the drive, going to "Properties", then to the "Tools" tab on top, pressing the "[SIZE=+1]Check Now" button for Error Checking and checking the bottom box stating "Scan for and attempt recovery of bad sectors." This scans in GUI mode. Once it ends, I can find the details of the scan in the OS's "Event Viewer" utility. When I check the top box "Automatically fix file system errors", it asks me to schedule a scan which fails as stated above.

[SIZE=+1]I tried to install Microsoft Hotfix[/SIZE] K[SIZE=+1]B975778, but although it was developed precisely for my problem, it states that it is not applicable for my[SIZE=+1] pc[SIZE=+1]. I'm using Windows 7 64 bit Home Premium Edition as[/SIZE][/SIZE][/SIZE] my OS.

[SIZE=+1]Any ideas?[/SIZE]
[/SIZE][/SIZE][/SIZE][/SIZE][/SIZE][/SIZE][/SIZE][/SIZE][/SIZE][/SIZE][/SIZE][/SIZE]

 

[Howell]

Does the scan run if you reboot? How long since a reboot?

 

[apairofpcs]

No matter when I initiate the chkdsk request, it cancels itself. I've scheduled chkdsk to scan after returning from standby, after returning from hibernate mode, after returning from a shutdown and after returning from a restart. For the most part, when I.m not using it I leave it in standby mode with the AC adapter attached. Once a week I put it into hibernate mode and disconnect the AC adapter, just to let it rest for a few hours.

A reminder that when requesting a read only chkdsk scan, i.e. chkdsk c:, while in a command prompt window in GUI Mode, it runs in the command prompt window in GUI Mode. But when I use the /R or /F parameters, it won't scan in GUI Mode because any write operation only can be done outside of GUI Mode. Something is preventing the scan to start, to avoid a write operation, which occurs when the scan needs to fix errors or recover data from bad sectors.

 

[Bozo]

You cannot scan the 'C' partition while it is in use. You should get a message asking if you want it to preform the scan on the next reboot.
Sometimes there is an overlay on the first few tracks of the hard disk that the manufacturer uses for recovery. This could be preventing the scan.
Try downloading one of the free boot from CD disk that has 'chkdsk' on it and give that a try. Make a backup of your entire hard disk first though.

 

[P5-133XL]

Try booting into console mode and manually running chkdsk from the prompt.

I agree with making a backup first. Chkdsk can fix a broken file structure, but it can also destroy it.

 

[apairofpcs]

You cannot scan the 'C' partition while it is in use. You should get a message asking if you want it to preform the scan on the next reboot.
Sometimes there is an overlay on the first few tracks of the hard disk that the manufacturer uses for recovery. This could be preventing the scan.
Try downloading one of the free boot from CD disk that has 'chkdsk' on it and give that a try. Make a backup of your entire hard disk first though.

Like you wrote, I get this message when I request a /F or /R scan.....

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)

I'm not sure what you mean by a "free boot from CD disk that has 'chkdsk' on it"?

 

[apairofpcs]

Try booting into console mode and manually running chkdsk from the prompt.

I agree with making a backup first. Chkdsk can fix a broken file structure, but it can also destroy it.

You guys are killing me. What is "console mode"? Is it "Safe Mode with command prompt"?

 

[P5-133XL]

Not technically, but close. The difference is that safe mode with command prompt still boots into C: but with the recovery console you boot to the Original disks. Different Windows versions get there in slightly different ways.

For Win7, you get there using the original Windows disks and choose repair then command prompt like:http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/668-system-recovery-options.html

For XP: You need to install the recovery console first like: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/307654

...

 

[apairofpcs]

Not technically, but close. The difference is that safe mode with command prompt still boots into C: but with the recovery console you boot to the Original disks. Different Windows versions get there in slightly different ways.

For Win7, you get there using the original Windows disks and choose repair then command prompt like:http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/668-system-recovery-options.html

For XP: You need to install the recovery console first like: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/307654

My laptop came with Win 7 installed by Lenovo. There is no OS installation or Recovery CD.

This may help. I found a Win 7 64 bit upgrade CD that Toshiba sent me when Win 7 was released in Oct. 2009. It was a freebie with my Toshiba Satellite laptop, which came with Win Vista. Can I use this, even though it has many files specific to a Toshiba laptop? It should have a bootable OS.

 

[Howell]

You should burn recovery disks using the Lenovo tools. You will need them if you ever want to reinstall and I believe can be used for this purpose as well. The Toshiba disk may work; or may be automated to "fix your Toshiba" which would be bad for your Lenovo.

