I can't use SCANDISK in DOS

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.win98.gen_discussion (More info?)

After experiencing a severe system crash recently on my Windows 98 SE
machine, I want to run ScanDisk on my hard disk in DOS to check for errors
before proceeding with a reinstallation. This is because I can't even enter
Safe Mode in Windows, which may suggest that my hard disk could be corrupt or
faulty. However when I run the SCANDISK command in DOS (not MS DOS), it
doesn't recognise it as it reports a bad command file name error. Even when
I run the command with the help switch: SCANDISK /? -it does not accept it
from either the c:\ or the a:\ drives. I even tried switching to c:\windows
but it still doesn't work. I see from the article on the Internet @
http://www.dewassoc.com/support/msdos/scandisk.htm that DOS version 6.2 or
later is required. I not sure what DOS version is running on my machine. It
was my intention to run SCANDISK /CHECKONLY first to detect any errors and
then running diagnostics before proceeding with the reinstallation of Windows
98.

Anyway, I await any clarification or assistance with respect to using this
command.

Thanks

Martin Healy

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.win98.gen_discussion (More info?)

Thanks for the reply. I am booting from a Windows 98 setup disk that came
with the machine and it still does not accept the SCANDISK command.
Irrespective of what option I select from the start up menu (i.e. whether its
option 1,2,or3) when booting off the 98 setup disk, it still doesn't work. I
don't think I can use "boot from command prompt only" in Windows 98 SE or by
changing any setting in the advanced option in the BIOS - especially when I
can't enter Windows even via Safe Mode. I am strictly confined to DOS but I
can read and write to the hard disk from this mode.

Anyway, the problem still exists.

Thanks

Martin Healy

"Ron Martell" wrote:

> Martin Healy <MartinHealy@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote:
>
> >After experiencing a severe system crash recently on my Windows 98 SE
> >machine, I want to run ScanDisk on my hard disk in DOS to check for errors
> >before proceeding with a reinstallation. This is because I can't even enter
> >Safe Mode in Windows, which may suggest that my hard disk could be corrupt or
> >faulty. However when I run the SCANDISK command in DOS (not MS DOS), it
> >doesn't recognise it as it reports a bad command file name error. Even when
> >I run the command with the help switch: SCANDISK /? -it does not accept it
> >from either the c:\ or the a:\ drives. I even tried switching to c:\windows
> >but it still doesn't work. I see from the article on the Internet @
> >http://www.dewassoc.com/support/msdos/scandisk.htm that DOS version 6.2 or
> >later is required. I not sure what DOS version is running on my machine. It
> >was my intention to run SCANDISK /CHECKONLY first to detect any errors and
> >then running diagnostics before proceeding with the reinstallation of Windows
> >98.
> >
> >Anyway, I await any clarification or assistance with respect to using this
> >command.
> >
> >Thanks
> >
> >Martin Healy
>
> Boot your computer to "Command Prompt Only" and then run Scandisk.
>
> If that produces a "Bad command or filename" response then your hard
> drive data structure appears to have been seriously damaged and at
> least some files are no longer accessible.
>
> If your hard drive is FAT32 then using an MS-DOS boot disk is not
> going to work because MS-DOS does not work on FAT32 hard drives.
>
> You need a Windows 98 startup disk, and if you do not have one you can
> download an image from www.bootdisk.com and then use the disk it
> creates to boot your computer to a command prompt. The startup disk
> will contain the scandisk program so it will work.
>
> Good luck
>
>
> Ron Martell Duncan B.C. Canada
> --
> Microsoft MVP
> On-Line Help Computer Service
> http://onlinehelp.bc.ca
>
> In memory of a dear friend Alex Nichol MVP
> http://aumha.org/alex.htm
>