Not so easy Scandisk question........

[Hermskii]

I'm running Windows XP Pro. I have a single hard drive in the machine and I completely know how to run a chkdsk on it and go into the event viewer and see the results of scandisk whenever I run it.

Here is the tricky question. I have another drive that I want to start to use in a different computer. I want to test it first before I install an OS on it. I have slaved the drive in my main PC and can view it properly. I ran scandisk on it. I was not there at the end of scandisk so I did not see the results. Because my new slave drive is empty, I was not forced to schedule the scandisk at next boot up. It ran it while I was still in Windows but I walked away because it was taking so long. I got back and it said it was done. It showed no other results. Here is the question:

Where can I see the results of a scandisk I ran on a drive while not having to reboot windows?

Test this yourself if you have 2 drives in your PC. Open My Computer. Right click on your second drive. Select Properties, Tools, Check Now, put checks in the 2 boxes they offer and click start. When it is done, tell me how your determined your results. They are not in the event viewer.

 

[robisbell]

scandisk should not take that long to run on a empty drive.

 

[Hermskii]

Wrong. Scandisk will take as much time as needed depending on the size of the drive when the option to "Scan for and attempt recovery of bad sectors" is selected. It is a surface test basically which is why it can take a long time on a big drive even if it is empty.

 

[robisbell]

well, next time post that in your OP, and good luck.

 

[Hermskii]

I did! See? Look:

Test this yourself if you have 2 drives in your PC. Open My Computer. Right click on your second drive. Select Properties, Tools, Check Now, put checks in the 2 boxes they offer and click start.

One of those boxes I said to put a check in is the one that causes the surface test. Later!

 

[Hermskii]

I'm still wondering about this. Nobody figured it out? I may have but forgot the answer if I did ever figure it out.

 

[corkyg]

I don't use Scandisk in XP or Vista - I use CHKDSK from the Command Prompt. Anyway, I tried exactly what you said. Phase 1 was fast, Phase 2 was lengthy, phase 3 was fast. But no specific results were displayed except for it to say the task was completed. Wierd.

Will watch for the answer - if one is forthcoming. I guess that's why I always use the Command Prompt.

 

[Hermskii]

Cool! I stumped this forum. I'm shocked nobody knows the answer and for the record, I do not know the answer either. Since I don't, can someone tell me how I can see the results of this scan disk through any other method than having it be the master drive and having to schedule the scandisk at the next boot up?

 

[RebateMonger]

Originally posted by: Hermskii
Where can I see the results of a scandisk I ran on a drive while not having to reboot windows?.

In the Application Event Log, either in a NetLogon entry, or in a Chkdsk entry. Look at the data associated with the Event. That works for Chkdsk. I assume that ScanDisk puts the entries in the same place. But you can just run Chkdsk from a Command Prompt.

But why not run the disk maker's drive diagnostics program? That'll better tell you the condiition of the drive.

 

[Hermskii]

All good ideas and here is what I posted on another forum before I was able to get back to this one. Thanks.

I figured it out:

Select Start
Select Run
Type in: chkdsk/r G:

In this case, my drive that needed to be checked was drive G:

The switch of /r means to not only fix bad sectors but repair bad blocks as well.



I was able to use this to test several drives I had only to find out that I only had 2 good ones out of about 5. I have since tossed the bad ones. Thanks again!

 

[corkyg]

Cool! That is about what I tried to tell you - there is no SCANDISK in XP!!! The best CHKDSK with repairs, etc., is best dfone on a reboot anyway.

 

[nineball9]

Coryky tried to tell you - for drives other than your boot drive, run chkdsk using the command prompt window.

If you want to know the options of chkdsk, type "chkdsk /?" in the command prompt without the quotes.

For a long, but thorough scan, use "chkdsk /r" instead of "chkdsk /f". For your "G:" drive, that would be "chkdsk G: /r" without the quotes.

 

[ch33zw1z]

dunno, why this thread made me lol :thumbsup: