how to stop chkdsk from running?

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I foolishly told chkdsk to check (and fix) my 1 TB hard drive (with many files). So the next time i started windows (XP – SP2), it began … SEVERAL days later it was still running. I power cycled the computer. CHKDSK resumed as soon as windows came up. I have NO control over anything! I can not enter any commands to attempt to stop it.

I tried booting into safe mode, but the computer hung.

Any help on getting back my computer would be appreciated. (Please note that it will not let me enter any commands). I’d really rather not wait the month it will take chkdsk to finish.

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Since you are locked into the chkdsk cycle on that machine you can’t get to the command prompt or the OS which limits the options as the dirty bit is set on that drive. Autochk will detect this and start the chkdsk utility automatically.

Beg or borrow a Windows installation disk (not an OEM Recovery disk, but a true XP install disk). Boot the machine using that and enter into the recovery console. Once in the recovery console, you can then use “chkntfs /x C:” without the quotes which will clear the dirty bit on the drive and allow a normal boot once more.

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Thanks for the suggestion to use an XP installation disk. I think i have one for SP1. When i boot it, it does not have chkntfs as one of the approved commands (i’m told to use HELP it see the list of available commands). CHKNTFS is on the hard drive, but i can not figure out how to access it — any suggestions?

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Let it run to completion and don’t power off mid flight – it may be too late for that bit of advice 🙁

cheers, Paul

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Paul T’s inference is quite correct – One should never interrupt a chkdsk due to the real risk of causing a file system corruption.

However, it already is too late. To quote the OP:

….So the next time i started windows (XP – SP2), it began … SEVERAL days later it was still running. I power cycled the computer…..

Thus in this case, the risk is already present and force clearing the Dirty Bit is now a reasonable shortcut out of a long wait.

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Download and create a dos style bootable diskand then run Tinto Tech’s previously mentioned command.

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I did a DOS boot (from bootdisk.com) and attempted then to run chkntfs. It would not run; the error message said that it would not run in DOS.

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My bad, I thought the Recovery Console would allow you to access to the chkntfs command.

So anyway, I just confirmed that you can access chkntfs via the Ultimate Boot CD 4 Windows.

You’ll need to build the boot CD, last time I did this it took a little while and required some files from the Windows installation disk. Follow the instructions carefully and it will be worth it in the end.

Once the machine has booted off this CD (just choose the standard boot options and no networking), choose Command Prompt from the “Start” button. Navigate to c:WindowsSystem32. Then use the chkntfs.exe c: command to verify the drive is tagged as dirty. Assuming it is, use chkntfs.exe /x c: to clear the dirty bit.

If this works, you will now have another useful diagnostic CD in your collection and hopefully a functioning PC!

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this is the answer i gave on another site and covers a few ways to bypass fix it (the check ntfs cmd wont work on a fat32 drive) it also explains why you might not be able to ‘press any key to skip’ the check i would have typed things out in more detail but im all tired out and annoyed for having to register to post an answer.

“Click Start, click Run, type regedit, and then click OK.
Locate and then click the following key in the registry:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESystemCurrentControlSetControlSession ManagerBootExecute
On the Edit menu, click Modify.
Type autocheck autochk *, and then press ENTER. ”

I had to do that after each startup to disable it for the next boot.

if anyone googled this page and the problem occurs even with proper shutdown its probably hardware fault eg bust hard drive

temp fix was to install multiple instances of the OS and use a different one to boot (I had to, using a usb keyboard so the drivers would load or there was no way past the check as you cant ‘press any key to skip’)

if your drive is flagged as dirty it will be checked at every startup

run : cmd : fsutil dirty query c: (where c: is the drive you want to know about)

will tell you if it is

to disable autochk at start up totally save the following :

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESYSTEMCurrentControlSetControlSession Manager]
“AutoChkTimeOut”=dword:0000000

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESYSTEMCurrentControlSetControlSession Manager]
“BootExecute”=hex(7):61,00,75,00,74,00,6f,00,63,00,68,00,65,00,63,00,6b,00,20,
00,61,00,75,00,74,00,6f,00,63,00,68,00,6b,00,20,00,2a,00,00,00,00,00

