[ADamiani]

OK, my computer has been crashing a lot lately, and I ran chkdsk-- I apparently have a rather large number of bad sectors at this point that need to be fixed. To that end, I need to run chkdsk /f in order to actually fix things.

The problem: I can't run it while Windows is up. When I try, it asks me if I'd like to schedule it when the machine stops, but when I restart, it does not run.

Reading, I find that I need the Windows recovery console, accessible via a disk that came with my PC, in order to run this. I am living in Korea for the year, all of the discs that came with my PC are back in Michigan.

So: what am I do do to address the bad sectors on my disc? Is there some alternative mechanism I can employ to get chkdsk /f to run, or some other way of addressing this problem?

 

[Geekgirl]

Hello and Welcome to TSF

You might want to try running the manufactures utilty.
Find the manufacturer of your hard drive and run their Hard Drive Diagnostics Utility.

 

[ADamiani]

Hello and Welcome to TSF

You might want to try running the manufactures utilty.
Find the manufacturer of your hard drive and run their Hard Drive Diagnostics Utility.

1) Downloaded both of the utilities listed there for my Fujitsu HD, but neither of them seem to work.
2) Diagnosis isn't the problem, per se. Chkdsk (with no flags) works fine, and points out many errors on my drive. The difficulty is repair, which Chkdsk with the /f (fix) flag normally handles (At least, so I believe-- I haven't done this since the days of Scandisk)
3) I'll try to see if there's another manufacturer utility.

 

[Kalim]

Run chkdsk /r - repair, which implies the "f" parameter aswell.

 

[ADamiani]

Run chkdsk /r - repair, which implies the "f" parameter aswell.

Unfortunately, it won't run with the /r parameter either-- not while Windows is running, nor does it run when it restarts (though it says it will):

The type of file system is NTFS
Cannot lock current drive.
Chkdsk cannot run because the volume is in use by another process. Would you like to schedule this volume to be checked the next time the system restarts? (Y/N)

 

[Kalim]

Even if you choose "Yes" to the prompt?

 

[ADamiani]

Even if you choose "Yes" to the prompt?

Yes, that's correct. I've tried it several times, selecting yes each time. I've tried proper shutdowns, just "restarts," improper restarts. I've even (most lately) tried "chkntfs c: /c" to schedule it. So far, I can not get chkdsk /f or /r to run.

Edit: I've also tried Chkdsk /f /r, chkntfs /c c:, chkntfs /d and then /c C:, and rightclicking on C: - Properties -Checkdisk -Schedule

 

[Kalim]

The Hard Drive Diagnostic that Geekgirl linked to... what did you get when running it?

Did you download the ISO image file and then burn it onto CD, reboot with CD inside and then hit F8 for bootup options; where you chose to boot from "CD-ROM" and it then loaded the CD with your HDD diagnostic software screen, presenting you test options?

If all that didn't happen, and it wasn't an *.exe then there's an error there and you would need to try that again and follow the instructions that they provide for running it. The utility working will not in any way be related to the drive but is dependent on your CD, the download and your CD drive (unless its a diskette whereas its the floppy etc).

Let us know what you get.

As for chkdsk command, it can be run in the Recovery Console in DOS mode if you have the XP CD and you boot from that. But without that and a recovery disk its not possible (unless you have something like UBCD which I *think* allows to run it). Your HDD utility is better at this stage at diagnosing the HDD in its entirety.

 

[dai]

http://www.microsoft.com/resources/documentation/windows/xp/all/proddocs/en-us/chkdsk.mspx?mfr=true

 

[ADamiani]

The Hard Drive Diagnostic that Geekgirl linked to... what did you get when running it?

Device Manager > Disk Drives tells me I have a Fujitsu MHV2100BH, so I downloaded Fujitsu's applications, both of which appeared to be zipped .EXEs, not .ISOs:

FJDT (Fujitsu ATA Diagnostic Tool) v6.61
Which, when run, gives me two legalese "agree" prompts in a C:\prompt window, then a progress bar "Identifying HDDs connected to your system," which moves from 1 to 100%. Once it has reached 100% it warns me that no HDD has been identified in my system, which is patently not true.


(SDIAG) SCSI Diagnostic Tool v2.6

Which opens up a window containing a legalese disclaimer and an error box with the red text "ASPI, LoadLibraryEx(wnaspi32) failed!!"

Did you download the ISO image file and then burn it onto CD, reboot with CD inside and then hit F8 for bootup options; where you chose to boot from "CD-ROM" and it then loaded the CD with your HDD diagnostic software screen, presenting you test options?

Like I said, they don't appear to be ISO files (though I confess some unfamiliarity with ISO in general), but I did try UBCD per your suggestion-- but burning that to a previously blank disk and pressing F8 in the bootup options (and, indeed, changing the boot order in setup to load from the CD-RW drive before the HD) only gives me Windows as a startup option, no diagnostics or anything else. Something to do with the formatting, perhaps?

So: fun.

 

[dai]

you put them on a floppy and then boot from the floppy
if you want to run them from cd you have to turn them into iso first
http://aspi.radified.com/

 

[ADamiani]

you put them on a floppy and then boot from the floppy
if you want to run them from cd you have to turn them into iso first
http://aspi.radified.com/

Thanks!
I have no floppy drive, so I've been attempting to turn them into ISOs, via ISORecorderV2. Unfortunately, when I stick a blank DVD-R into the DVD R/RW drive, it tells me the media is non-usable. I tried formatting the disk, but that doesn't seem to help either. I may try again with other software soon.

So: pulling my hair out with frustration.

 

[dai]

http://www.magiciso.com/
this ones freeware never used it so don't know how good it is or how easy it is to use
http://www.lucersoft.com/files/free/LCISOCreator.zip