System Recovered From a Serious Error

If you choose to run the chkdsk with error correction either from Start, Run or from the Tools options and if you want chkdsk to actually try to fix problems, your system must be in a "static state".

There are only two ways to be sure your system is in a static state when running chkdsk.

One way is to run chkdsk from the XP Recovery Console so that XP is not "running" to interfere with chkdsk and when it will be impossible for things to be changing on the volume.

The other way is to schedule the chkdsk to run on the next reboot of the system before XP has a chance to finish loading.

When you choose to run chkdsk with error correction either from the disk properties Tools options or from Start, Run or a Command Prompt (chkdsk /r) you must respond in the affirmative to this question:

Would you like this volume to be checked the next time the system restarts?

If you respond in the affirmative, then chkdsk /r will be scheduled to run the next time XP reboots.

Running a chkdsk with error correction can take a long time - perhaps many hours depending on the size of the volume, the amount of data on the volume and what chkdsk finds to do.  Be patient and wait observing the percent complete on the screen which may even appear to go backwards sometimes.  If the HDD light is blinking or you can hear the system "working" chkdsk is still running, so do not try to interrupt it.

When chkdsk runs automatically on a reboot either because XP thinks it needs to (perhaps your NTFS volume has been marked as dirty) or you choose to schedule the chkdsk with error correction on the next reboot, the results are shown in the Event Viewer Application log.  You need to look there for the chkdsk log to see what happened and any problems after chkdsk has run.

To see the results of a chkdsk that runs on reboot, you must look in the Event Viewer.

To see the Event Viewer logs, click Start, Settings, Control Panel, Administrative Tools, Event Viewer.

A shortcut to Event Viewer is to click Start, Run and in the box enter:

eventvwr.msc

Click OK to launch the Event Viewer.

Look in the Application log for an event sourced by Winlogon, something like:

Event Type:    Information

Event Source:    Winlogon

Event Category:    None

Event ID:    1001

Description:

Checking file system on C:

The type of the file system is NTFS.

One of your disks needs to be checked for consistency. You may cancel the disk check, but it is strongly recommended that you continue.

Windows will now check the disk.

Cleaning up minor inconsistencies on the drive.

CHKDSK is verifying Usn Journal...

Usn Journal verification completed.

  39070048 KB total disk space.

  28017948 KB in 100571 files.

     56540 KB in 10556 indexes.

         0 KB in bad sectors.

    236440 KB in use by the system.

     65536 KB occupied by the log file.

  10759120 KB available on disk.

      4096 bytes in each allocation unit.

   9767512 total allocation units on disk.

   2689780 allocation units available on disk.

Windows has finished checking your disk.

Please wait while your computer restarts.

So should I do that chkdsc repair in place of my regular chkdsc?

yeah I think that's why I removed that HD monitor, was taking up too much resource.

I got Auslogics Disc Defrag, think I'll run that tonite after a disc cleanup!

say, under C: Properties>Tools, I see Error Checking. Is that like chkdsc? I see boxes for

automatically fix file sys errors, and another for attempt recovery of bad sectors.

Could you explain how to do a check disk from the Windows environment?

Would that be Start>Run> chkdsk /r ?

That would be correct.

also, do you know of any programs that monitor your hard drive? I seem to remember having one, Hard Drive heath or something.

There are such software available. However, I cannot comment on which is the best or which is the worst. I don't use such programs. I like the speed of my computer to be as optimal as possible. Perhaps this has something to do with my inability to display patience. In any event, the more programs you have running at start-up the more resources the computer uses ultimately resulting in slower respond times. I try to perform regular back-ups ( I clone/image the hard drive. This way I get all my programs and personal files should the need arise), perform routine maintenance (check disk), run Puran defrag (I use the boot defrag), blow the inside of the computer out once a month (dust causes overheating which is the primary cause of electronic failure for any device) and don't worry about it from there. If something goes out I simply replace it (hard drive included).

Could you explain how to do a check disk from the Windows environment?

Would that be Start>Run> chkdsk /r ?

also, do you know of any programs that monitor your hard drive? I seem to remember having one, Hard Drive heath or something.

You are very welcome for the help. You done a great job. The only thing left to do now is sit back and wait to see if the BSODs continue. As noted by Elder, we can take a look at them if and when that occurs.

An autocheck is sometimes a good indication of imminent failure of the hard drive. For that reason, and also because it is just a good maintenance habit, I would recommend you run a full check disk /r once a month or even more frequently. You can schedule the check disk from the Windows environment. In other words, there is no need to run it from Recovery Console. Otherwise, happy and safe surfing. :-)