 

[apairofpcs]

You should burn recovery disks using the Lenovo tools. You will need them if you ever want to reinstall and I believe can be used for this purpose as well. The Toshiba disk may work; or may be automated to "fix your Toshiba" which would be bad for your Lenovo.

You wrote recovery "disks". whereas I created only one disk using the Lenovo Solution Center recovery media utility. I booted from it, but saw nothing except doing a recovery to a bootable drive. Wasn't there supposed to be a Recovery Console where I could copy program files to the drive and do other tasks?

 

[apairofpcs]

Using the recovery disk, there were two recovery methods offered to me. Restore windows partition ( C: ) ONLY.....or restore to factory defaults. All data will be lost! I exited and restarted. I checked the size of the disk. It was 332MB. This seems low for a restored OS. When the recovery onto the first disk was done, I wasn't asked to insert another disk. The creation of a recovery disk appeared to be complete.

I'm going to call Lenovo Tech. Support to see if the system recovery data on my drive has been corrupted.

 

[Bozo]

You can try Hirams boot CD. You boot your computer from this CD and then run the utility that you need.

 

[P5-133XL]

My laptop came with Win 7 installed by Lenovo. There is no OS installation or Recovery CD.

This may help. I found a Win 7 64 bit upgrade CD that Toshiba sent me when Win 7 was released in Oct. 2009. It was a freebie with my Toshiba Satellite laptop, which came with Win Vista. Can I use this, even though it has many files specific to a Toshiba laptop? It should have a bootable OS.

Normally OS upgrade disks are not bootable. Most of the time, they are just a service pack + whatever was slip-streamed into them.

However, maybe this thread will help creating original disks: http://www.storageforum.net/forum/showthread.php/10249-Win7-and-Win8-media

 

[apairofpcs]

I called tech. support and am having a Recovery Disk Set sent to me. The rep. said there will be two disks, not one. She also told me to use System File Checker instead of chkdsk, to accomplish the same task. In a command prompt, I typed "sfc /scannow", and there were no problems detected.

 

[apairofpcs]

You can try Hirams boot CD. You boot your computer from this CD and then run the utility that you need.

I was unable to find where to download the files to create a CD.

 

[P5-133XL]

System file checker (sfc) tells you if Windows files have been modified from their originals (and can replace any files that are different with original copies) not if the file system is damaged (and fix the file system on the drive) which is what Chkdsk does. Two totally different functions. Which you use depends entirely what your problem is.

Your original problem with Chkdsk not running is normal. You can not run Chkdsk on the system drive, C: (Typically the same, but can be different) or any drive currently in use. Instead, it is supposed to fail and offer to schedule it for your next reboot. When you reboot, it should then do the chkdsk. You can also run chkdsk manually from the recovery console, if needed.

 

[apairofpcs]

System file checker (sfc) tells you if Windows files have been modified from their originals (and can replace any files that are different with original copies) not if the file system is damaged (and fix the file system on the drive) which is what Chkdsk does. Two totally different functions. Which you use depends entirely what your problem is.

Your original problem with Chkdsk not running is normal. You can not run Chkdsk on the system drive, C: (Typically the same, but can be different) or any drive currently in use. Instead, it is supposed to fail and offer to schedule it for your next reboot. When you reboot, it should then do the chkdsk. You can also run chkdsk manually from the recovery console, if needed.

Thank you for the elaboration on the two programs. But you're confused about how I've been using chkdsk.

The program is failing after I restart, when the white text on a black background screen appears just before finalizing a restart at the desktop. At this point, there's no 10 sec. timeout allowing me to "cancel the scan by pressing any key." The scan cancels by itself, never starting in the first place. You are correct that the /F and /R scans can't work in the command prompt window while in GUI Mode. It's in this window that I am asked if I want to schedule the scan for the next time I restart.

I hope my elaborate explanation makes it clear that I've been using chkdsk as intended.

 

[P5-133XL]

Check the event logs, Chkdsk should report its error there. If Chkdsk is failing during reboot, You can manually run it from the recovery console and read the text that it displays there.

 

[jtr1962]

I was unable to find where to download the files to create a CD.

http://www.hirensbootcd.org/download/

Scroll to bottom of page to find the download link.

 

[apairofpcs]

Check the event logs, Chkdsk should report its error there. If Chkdsk is failing during reboot, You can manually run it from the recovery console and read the text that it displays there.

