Checking hard disk for consistency?

Today when I turned my laptop on, it went into a screen before it booted windows said that it had to check the hard disk drive for consistency, but then it just got stuck there. I rebooted it and it just went right into windows. Last time I got this message on my Asus I had to replace the HDD.

Is this message an immediate death sentence for the hdd?

 

Do you move your computer when it's on? Do you bang it or otherwise make the HD take impacts while it is running?

I use my notebook a lot, but I always wait until the HD light is out before I move it or put it back into it's case.

When it's checking the drive for consistency - it shouldn't get 'stuck', it may seem like that to you but give it time - as long as the HD light is still on - it is trying to correct whatever errors it detected.

My suggestion? Go into My computer, right click on all the drives (one at a time) go to Properties, Tools, Error Checking, Check Now, check both boxes and reboot your computer.

Now, go watch a movie - this could take a while.

Hopefully when this finishes properly, Windows will have marked any bad clusters as 'do not use' internally and assuming you'll be more gentle with your notebook, you won't have a problem.

Good luck!

 

I'll try that, thanks! I'm very good to my laptops. Heck, I buckle it's case up whenever I have to drive somewhere with it.

 

LOL, Yeah, I buckle her up too (yup, my VAIO is a 'she')!

 

I wouldn't worry too much about it.

 

Okay, I did what you told me, but it's hanging at the disk check abort screen, and the HDD light isn't flashing either.

 

OH CRAP!!!!!! I can't restart without the disk check starting up and It won't let me abort either!!! Please help!!!

 

Huh. Same problem.

And if Londez's problem is like mine, it is stuck at consistency check screen. I booted up my computer and it told me my seconad HDD--there's only games on this one, mind you--needed to be checked. So I left to run some errands and came back an hour and a half later... and the screen was still stuck at "1" on the countdown. Oh, and no matter how many buttons I hit the check won't abort.

Managed to find a workaround, and both HD Tune and the built-in Windows Check Disk report zero errors. My HDD also click-whirs.

Londez, try booting in from safemode and then restarting into normal mode. And are you running Win7?

 

yeah, I'm running windows 7. GRRRRRR!!!!!

 

Crap Crap Crap!!!!!!!!! It Won't Even Start In Safe Mode!!!!!!!!! What The Heck Is This Crap!!!!!!!!!!

 

It gets stuck there as well on check disk?

 

Umm, I don't know how to run check disk

 

I mean when you boot into safemode, can you enter your desktop? Or does it get stuck before that?

 

It gets stuck. How about if I choose to repair windows? Might that work, or will I lose any files?

 

wow, won't even restart in safe mode? That IS lame.

 

So it doesn't safe mode into the command prompt either?

 

I'm wondering what the exact problem is with this drive. Still click-whiring, still occasionally hangs me up on the check disk screen. However, HD Tune and MS check disk both confirm that my HDD is healthy with zero bad sectors.

Is it possible that maybe the connection is not supplying enough power to it and causing the consistency errors? Software related, maybe?

 

And if you run chkdsk from the Recovery console?

 

lol lame really... very weird problem... my comp always allowed me to go to safe mode...

 

For me, if I boot from safe mode or if I check disk through recovery, it works. Just annoying that I have to do it every once and a while.

 

Forge, do you check both boxes when you specify a chkdsk in the GUI?

Or, in a DOS box, do you run it like 'chkdsk C: /V /R'?

If you only run it as 'chkdsk /F', then it will not mark bad sectors (same thing as leaving only one of the tick boxes checked in the GUI.

Sorry, if you know this, but it seems like your drive accesses a bad sector and sends itself for a loop when it does (by your description of 'I have to do it every once in a while').

 

Both boxes are checked when I did the Windows Check Disk. Also HD Tune reports not problems.

 

Hmmm... sound to me like I would not be trusting this HD anymore.

Or, try a clean install and see if that fixes things for you?

 

Yeah, I'm moving for a replacement and selling the one I get back from RMA.