Autochk

[Angela61299]

Hi. I have a user running NT 4.0 w/SP 6a. Every time he turns the PC on it runs Autochk. It doesn't find any damaged files, it just runs through and then boots up like normal. I have watched him shutdown and it shuts down without a problem. I reapplied SP6a but I still have the problem. Any suggestions? Thanks.

 

[thatrenowned]

Try the following:

1. Go to My Computer
2. Go to HDD's properties
3. Go to Tools
4. Go to CheckDisk and tick both boxes
5. Reboot the computer and let it run through CheckDisk again.

Maybe doing this will stop it from running AutoCheck on every reboot since you've told it to do it again...

Rgds

 

[Angela61299]

Hi. Unfortunately that did not work. I do have a new development. Autochk is now also displaying the message "cannot open volume for direct access". Anyone have any suggestions? Thanks.

 

[johncurtis]

Are you short of space? This will often cause chkdsk to run each time you boot up. Also, try reapplying SP6a (never does any harm...)

The cannot open... message means that there are other processes (such as a virus checker) running.

 

[Angela61299]

He has 419 MB free. I already reapplied SP6a. Anything else? Anyone? Anyone? Thanks!

 

[johncurtis]

Assuming the drive is ntfs, you could stop chkdsk running by using chkntfs. For instance, to stop chdsk running on your c: drive, at a cmd prompt type:
chkntfs /x c:
Note that this will permanently stop chkdsk running at boot. You can change it back using the /d flag.
Running chkntfs without any flags (chkntfs c will tell you whether the system considers the drive dirty or not.

 

[TheClueless]

If he has a Zip Drive setup that can cause it to do that if there is a Zip Disk in the drive when you boot up.

 

[Shadowblade]

Ok, here's a way to solve the problem, though you must remember this will take out the auto check at boot, it won't solve your hard drive problem (if there is one)

Edit: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet Control\Session Manager

Change the BootExecute entry from:
autocheck autochk * /.........
To:
autocheck autochk *

Hope this helps. This is a tip I read on a tips page somewhere someday. I didn't test it though

Regards,

Shadow.

 

[Angela61299]

Hi. I just wanted to give you all an update and thank you for all of your suggestions. After johncurtis's "Assuming the drive is NTFS..." message, I checked to verify he was running NTFS and what do you know, he was running FAT. Anyway, I converted him to NTFS. It is no longer scanning the hard drive; however, he still receives the "Cannot open the volume for direct access" message. Should I be worried about this? Thanks.

 

[thatrenowned]

Nah, when it says this, it asks you if you want to schedule it next time the computer reboots. Then, when it gets to the blue screen on boot up where it tells you your service pack, memory, amount of processors etc, it starts Check-Disk.
This is just because it can't scan certain files when they're in use, but during boot up they're not...or something like that anyway.

 

[LOB]

I'm pretty sure the "cannot open volume" error (and the continuous chkdsk you fixed) is a feature of SMS. Basically the RChelp.SYS service is starting before chkdsk can gain control of the of the volume to run. So since it can't 'open the volume' because RChelp is 'open' it doesn't do the chkdsk. Which is a bad thing if you need chkdsk for any reason.
Q235771 covers all this. Also mentioning that if the continuous chkdsk is an issue it is because the volume is FAT not NTFS - which you've already found out.
The article explains how to change the service from System to Automatic via reg editing and this problem should go away.
Hope this helps

 

[Angela61299]

LOB ~ Thanks so much. This was definitely my problem. We are in the process of migrating from a WNT 4 domain to a W2K domain which has SMS. I had just changed the user's domain to the W2K domain with SMS when this started happening. I made the registry change and now it's working perfect. Thanks!