In a command prompt window, I scheduled a chkdsk scan, keeping track of the time. I restarted. When chkdsk cancelled by itself, as expected, I looked at the time. After I arrived at the desktop, I opened Event Viewer and looked at the contents of every folder in the left pane for a warning, error, etc. that occurred at the recorded times. I saw nothing specifying chkdsk at my recorded times. But I'm not proficient in determining what some terms in event viewer mean, so I could have missed the error log file in question.

I forgot to mention that the Lenovo tech. support rep. who is sending me the Recovery Two Disk Set, told me that the disks don't have a Recovery Console built into them. They were created to return the drive to the factory defaults condition. So I may have to consult with my Windows 7 Installation Disk to acquire the Recovery Console you suggest I use to run chkdsk.

 

[apairofpcs]

http://www.hirensbootcd.org/download/

Scroll to the bottom of the page to find the download link.

I forgot to share with you the link to this new thread, which I started yesterday. You must have felt my presence in the forum, to inadvertently find it.

The good news is that I successfully downloaded the 600MB file at your link. The bad news is that chkdsk is nowhere to be found. I even looked in the MS Dos Tools section, which seemed to have most of the utilities that we used in our Dos days. The program will come in handy for other purposes.

Now that I have it, how will installing it help me with my present issue?

 

[jtr1962]

I forgot to share with you the link to this new thread, which I started yesterday. You must have felt my presence in the forum, to inadvertently find it.

The good news is that I successfully downloaded the 600MB file at your link. The bad news is that chkdsk is nowhere to be found. I even looked in the MS Dos Tools section, which seemed to have most of the utilities that we used in our Dos days. The program will come in handy for other purposes.

Now that I have it, how will installing it help me with my present issue?

You're right, I didn't see any other tools there which perform the same function as chkdsk. That seems like a big oversight given that the disk seems to have just about everything else.

 

[apairofpcs]

You're right, I didn't see any other tools there which perform the same function as chkdsk. That seems like a big oversight, given that the disk seems to have just about everything else.

You and Bozo get five gold stars for your efforts. Regarding the Recovery Disk Set being sent to me by Lenovo, I found out that the set will have the OS on a disk or two and the device drivers on other disks. The tech. support rep. last night may have been incorrect in what she told me. Maybe the Recovery Console will be included on one of the disks? These disks may be my only opportunity to run chkdsk from a safe environment.

 

[Howell]

You wrote recovery "disks". whereas I created only one disk using the Lenovo Solution Center recovery media utility. I booted from it, but saw nothing except doing a recovery to a bootable drive. Wasn't there supposed to be a Recovery Console where I could copy program files to the drive and do other tasks?

When I burned mine (T510) several years ago I ended up with 5 factory recovery disks IIRC. OS/drivers/apps. The applet is found on my computer in the control panel.
Windows also has the ability to generate an OS-based recovery disk but this will not let you install from scratch.

 

[Howell]

BTW your desire to run it not withstanding, preemptively running CHKDSK is not normally needed. The OS tracks filesystem usage and errors and runs the task when needed.

 

[apairofpcs]

When I burned mine (T510) several years ago I ended up with 5 factory recovery disks IIRC. OS/drivers/apps. The applet is found on my computer in the control panel.
Windows also has the ability to generate an OS-based recovery disk, but this will not let you install from scratch.

I agree that a Thinkpad should have more than one recovery disk. In fact, I was never notified how many disks I would need for the entire process when it started. It asked me to insert one disk into the optical drive and when it was done that was it. It may be that the problem on the drive that's preventing chkdsk from running, has corrupted the recovery information. When I saw that the recovery set only had one disk, I immediately called Lenovo tech. support. The good thing is that I'll have the set of disks this Friday. I'll examine it and see how I can use it.

 

[apairofpcs]

BTW your desire to run it not withstanding, preemptively running CHKDSK is not normally needed. The OS tracks file system usage and errors, and runs the task when needed.

If my memory serves me well, about the time that chkdsk stopped working, in the middle of a normal restart I was informed that my disk had inconsistencies and I was asked if I would allow chkdsk to scan the drive. I gave permission and that was the scan that rendered a huge amount of errors. However, I usually run a /F scan once a month, and the outcome is usually no errors. I'm always happy that the number of bad sectors remains at "0."

Do you think that running chkdsk arbitrarily is a bad action?

 

[Bozo]

This might be the problem.

I remember someone else making this mistake .... When you try to run 'chkdsk' from the command prompt and it reports that it can't because the drive is locked, do you want to schedule it to run and you press 'Y', do you press 'Enter' after pressing the 'Y' ? If not, you need to.

