Unknown Hardware Error

Many times this can be caused by Windows not being shut down properly. However, the check normally completes if no problems are detected.

You might also get this warning if a disk check is scheduled and a=not allowed to run to completion.

Howlong have you let it continue to run after it appears to stop? Sometimes the disk check will appear to sit in one place while Windows attempts to fix a problem. If you let it run for a while (5-10 minutes) and nothing happens, then there might cause for concern.

If the disk check consistantly stops in the same place, and WON'T continue at all, this might be an indication of a hard drive about to fail.

This could be a warning that something serious is about to happen to your HDD, I recommend you to run scandisk complete, and find out if you have bad sectors on your disk. If it is only a superficial problem may be it could be fixed, if not, then prepare to backup your data and buy a new HDD.

Good luck,
@lberto

This message is usually caused by improper shutdown as mentioned. If you don't use Start/Shutdown then the OS is designed to perform a scan of the disk on reboot. If it's stopping for a long time or totally it's time to get a new drive. Most drives come with 3 years warranty so if that time hasn't passed you should be able to get it replaced at no cost. I don't mess around with drives that may be failing. The first thing I do before trying any troubleshooting is get the data backed up. Depending on the problem scandisk could make matters worse because it attempts to write to the drive. To get the backup use ghost or one of the free tools offered on your drives webpage. I'd check the warranty and get it replaced. If you use a credit card they'll ship a replacement drive out first and as long as you get the other back in time there's no charge.

You havent' specified the OS u r using!
Thought, Try booting to DOS instead of windows using the F8 key in the beginning. Once in DOS, run the scandisk with additional keys to it asking it to run the surface scan & fix errors if found.
Below is a listing of available switches in MS-DOS scandisk.
*****
scandisk [ drive: | /all] [/checkonly | /autofix [/nosave] | /custom] [/fragment] [/surface] [/mono] [/nosave] [/nosummary]

/all - Checks and repairs all local drives at once.
/checkonly- Checks drive for errors but will not make repairs.
/autofix - Fixes errors without asking you first. Saves lost clusters by default as files in the drives root directory. Cannot be used with /checkonly or /custom.
/custom - Runs Scandisk using the settings in [custom] section of the scandisk.ini file. Cannot be used with /autofix or /checkonly.
/surface - Automatically checks surface after other areas are tested without prompting you first. When used with /custom, will override any /surface setting in [Custom] section of scandisk.ini.
/fragment - Checks individual files for fragmentation. Must specify a drive, path and file name; cannot use any other switches.
/mono - Uses a monochrome display instead of color.
/nosave - Deletes all lost clusters found by Scandisk. Can be used with /autofix.
/nosummary - Prevents display of full-screen summary after each drive. Use with /autofix to prevent prompts for undo diskette.
*****
After this, try booting and see if prob still persists.
Cheers.

Not one of you READ the question.

THE SCAN ISN'T completing!!!!!!
IN my YEARS this had happened to me 4 times
and it was MESSY each time.
What is happening is that HD or Filesystem FAILURE IS OCCURING NOW NOW NOW

I suggest not booting this machine at all till you can take it to a VERY qualified tech that can 1st IMAGE the drive then analyse for problems and possibly saving what ya got.

If ya don't care about what is on the drive just replace it.
If ya do, replace it and you may be able to slave it on another system long enough to get what you need

I wouldn't bother with formating the drive if you decide on a wipe and load. 70% chance major failure will occure again anyway

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