# [SOLVED] Can't get chkdsk /f to work even in safe mode



## RP Lightfoot (Feb 3, 2008)

A tale of woe... I was trying to get my voice recognition software to work, and I disabled the mic. Then, when I tried to search for it to get it to reinstall, all chaos broke loose. 

The system now restarts and crashes. to a blue screen. It is trying to find the hardware, and I can't seem to kill the process before I get a blue screen. It will boot in safe mode. And I've tried to go back to a recent restore point. That would be fine.

The problem is now that when I try to go to a restore point, I get an error message that the hard drive has errors, and chkdsk needs to run. So... I have tried to run it from a prompt in safe mode. No luck. It promises to do it on reboot. 

I can't just use my "install" disk because the Lenovo uses a protected portion of the hard drive. I didn't get a CD. The utilities don't include a simple chkdsk/f option. The rats....

I tried to cheat a bit and fix this with an XP CD I have. It crashed in the Lenovo. Don't know why, but I get a blue screen when I try to boot from it and use its recovery feature to do a chkdsk/f. Bummer. 

I've read some of the posts on this problem in XP, and I've tried doing the chkntfs /d. No luck.

So, I'm out of tricks and open for suggestions... 

I'm backing everything up. But I hate like heck to have to reinstall all my stuff. A lot of it is writing software with activation keys that I'm sure will change upon reinstall. 

So, any idea on how to clean up the hard drive. I don't think I've got a huge underlying problem here. I'm downloading Ubantu live. Maybe I can just clean this up from Linux??

Thanks in advance for any suggestions. It's a bummer being without my main writing tool.

Robb


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## myminpins (Jan 30, 2008)

*Re: Can't get chkdsk /f to work even in safe mode*

Maybe some help here? http://support.microsoft.com/kb/300415


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## dai (Jul 2, 2004)

*Re: Can't get chkdsk /f to work even in safe mode*

you will find how to make the backup restore disks in your manual or you can d/load then from lenovo


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## jcgriff2 (Sep 30, 2007)

*Re: Can't get chkdsk /f to work even in safe mode*

Hi Robb. . .

Yes, it certainly is possible to clean this up from the Linux side. I myself would attempt just that - but only after all of my options through Vista were exhausted.

Have you read your owner's manual to find out how to boot-up using the recovery partition? Some PC's use F11 during boot-up. I'm not sure here. It's worth a shot if you haven't tried it. When you tried the "chkntfs" command, what was the error message, if any? Try the "chkntfs" command like this:

*CHKNTFS c:*
Please inform me of any message - error or otherwise.

Also, what is the exact error on the Blue Screen of Death (BSOD)? I need a detailed, verbatim transcript of that BSOD.

You mentioned Levono - what is the model number?

Thanks. . .

jcgriff2


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## RP Lightfoot (Feb 3, 2008)

*Re: Can't get chkdsk /f to work even in safe mode*

Here's the results from:

chkntfs volume [c]

volume is not a valid drive specification

chkntfs [c]

[c] is not a valid drive specification

chkntfs c: 

C: is dirty. You may use the /c option to schedule chkdsk for this drive.

Now I have tried chkntfs c: /C

It returns no message. I'll reboot

... Rebooted, CHKDSK didn't run 

BSOD message...

STOP: 0x0000007E (OxC0000005, 0X8CC6EB97,0x8398BBA8,0X8398B8A4)

RTKVHDA.SYS - Address 8cc6EB97 base at 8CC6E000, DateStamp 45653be

That's it for the BSOD....

No,the RTVHDA.SYS is probably the Real Teak Audio driver, and when I disabled this, I also, before all hell broke loose, tried to either roll it back or get an updated driver. I aborted this process. 

I'm wondering, if I booted into safe mode, and just disabled my audio, if I could get the system to boot normally. I would lose my audio, but that would be another problem. I also wonder if there is a way to edit the registry and STOP the search of hardware that begins when I bootup. That's what I was doing when the wheels came off the wagon. The system reboots, and it shows an icon in the system tray that is looking for hardware. I can't kill it, and I've edited the system configuration to try and stop, on boot up, various services. I know there must be a flag set somewhere to make it do the search on bootup. 

I just wish I could get it to run chkdsk and let me go back to a recent restore point. I had created one just before this mess.

I have read the Lenovo docs, and I can boot to their utility,but it doesn't show me how to made a CD in the online documentation. I will go in the garage and pull down the docs. I also may go to the Lenovo website and see what help they can be, too.

The lenovo was bought new in 4/07, and it a 3000 N100 on the cover, the Id on the bottom calls it a TYPE 0768 - A52. I think, when I bought more memory (it has 2 gigs installed--the max) that it was something like a C378. I'll have to check the records on this last point. 

