I accidentally set up chkdsk to run on my removable hard drive. Chkdsk now runs sporadically upon startup. Since the chkdsk never seems to end, I have to unplug the hard drive and reboot the computer. Do I have to go into the registry fix this? Is there a dirty bit set?
Sometimes it happens that disk check always starts to check the file system on one or more drives for consistency. If any key is pressed, the disk checking is aborted. Actually this is because some data structure of the drive or some file is corrupted which can not be recovered and check disk is always run at Windows startup. Or sometimes it may take several hours for disk checking to scan all the drives. So disabling it or postponing disk check is better. There are several methods to disable disk checking at Windows startup. Two of them are given below:
Method 1: Using CHKNTFS utility
CHKNTFS is a utility that has been developed by Microsoft to disable disk checking on certain drives at Windows startup. To use this utility go to Start –> Run –> cmd.
If you want to disable check disk on C: drive, use the following command on command prompt.
chkntfs /X C:
If you want to disable check disk on two or more drives, just keep on adding the drives:
chkntfs /X C: D: E:
This will disable check disk on C, D and E drives.
If you want to restore what you have done, that is, enable automatic disk checking on all the drives again, just run the following command:
chkntfs /D
This will restore all the drives to automatic disk checkup.
Method 2: Using Registry
To disable automatic disk checking at Windows startup through registry, go to the following registry key:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager
In the right hand pane, double click BootExecute.
The default value of the key is autocheck autochk *
* means every drive is checked for consistency. Just add /K:C at the end before *. /K switch will disable autocheck on C: drive at Windows startup. So the final value should look like this:
autocheck autochk /k:C *
If you want to add more drives, the key should look like this: (disabling C and D drives)
autocheck autochk /k:C /k:D *
If you want to restore everything to default, just replace the key with the default one i.e.,
autocheck autochk *
Hope this will solve this issue.
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Thanks & Regards
Nanda Kishore
Go to the Windows Command Prompt. You can do this by clicking first the Start button and then clicking the Run button. After this, type "cmd" in the Open text box and press Enter.
View the displayed Command Prompt screen.
If you want CHKDSK to run in read-only mode, type:
CHKDSK c:
If you want CHKDSK to fix errors and not to check bad sectors, type:
CHKDSK c:/f
and press Enter in the Command Prompt.
If you want CHKDSK to run thoroughly; that is, fix errors, find bad sectors in your hard drive and recuperate still readable data, type:
CHKDSK c:/r or
CHKDSK c:/p and press Enter in the Command Prompt.
Initialize the properties of the hard drive you want CHKDSK to run. Open My Computer. Right click your mouse on the drive in which you want CHKDSK to run. Click the Properties button and click the Tools tab. In the Error-checking box, click the Check Now button.
Set up the Check Disk options by checking one or both check boxes displayed. These are labeled "automatically fix file system errors" and "scan for and attempt recovery of bad sectors". If you want CHKDSK to run in read-only mode, do not check either box. After this, click the Start button.
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I used method 1 and it has worked so far. Much better than changing the Registry (too scary for a newbie). Thanks a lot for your help!
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