I (foolishly) scheduled chkdsk to run at next windows startup - How do

[stuffed]

I (foolishly) scheduled chkdsk to run at next windows startup - How do I stop it?

It had been running for seven hours and had got to 30% of stage 4 of 5, but I need to get work done so
I rebooted, but it has now started again ... at the beginning.

It did not give me the option to press any key within 7 seconds.
I can't stop it and it keeps restarting at the beginning every time I reboot.

I didn't realise it would take sooooo loooong to run - Microsoft should surely give you a warning that you are going to loose at least a day's work.

Any help would be most appreciated - I need to get work done, not sit and watch a computer that is going to take over seven hours and possibly a day to start.

Many thanks in advance

 

[riser]

Normally it doesn't take that long. Sounds like there is an issue somewhere. In fact, it locked up which is why it never finished. It generally takes just a few minutes to complete.

You should be able to end it by hitting a key to skip it. If not, try going info safe mode. If that doesn't work try going into Last Known Good Configuration.

 

[stuffed]

Thank you for your reply, however ....

a) It has NOT locked up - it is still running

b) As this is a 'schedule at next Windows Startup, hitting any key, as you suggested, just does not work - if you had read the question, you would have been aware of this fact.

c) My attempt to stop it, by rebooting, did not work, and has just started the protracted process again from the beginning - this is why it was running for 14 hours ( we are now at 16 hours)

The problem, and therefore the question that I asked, is HOW DO IT STOP IT ???

It would seem that MICROSOFT are remiss in not:
a) Warning how long this routine will take, and
b) Not providing a means to stop it, when it has been scheduled to run at next windows start up

This is a business computer - I needed to run the Payroll today, plus I needed to despatch internet orders that I could not access because this routine was (a) taking so long to run and (b) I could not stop it.

My post was simply asking ... HOW DO IT STOP THIS ROUTINE - so that I can start the computer to run and do my work.

Your response of 'safe mode' etc is NOT RELEVANT TO MY QUESTION.
If you re-read my question, you will see what I am asking, which is simply to start my computer so that I can do some work.

 

[Ijack]

Did you tick the "Scan for and attempt recovery of bad sectors" box? That would explain why it's taking a long time. Microsoft do actually warn, in the technical documentation that chkdsk can take a long time to run but I agree that a warning when you schedule it would be a good idea.

It's really not a good idea to cancel a chkdsk once it's started. I'd bite the bullet and let it do its thing - better than a trashed disk.

 

[stuffed]

Did you tick the "Scan for and attempt recovery of bad sectors" box? That would explain why it's taking a long time. Microsoft do actually warn, in the technical documentation that chkdsk can take a long time to run but I agree that a warning when you schedule it would be a good idea.

It's really not a good idea to cancel a chkdsk once it's started. I'd bite the bullet and let it do its thing - better than a trashed disk.

Hello ijack

Thank you for your response, and yes, I'd checked both boxes when requesting the scan at next windows startup - which (I think) did include the 'scan for and attempt recovery of bad sectors' .

It's now got past the stage it was at, when I rebooted (in my feeble attempt to stop it), but is still on stage 4 of 5 at over 16 hours, but is still running.

If I'd have known it was going to put the computer out of action for so long I would have chosen a better time to do this (or probably not done it at all). In my ignorance, I thought 2-3 hours for an 80gb hard drive, which would have been acceptable.
I'm extremely annoyed at Microsoft for (a) not warning how long this could take, and (b) not providing an option to cancel.
I'm a small one-person business and can't afford for a working computer to be of action for such a long period of time - this has really screwed with my business.

I only ran the routine as a precaution as one program would not load properly the previous day.

And yes, it would seem I have no option but to let it run - I'm now concerned that Microsoft's disk utilities could create more problems and errors than they are supposed to detect and rectify. Guess who wants a MAC for christmas (Me).

Thank you though for your most relevant response - very much appreciated.

WOW - Whilst I've been typing this, the CHKDSK routine has actually finished, without any errors, and Windows is loading - WOW, 16 hours late, but now I can do some work - but ... staff haven't been paid, internet orders haven't been sent .. so do I still have a business ??

 

[Ijack]

Glad it finished at last. At least next time you'll know! There is, btw, a way to cancel a scheduled chkdsk before you reboot (involves editing the registry) but this wan't going to help in your case.

 

[aford10]

A checkdisk doesn't take that long. You can't blame it on Microsoft. It sounds like you have a hardware issue.

 

[aford10]

b) As this is a 'schedule at next Windows Startup, hitting any key, as you suggested, just does not work - if you had read the question, you would have been aware of this fact.


Your response of 'safe mode' etc is NOT RELEVANT TO MY QUESTION.
If you re-read my question, you will see what I am asking, which is simply to start my computer so that I can do some work.

You came here asking for help. Riser tried giving some FREE advice to HELP YOU. ^ That's some pretty rude crap you spewed. You run a business, you're supposed to be professional. I would hope you don't act like that with clients, or the answer to your own question is: No, you probably don't have a business anymore.

 

[Ijack]

A checkdisk doesn't take that long. You can't blame it on Microsoft. It sounds like you have a hardware issue.

It can quite easily do so if you ask it to scan every sector of a large hard disk. (At least that's what Microsoft say.)

 

[aford10]

Not on an 80GB hard drive.

I've got several 500GB + hard drives. I always run checkdisks with the /r switch. It scans all sectors and repairs what it can. It's a thorough scan, and usually takes less than 15 minutes (depending on the drive).