The Windows 7 install disk will boot the computer ( If I'm doing a repair, I shut the computer off for a few seconds to be sure the memory is cleared ) A screen comes up that will allow you to install Windows 7 or do a repair. The repair menu has a selection for the command prompt. Selecting the command prompt will allow you to run 'chkdsk'.

 

[Howell]

If my memory serves me well, about the time that chkdsk stopped working, in the middle of a normal restart I was informed that my disk had inconsistencies and I was asked if I would allow chkdsk to scan the drive. I gave permission and that was the scan that rendered a huge amount of errors. However, I usually run a /F scan once a month, and the outcome is usually no errors. I'm always happy that the number of bad sectors remains at "0."

Do you think that running chkdsk arbitrarily is a bad action?

The only downsides I can think of is excess activity/stress on the disk and the personal energy required to maintain the schedule. Personally, the energy required is the aspect I would weight more heavily.

It does sound like your file system has suffered some kind of event; it is unusual to have a huge number of errors at one time. Make sure your backups are up to date and try not to overwrite previous backups just in case. After you have repaired your file system evaluate if your drive is indeed failing. And don't wait long, reoccuring events of errors is a prime file level indicator that the drive is failing.

 

[apairofpcs]

This might be the problem.

I remember someone else making this mistake .... When you try to run 'chkdsk' from the command prompt and it reports that it can't because the drive is locked, do you want to schedule it to run and you press 'Y', do you press 'Enter' after pressing the 'Y' ? If not, you need to.

The Windows 7 install disk will boot the computer ( If I'm doing a repair, I shut the computer off for a few seconds to be sure the memory is cleared ) A screen comes up that will allow you to install Windows 7 or do a repair. The repair menu has a selection for the command prompt. Selecting the command prompt will allow you to run 'chkdsk'.

I most certainly do press "Enter" after I type "Y" for "Yes." I've been doing this since Win 98. Good question, since it's not obvious that the Enter key is necessary to complete the request!

If the Lenovo disk set doesn't offer me a Recovery Console, I'll look for it on my Windows 7 Installation DVD.

 

[jtr1962]

You and Bozo get five gold stars for your efforts. Regarding the Recovery Disk Set being sent to me by Lenovo, I found out that the set will have the OS on a disk or two and the device drivers on other disks. The tech. support rep. last night may have been incorrect in what she told me. Maybe the Recovery Console will be included on one of the disks? These disks may be my only opportunity to run chkdsk from a safe environment.

I think Recovery Console is your only option here. My brother recently had some computer issues (long story). He needed to delete his Windows partition and reinstall XP. At first I thought he could do that with fdisk from Windows 98 but unfortunately that doesn't work on NTFS partitions. The old DOS-based chkdsk wouldn't be of much help to you here for the same reason, and the version of chkdsk which comes with Windows from XP on up won't run under DOS. One alternative I discussed with my brother since he had a Ubuntu Live CD was booting into Ubuntu, and then seeing if Ubuntu had tools which work on NTFS partitions. Unfortunately, he was unable to do that for some reason. I don't recall if I ever made you a Ubuntu CD, but that might be an option if you have one. Others here might be able to point you towards exactly what applications you would need to run once you boot into Ubuntu.

 

[apairofpcs]

The only downsides I can think of are excess activity / stress on the disk and the personal energy required to maintain the schedule. Personally, the energy required is the aspect I would weight more heavily.

It does sound like your file system has suffered some kind of event; it is unusual to have a huge number of errors at one time. Make sure your backups are up to date and try not to overwrite previous backups just in case. After you have repaired your file system evaluate if your drive is indeed failing. And don't wait long, since reoccurring events of errors is a prime file level indicator that the drive is failing.

Since everything on the Lenovo laptop is also on the Toshiba laptop and desktop pc, I don't make backups on the Lenovo. If it crashes big time, I'll just use the recovery disks and then reinstall my other programs if the hard drive is salvageable or I need a replacement. This "event" has been the first one that requires monitoring, since I bought the pc. Since the day of the "event", all my read-only chkdsk scans have returned no errors. It seems that the pc is stable. HD Tune scans show no bad blocks. I think that whatever happened delivered it's payload, and the drive is "seemingly" back to normal. Time will tell.

I enjoy maintaining my three pcs, so the personal energy I expend is a non-issue. I don't do chkdsk on a scheduled basis. Since you mentioned activity / stress on the drive, I should "confess" that I use the following on all my pcs on a daily basis: Ultimate Defrag., Disk Cleanup, System Restore, Spybot, Windows Update, AVG update checks many times a day and an AVG scan once a day. I'm a good housekeeper!

