Scandisk in XP does a lot of work and it may be that a lot of the processes normally loaded get in the way. So try this:
 
Go to Start then Run then type msconfig. Under the General tab click on - 'Diagnostic Start Up-load basic devices & services only'. Don't reboot yet.
 
THEN go through the procedure you nomally do to run XP's disk error checking.
 
When prompted reboot and it should run it all the way through this time.
 
I don't know if you have ever seen XP's scandisk run before, but it may take a long time.

Sorry. Don't forget to go back into msconfig to reset the computer to come up normally if it doesn't load all the regular drivers.

Sampson, this didn't seem to work. Any other suggestions either from yourself or anyone else? Microsoft seem to be aware of this problem since 2003, but they are very slow to add new technical articles on their database.
 
If someone could help then it would be most appriciated.
 
EuriMouse

Why are wanting to run chkdsk for? Is there a problem? Or is it that you just want to see it run to be confident about your hard drive?
 
Anyway, if I comprehend better what you are saying, after re-booting, chkdsk is not performed at all on your machine though you had set it to do so. As I understand how XP error checking works if the drive you want to check is not "dirty", chkdsk won't run. Apparently, there is an archive bit that gets set when a drive has something suspicious going on. To find out if the drive is "dirty", bring up a "Dos Window" (Start-Programs-Accessories-Command Prompt). After the window is open type -- "fsutil dirty query c:" (without the quotation marks) then hit enter. You will receive an answer that Volume C is DIRTY or is Not Dirty. Those guys at Microsoft employ only the most technical verbiage. If it isn't Dirty, chkdsk won't do a thing after reboot.
 
Now if you absolutely must have it run, boot from your System Disk and get into the repair console. Then, type -- "chkdsk c: /P" (again, don't type the quotation marks). I know that chkdsk is not supposed to have the parameter P but it does in the console and it is equivalent to /f . Not sure why.
 
Anyway, see if your drive is Dirty. If it isn't, don't bother with XP error checking.

The drive isn't dirty. However, I know that when I first got my computer the chkdsk worked when I told it to on reboot, regardless of whether there were errors on it or not.
 
I just thought that there must be something wrong with it if this is not the case anymore.
 
EuriMouse

It might have something to do with Quick Booting. I know that there is a toggle in TweakUI that allows you to get the machine to boot faster and if this is set, it may be that once it reads that the Disk is not dirty, it skips it, while when it goes through the full boot it may perform chkdsk no matter what.

What's tweakUI? Please explain.
 
EuriMouse

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/downloads/powertoys/xppowertoys.mspx

There doesn't seem to be any such option on the TweakUI program. Would there be anything I should do?
 
I can't believe Microsoft haven't even reviewed the problem; it's been nearly a year!
 
EuriMouse

No one has anyother solutions?
 
EuriMouse

Ive found with some pcs turning off the firewall from startup menu allows the check disk to run (start, run, then type in msconfig , then go into startup and uncheck your firewall)
if you dont know which one your firewall is then disable all for now, restart your pc and see if it runs.
 
XCite

If your using Zone Alarm v5 its a known problem.Search on the Zone Alarm Forum
http://forums.zonelabs.com/zonelabs
hal

2000/XP need exclusive access to the partition in order to run a chkdsk /f (or /r, if in the recovery console).
 
This is so that it can properly unmount any files in use. It is expected behavior.