 

[Ijack]

It's not that simple. From Microsoft:

Rather than attempt to predict how long CHKDSK will take to run for a given volume on a given hardware platform, suffice to say that it can take anywhere from a few seconds to several days -- depending on your specific situation. Unless /R is used, for a given hardware platform the biggest concern is the number of files and directories rather than the absolute size of the volume. That is, a 50 GB volume with one or two large database files will only take seconds for CHKDSK to run provided /R is not specified. If /R is specified, CHKDSK will have to read verify every sector on the volume, and that clearly adds significantly for large volumes. On the other hand, even a relatively small volume might take hours to run CHKDSK if it has hundreds of thousands or millions of small files -- whether or not /R is specified.

 

[B-Unit]

Thank you for your reply, however ....

a) It has NOT locked up - it is still running

b) As this is a 'schedule at next Windows Startup, hitting any key, as you suggested, just does not work - if you had read the question, you would have been aware of this fact.

c) My attempt to stop it, by rebooting, did not work, and has just started the protracted process again from the beginning - this is why it was running for 14 hours ( we are now at 16 hours)

The problem, and therefore the question that I asked, is HOW DO IT STOP IT ???

It would seem that MICROSOFT are remiss in not:
a) Warning how long this routine will take, and
b) Not providing a means to stop it, when it has been scheduled to run at next windows start up

This is a business computer - I needed to run the Payroll today, plus I needed to despatch internet orders that I could not access because this routine was (a) taking so long to run and (b) I could not stop it.

My post was simply asking ... HOW DO IT STOP THIS ROUTINE - so that I can start the computer to run and do my work.

Your response of 'safe mode' etc is NOT RELEVANT TO MY QUESTION.
If you re-read my question, you will see what I am asking, which is simply to start my computer so that I can do some work.

So, because there's not a simple 'Press one button' method of stopping the scan, his answer is irrelevant?

It would seem that YOU are remiss in:

a) Not consulting someone with a clue before performing system tasks.
b) Not attempting the steps lined out by someone with a clue to solve your problem
c) Being a general jackass.

Before the scan starts, there is almost always a prompt that says 'Press any key in the next X seconds to cancel the scheduled disk check' which usually counts down from 7.

Be glad ijack is forgiving, after the attitude you've displayed I'd be damned if I would lift a finger to help you.

 

[riser]

Wow guys, thanks for the support. To me, it sounds like he did not want to restart the process to skip the chkdsk. I'm fairly certain that everytime, no matter the condition, chkdsk gives you a few second window to skip it.

It sounds like this person wants to blame anyone else for his/her own ignorance computer maintenance. I would not like working for someone who relies so heavily on a computer to get paid... yet someone who is too cheap to pay someone to resolve their issue.

An 80GB drive is large. Many people think 80GB is small - and it is compared to the huge new drives out there today. 4, 6, 8, and even 10 GB drives were around for a while. Then as technology advanced exceptionally fast, we saw 20GB come about and it was almost a blitz from 20gb to 80gb. Now it seems you open a paper and a new hard drive twice the size is out.

While the size is increasing, the methods to resolve disk issues remains the same. Chkdsk can run in a matter of minutes to hours or even days depending on what it has to do. Could it have been that the 80GB drive is maxed out or nearly full and it would not able to run through chkdsk easily?

Again, thanks for the support. After I read the initial reply I didn't want to bother helping this arrogant person. All in all the methods are troubleshooting happen. Step by step we have to walk people through certain things. Restarting the PC seemed fairly easy but obviously this person was unwilling to do something so simple.

My advice to the OP:

Either hire a tech to do what you don't know how to do or be willing to pay someone for their time and effort.

If you would have read the screen and skipped chkdsk, you could have followed this link and fixed your issues 16 hours prior.

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/158675

 

[lunloon]

Wow guys, thanks for the support. To me, it sounds like he did not want to restart the process to skip the chkdsk. I'm fairly certain that everytime, no matter the condition, chkdsk gives you a few second window to skip it.

It sounds like this person wants to blame anyone else for his/her own ignorance computer maintenance. I would not like working for someone who relies so heavily on a computer to get paid... yet someone who is too cheap to pay someone to resolve their issue.

An 80GB drive is large. Many people think 80GB is small - and it is compared to the huge new drives out there today. 4, 6, 8, and even 10 GB drives were around for a while. Then as technology advanced exceptionally fast, we saw 20GB come about and it was almost a blitz from 20gb to 80gb. Now it seems you open a paper and a new hard drive twice the size is out.

While the size is increasing, the methods to resolve disk issues remains the same. Chkdsk can run in a matter of minutes to hours or even days depending on what it has to do. Could it have been that the 80GB drive is maxed out or nearly full and it would not able to run through chkdsk easily?

Again, thanks for the support. After I read the initial reply I didn't want to bother helping this arrogant person. All in all the methods are troubleshooting happen. Step by step we have to walk people through certain things. Restarting the PC seemed fairly easy but obviously this person was unwilling to do something so simple.

My advice to the OP:

Either hire a tech to do what you don't know how to do or be willing to pay someone for their time and effort.

If you would have read the screen and skipped chkdsk, you could have followed this link and fixed your issues 16 hours prior.

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/158675

Actually, no.

If 1 has scheduled a chkdsk, it will tell u "A disk check has been scheduled. Windows will now check the disk." And it will not give you the option to cancel it because you asked for it.

 

[cagrel]

Actually, no.

If 1 has scheduled a chkdsk, it will tell u "A disk check has been scheduled. Windows will now check the disk." And it will not give you the option to cancel it because you asked for it.

I have this problem and what is not being addressed is that
a. When the option to skip the disk check is presented - pressing any key does nothing.
b. Pressing F8 to enter safe mode does not work
and before you say my keyboard is not working...
c. I can enter BIOS setup and diagnostics by pressing the appropriate key.

Please don't assume someone with a problem is just an idiot because you have never encountered the same problem.

 

[Dark Lord of Tech]

Thread is from 2009.
Please start a new thread.