Drive dying or no?

[mitchafi]

Every time I boot up the PC, after the Windows XP Splash screen, Windows tells me that one of my disks (E:, a 250gb seagate PATA storage drive) needs to be checked for consistency. It runs chkdsk every time before proceeding to the desktop, and has never found any errors. SeaTools in Windows passes both short and long Generic and Self Tests. The drive seems to be functioning perfectly. What else can I do to figure out if the drive is on the outs...and if it is not, how do I get it to stop prompting me to run chkdsk every time I boot up?

TIA,
Mitch

 

[Kakumba]

If it keeps passing, then it sounds like windows is confusing itself, and not clearing the "dirty bit".

This thread seems to help:

http://www.pcreview.co.uk/forums/thread-112220.php

otherwise

http://www.google.co.nz/search...&rls=org.mozilla:en-USfficial&client=firefox-a

There should be plenty of help out there, I know I had the same problem before, and Google found the answer...

 

[Mark R]

Originally posted by: Kakumba

http://www.pcreview.co.uk/forums/thread-112220.php

Wow. Talk about the wrong approach to the problem.

Windows is warning that a failed shutdown may have corrupted data on the disk, so is checking it every boot - so, I know, let's just deactivate the check.

The only way to clear the 'dirty bit' mentioned in the thread is to run chkdsk and allow it to run to completion. If chkdsk completes normally, then it will clear the dirty bit.

If this is happening everyboot, it suggests either something is requesting a disk check explicitly. To reset to normal checking at the start->run prompt, type 'chkntfs /d'. This will reset to normal behavior.

If this doesn't cure it, and you have definitely run a full check disk in repair mode. Then it suggests something is going wrong at shutdown, and the system is crashing before it saves everything to disk. This is a different problem, and you may have to investigate various drivers to see if one is causing problems.

 

[mitchafi]

Originally posted by: Mark R

Originally posted by: Kakumba

http://www.pcreview.co.uk/forums/thread-112220.php

Wow. Talk about the wrong approach to the problem.

Windows is warning that a failed shutdown may have corrupted data on the disk, so is checking it every boot - so, I know, let's just deactivate the check.

The only way to clear the 'dirty bit' mentioned in the thread is to run chkdsk and allow it to run to completion. If chkdsk completes normally, then it will clear the dirty bit.

If this is happening everyboot, it suggests either something is requesting a disk check explicitly. To reset to normal checking at the start->run prompt, type 'chkntfs /d'. This will reset to normal behavior.

If this doesn't cure it, and you have definitely run a full check disk in repair mode. Then it suggests something is going wrong at shutdown, and the system is crashing before it saves everything to disk. This is a different problem, and you may have to investigate various drivers to see if one is causing problems.

Is a chkdsk in repair mode just chkdsk /r?. If so, I've done that and everything checked out. Is there any catch, like perhaps having to do it from dos or in safe mode? I just did it at a cmd window. This is such an old XP install that I wouldn't mind formatting/reinstalling windows, but I have an old MOBO and loading SATA drivers is a real pain and requies a floppy. Guess I'll have to start reading up on slipstreaming...

Thanks

 

[RebateMonger]

Are there any related error messages in the System Event or Application Event logs?

 

[mitchafi]

Yes, there are error messages in both.

The system event log message is under the category "winlogon" and says the same exact thing it says when it runs chkdsk before logging on (a disk needs to be checked for consistency). The error in the application log seems more dire. It is listed under the category "NTFS" and says "the file system on E: is corrupt and unusable. Please run chdksk.

 

[RebateMonger]

A "Chkdsk /r" command at the command prompt SHOULD fix this. But it's apparently not.

You said drive "E:". What's writing to "E:"? Assuming that E: is not your boot drive, there can't be that many things that write to it. Or are there applications on that drive?

If you have another drive laying around, you could attach it as e:, copy any data or applications that are necessary for the PC to run, and see if you still get the errors. If you do, then your system or applications are corrupting the drive. If everything works peachy with a new drive, then you probably should replace the drive.

 

[Zap]

Originally posted by: mitchafi
the file system on E: is corrupt and unusable. Please run chdksk.

??? I also would like to know what is the E: drive. FWIW in some testing I have found that Vista will always want to check the integrity of bootable flash drives, but the same flash drive formatted normally would not flag that check.

 

[mitchafi]

E: is just a storage harddrive. It has no programs installed on it, just a bunch of random office files, videos, etc. Thus I assume there is nothing at all that is writing to it. Yesterday I disconnected E: and reformatted my boot drive and installed a fresh copy of XP with SP3. After reconnecting the E: drive, the same message appears every time I boot up as well as the same events in the log viewer. I plan on backing up the data onto an external drive (need to get one ASAP) and then using chkntfs /d to disable the message and will proceed as normal. If it dies, it dies. Does this sound kosher?

TIA

 

[RebateMonger]

I've seen this on a storage drive...a Maxtor 250 GB drive that all-of-a-sudden started corrupting video folders after being idle for six months. I'm thinking that IT passed Maxtor's disk diagnostics, too, but I don't remember for sure. But it was obviously failing.