 

[apairofpcs]

I think Recovery Console is your only option here. My brother recently had some computer issues (long story). He needed to delete his Windows partition and reinstall XP. At first I thought he could do that with fdisk from Windows 98 but unfortunately that doesn't work on NTFS partitions. The old DOS-based chkdsk wouldn't be of much help to you here for the same reason, and the version of chkdsk which comes with Windows from XP on up won't run under DOS. One alternative I discussed with my brother since he had a Ubuntu Live CD was booting into Ubuntu, and then seeing if Ubuntu had tools which work on NTFS partitions. Unfortunately, he was unable to do that for some reason. I don't recall if I ever made you a Ubuntu CD, but that might be an option if you have one. Others here might be able to point you towards exactly what applications you would need to run once you boot into Ubuntu.

I'm sure the Windows 7 Installation DVD has a Recovery Console. I'm a little squeamish about using it, for fear that i might "click one time too many and install the OS over the existing one." For my peace of mind, I'll wait for the Lenovo disks. In fact, it looks like I'll have them tomorrow.

Yes, you burned me an Ubuntu CD when I had my freezing problem. I still have it. I think I should remind everybody that the only problem I'm having with my Lenovo laptop, is the inability to run a /F or /R chkdsk scan, both write operations. Everything else is working as always. Another reminder is in order. I stated in a previous post that I'm able to run a /R scan in GUI Mode, by way of the C Drive Properties dialog box's "Tools" tab and "Check Now" button. It takes a long time, as does a functioning /R scan ( 5 steps instead of the 3 for the read-only version ) outside of GUI Mode. The good news is that all scans, read-only and write, after that fateful scan with hundreds of errors, have been free of errors. I do them daily to see if anything is brewing. before it affects my daily routine.

All of you may be wondering why I'm spending so much time on this matter. The Lenovo has never had such an insurmountable problem since I received it, so it was a shock when the "event" hit me.

 

[apairofpcs]

I'm sure the Windows 7 Installation DVD has a Recovery Console. I'm a little squeamish about using it, for fear that i might "click one time too many and install the OS over the existing one." For my peace of mind, I'll wait for the Lenovo disks. In fact, it looks like I'll have them tomorrow.

Yes, you burned me an Ubuntu CD when I had my freezing problem. I still have it. I think I should remind everybody that the only problem I'm having with my Lenovo laptop, is the inability to run a /F or /R chkdsk scan, both write operations. Everything else is working as always. Another reminder is in order. I stated in a previous post that I'm able to run a /R scan in GUI Mode, by way of the C Drive Properties dialog box's "Tools" tab and "Check Now" button. It takes a long time, as does a functioning /R scan ( 5 steps instead of the 3 for the read-only version ) outside of GUI Mode. The good news is that all scans, read-only and write, after that fateful scan with hundreds of errors, have been free of errors. I do them daily to see if anything is brewing. before it affects my daily routine.

All of you may be wondering why I'm spending so much time on this matter. The Lenovo has never had such an insurmountable problem since I received it, so it was a shock when the "event" hit me.

I forgot to elaborate on the text above, which I colored blue. It was my desktop pc that kept freezing, not my Lenovo laptop. I still have the CD, but not the freezing problem.

 

[Bozo]

I most certainly do press "Enter" after I type "Y" for "Yes." I've been doing this since Win 98. Good question, since it's not obvious that the Enter key is necessary to complete the request!

If the Lenovo disk set doesn't offer me a Recovery Console, I'll look for it on my Windows 7 Installation DVD.

Did you click on the 'this might be the problem' link?

 

[apairofpcs]

Did you click on the 'this might be the problem' link?

First of all, I apologize for not acknowledging your effort in offering me the link. I sincerely clicked on it when I read your post and I looked at the page. But I got sidetracked and never checked the registry for the proper entry. However, I just did this and found the proper text string as specified on the page. The registry and I are good friends! I ran System File Checker in a command prompt, "sfc /scannow". All system files were fine. Last, I restarted and pressed F8 to get to the Windows Advanced Options page. I chose "Start with last known good configuration." Despite these efforts, the problem persists.

I received Lenovo's Recovery three Disk Set today. There are two applications and drivers disks, and one Windows 7 Operating System disk. I will report when I'm done examining them. Keep in mind that I don't intend on recovering my drive to it's factory installed state. I need the disks in case the drive has a catastrophic failure.