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREMicrosoftWindows NTCurrentVersionWinlogon]
“SFCScan”=dword:00000000

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionExplorerMyComputercleanuppath]
@=hex(2):25,00,53,00,79,00,73,00,74,00,65,00,6d,00,52,00,6f,00,6f,00,74,00,25,
00,5c,00,73,00,79,00,73,00,74,00,65,00,6d,00,33,00,32,00,5c,00,63,00,6c,00,
65,00,61,00,6e,00,6d,00,67,00,72,00,2e,00,65,00,78,00,65,00,20,00,2f,00,44,
00,20,00,25,00,63,00,00,00

as a .reg file and activate it. (provided by http://www.kellys-korner-xp.com/xp_tweaks.htm number 82 on the list)

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Hi

I have a duel boot windows 8 on a separate drive and I installed win 8 with the win XP drive unplugged so I would not have to use the absolutely stupid win 8 boot loader. I use my bios boot loader for a very fast start up and chose which drive to use. The problem is, win XP sees the win 8 drive as being corrupt and tries to fix it. Win 8 uses a file system that did not exist yet. The next boot to win 8 after the win XP scan, Win 8 would scan and repair the damage win XP did. Around and around we go!!!
I did every one of these things listed here and on other pages about the web to stop the incessant check disk at every boot. Nothing would stop it. Then I just tried this one thing myself and it worked!

Click Start, click Run, type regedit, and then click OK.
Locate and then click the following key in the registry:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESystemCurrentControlSetContro lSession ManagerBootExecute
On the Edit menu, click Modify the registry parameter of ‘autocheck autochk’ to ‘0’ instead of *.
should read >>> autocheck autochk 0 <<< when finished. I did not remove the other inputs that http://www.kellys-korner-xp.com/xp_tweaks.htm number 82 put in the registry before this that did not work.

Only putting zero for the 'autocheck autochk' did the trick. I think the astric tells it to check all.

Rick

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Hi

I have a duel boot windows 8 on a separate drive and I installed win 8 with the win XP drive unplugged so I would not have to use the absolutely stupid win 8 boot loader. I use my bios boot loader for a very fast start up and chose which drive to use. The problem is, win XP sees the win 8 drive as being corrupt and tries to fix it. Win 8 uses a file system that did not exist yet. The next boot to win 8 after the win XP scan, Win 8 would scan and repair the damage win XP did. Around and around we go!!!
I did every one of these things listed here and on other pages about the web to stop the incessant check disk at every boot. Nothing would stop it. Then I just tried this one thing myself and it worked!

Click Start, click Run, type regedit, and then click OK.
Locate and then click the following key in the registry:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESystemCurrentControlSetContro lSession ManagerBootExecute
On the Edit menu, click Modify the registry parameter of ‘autocheck autochk’ to ‘0’ instead of *.
should read >>> autocheck autochk 0 <<< when finished. I did not remove the other inputs that http://www.kellys-korner-xp.com/xp_tweaks.htm number 82 put in the registry before this that did not work.

Only putting zero for the 'autocheck autochk' did the trick. I think the astric tells it to check all.

Rick

Yes I know this thread is old but it is only one I found – radrick01's fix worked exactly correctly for me, I was in chkdsk /f /r hell in Windows 8.1 now all gone

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interesting

i tried chkdsk to look for errors and fix them

it had to wait for a reboot to start
then it ran for about a half a day on my 1TB drive

number of files should not make that much difference should it?
it has to check every bit/byte and make sure they can be read/changed/restored reliably

then mark bad sectors to be avoided in real use

i suggest rebooting and just let it run til it finishes

I foolishly told chkdsk to check (and fix) my 1 TB hard drive (with many files). So the next time i started windows (XP – SP2), it began … SEVERAL days later it was still running. I power cycled the computer. CHKDSK resumed as soon as windows came up. I have NO control over anything! I can not enter any commands to attempt to stop it.

I tried booting into safe mode, but the computer hung.

Any help on getting back my computer would be appreciated. (Please note that it will not let me enter any commands). I’d really rather not wait the month it will take chkdsk to finish.

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