Bill Detwiler: Windows Vista's Check Disk utility is a good tool for detecting and potentially fixing file system errors. But sometimes, Check Disk doesn't behave as it should.
I'm Bill Detwiler and in this IT Dojo video, I'll tell you what to do when Vista's Check Disk tool malfunctions.
When you run Windows Vista's Check Disk tool from the GUI and you select the Automatically Fix File System Errors option, Windows will schedule the tool's DOS version to run the next time you start Windows. The Tool will even ask if you want to restart right then and there and run the check.
Well, that's the way the process should work. But, several TechRepublic members have reported that when they run Check Disk with this option and the "Scan For And Attempt Recovery Of Bad Sectors" option selected, the scan either doesn't run when Vista reboots, or it continues to run every time the machine starts up. TechRepublic's Windows blogger, Greg Shultz dug into these issues and came up with a couple ways to fix them.
Let's start with the problem of Check Disk failing to run at startup.
The cause is often a configuration error or a slight corruption problem in the registry. When the Check Disk GUI schedules the DOS version to run at startup, it actually makes a change in the registry that triggers the Check Disk operation to run as Windows boots. If that entry isn't configured properly due to some glitch in the system or if it becomes corrupted by a third-party utility, Check Disk will not run at startup.
To fix the problem, you must manually modify the registry.
To launch the Registry Editor, press [Windows]+R to open the Run dialog box. Then type regedit.exe in the Open text box, click OK and then respond to the UAC prompt.
When you see the Registry Editor, navigate to the following folder:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager
When you get there, locate the BootExecute value and double-click it. The default value data of BootExecute value should be:
autocheck autochk *
If it reads anything else, simply overwrite the entry with the default value data.
To complete the operation, click OK to close the Edit Multi-String dialog box, close the Registry Editor, and restart your system. Once your system restarts, you can return to the Check Disk GUI, select both the Automatically Fix File System Errors check box and the Scan For And Attempt Recovery Of Bad Sectors check box and click Start. When the system restarts, Check Disk should run normally.
Now, let's tackle the error of Checks Disk running every time Windows Vista boots.
When Check Disk is scheduled to run at startup, Windows is supposed to reset the BootExecute value to its default setting as soon as the Check Disk operation is launched. If Check Disk runs at every startup, the cause is typically a configuration error or a registry error that prevents the BootExecute value from being reset to its default setting.
The solution I just went over should also solve this problem.
However, if resetting the BootExecute value to its default value doesn't solve the problem and Check Disk runs again at startup, it is possible that the drive's Dirty Bit is stuck. To check the status of the Dirty Bit, you'll use the Fsutil command.
To begin, right-click on the Command Prompt shortcut and select the Run As Administrator command. When you encounter a UAC, you will need to respond appropriately. Then type:
Fsutil dirty query C:
If C: is not the drive you're checking, then you'll need to change that value in the command. When you execute this command, the result should tell you if the drive is dirty. Which it most likely is if Check Disk is running every time you start Windows.
At this point, you'll use the Chkntfs command to disable the Check Disk operation for the next startup. Type:
Chkntfs /x C:
Again, if you're not troubleshooting the C: drive, change the value in the command. When you execute the command, the result should tell you that the file system is NTFS.
Now, close the Command Prompt and restart Windows. Hopefully, Check Disk won't run and you'll boot directly into Windows.
However, Check Disk does run, don't despair. Let Windows boot and then open a Command Prompt window. Now, run Check Disk in full repair mode by entering:
Chkdsk /f /r C:
If you're not troubleshooting the C: drive, change the value in the command.
You'll then be prompted to schedule Check Disk to run at startup. To continue, type Y and press [Enter]. Then, restart Windows and allow Check Disk to run at startup. When it does, it should properly reset the Dirty Bit and Windows should start normally from this point forward.
I hope these tips help you resolve any Windows Vista Check Disk malfunctions. If you've run into any other problems with this tool, or if you've discovered other quirky issues in Windows Vista, let us know about them in the IT Dojo blog. We'll try to get to the bottom of it in upcoming episodes of IT Dojo.
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I'm Bill Detwiler. Thanks for visiting TechRepublic's IT Dojo.