Robb


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## jcgriff2 (Sep 30, 2007)

*Re: Can't get chkdsk /f to work even in safe mode*



RP Lightfoot said:


> . . .I have read the Lenovo docs, and I can boot to their utility,but it doesn't show me how to made a CD. . . a 3000 N100 . . .Robb


Hi Robb. . .

Thanks for your entire reply, including the system info as it helped me a great deal. I was able to find out info re: BSOD, the driver rtvhda.sys, and best of all... I hope this is true and helps you. . .

According to your system specs you should have a hard drive "Recovery" partition loaded onto your laptop. 

Try this to activate the HDD Recovery partition -

*@ startup press the Lenovo Care button and press F11 *

Do you have such a button?

Please let me now if this works.

I'm sending this prematurely (void of BSOD info, etc...) in case you are still up.

Good Luck. . .

jcgriff2


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## RP Lightfoot (Feb 3, 2008)

*Re: Can't get chkdsk /f to work even in safe mode*



jcgriff2 said:


> Hi Robb. . .
> 
> Thanks for your entire reply, including the system info as it helped me a great deal. I was able to find out info re: BSOD, the driver rtvhda.sys, and best of all... I hope this is true and helps you. . .
> 
> ...


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## jcgriff2 (Sep 30, 2007)

*Re: Can't get chkdsk /f to work even in safe mode*

Hi Robb.. .

I checked five different Vista laptops (with varying versions of Vista) and they all show the executable file "chkdsk.exe" to be located in "c:\windows\system32". I looked at the Environment table in the registry and it shows the comspec variable (%comspec%) equal to "c:\windows\system32\com.exe", along with this subdirectory being included in the system path, you should be able to execute this command from any subdirectory in the system - including the root (c:\) itself. However, due to many "enhancements" (how I will refer to them for now) that I have made to the NT registry, it is very likely that I may have modified the "path" of the system to include "c:\windows\system32". 

The reason that chdsk runs upon boot-up is that it must lock the volume, which cannot always be done while a user is logged on. I ran chkdsk 3x and it only executed in real-time once. The other two were scheduled for boot-up. 

chkdsk parameters (switches):
"/f" - Fixes errors on the disk, but the volume must be locked. If not, chdsk will run at the next boot-up.

"/v" - Displays information during execution.

"/r" - Locates bad sectors in addition to recovering readable information 

"/x" - forces the Volume to dismount; however, it will not work on the boot volume. The computer must be restarted for the boot to dismount.

So, to run chkdsk on the c: drive - use the following command:

*c:\windows\system32\chkdsk c: /f /r /v *

If you receive the "will execute at boot-up" message try this:

*c:\windows\system32\chkdsk c: /f /r /v /x *


Please let me now if this worked or not.

Thanks. . .

jcgriff2


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## RP Lightfoot (Feb 3, 2008)

*Re: Can't get chkdsk /f to work even in safe mode*

Thanks for your suggestions. I have poked around the web a bit, and it appears that this inability to run chkdsk is a "feature" of the Lenovo 3000 N100. I finally found some software from lsoft.com that allows you to create a CD and USB flash drive, either of which are bootable. This setup allows you to boot and gives you a suite of disk repair tools and even stuff to get on the net. Neat. (It comes with a 1-day free trial, but the cost is about $70 for the individual user) I was able to run chkdsk, and then I was able to use the restore point and get back on my feet.

I now know that I simply cannot get my Lenovo to run chkdsk. It is a bit annoying because Lenovo (and HP, I just bought a desktop) do NOT give you boot up disks anymore. This sounds like a good idea "just put it on the hard drive." But if you think about it, when the HARD DRIVE has problems, then good luck on getting back on your feet. The only two options I found in m "Lenovo care" setup that were at all useful were to back up your data (good idea, and I did this), and the other was to just reset everything to the original purchase config. That means hours of installation and configuration .... lost. It also would have meant calling a bunch of software companies to get new install keys. Bummer.

By the way, the product name is "active boot" a lifesaver (no, I don't work for the company...free plug). 

That's about it for this service call. I now plan on buying and using active boot to periodically run chkdsk. By the way, During this mess, I bought and used Norton's Basic System Works. I had hoped I would get a bootable CD to fix this mess. But no, it downloaded and "lived" on the problem computer. Same deal. The good news is that Norton (after spending a couple of hours in tech support talking me through everything I'd already tried...) promptly gave me a refund. Good people.

Robb


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## RP Lightfoot (Feb 3, 2008)

The trial period of the software is actually 10-days. A typo, sorry.


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