[Saussure]

My computer is ancient - at least in technological terms. It has reached the ripe of age of 4 years and 3 months. I have never run chkdsk on it before, and I wanted to ask how often one has to run this program (my computer is behaving very well so far, touch wood).
I have read that chkds scans drive C only when the computer is booted, and that it may happen that it starts scanning drive C on startup EVERY TIME, which is something I would naturally not want. Also, is there a risk that chkdsk may hang and prevent Windows from loading? Which options do I tick (there are two)? And finally...is there really no way chkdsk can run during the Windows session itself (disconnecting from the internet and turning of Norton's AutoProtect feature to prevent programs from writing onto the disk? I haven't tried that yet, though).

[lotuseclat79]

Hi Saussure,

You ask a very good question!

The answer is related to the file system. When the system detects on boot up that file system logical integrity may be at risk (indicated by what is called a dirty bit setting), then the utility chkdsk will be run on a Windows system.

Usually, on other OSes, like Unix or Linux, there is a count of the number of boot ups since chkdsk (or similar utility ) has been run, and once the count gets to that number of boot ups without it being run - the very next boot up will run the utility. That count field is kept in the meta-data part of the file system known as a super block which is a major control data structure of the file system.

The primary reason chkdsk is run on boot up is the requirement that the disk be unmounted during the scan which is why it cannot be run when the system is booted up - i.e. the disk is unmounted before boot up.

-- Tom

[stantley]

Originally Posted by Saussure

how often one has to run this program

I run it about once every 3 months, but you can run it more often.

Originally Posted by Saussure

I have read that chkds scans drive C only when the computer is booted

Yes, it has to have complete access to the hard drive.

Originally Posted by Saussure

it may happen that it starts scanning drive C on startup EVERY TIME

This sometimes happens accidentally, but it normally runs and when it's done, it boots into Windows.

Originally Posted by Saussure

is there a risk that chkdsk may hang and prevent Windows from loading?

Unlikely.

Originally Posted by Saussure

Which options do I tick (there are two)?

Both of them.

Originally Posted by Saussure

And finally...is there really no way chkdsk can run during the Windows session

No, chkdsk has to have complete access to the hard drive.

More info: http://www.updatexp.com/windows-xp-chkdsk.html