OT: Windows 7 runs CHKDSK at bootup??

goshep wrote on 2/19/2010, 6:40 AM

Hi all,

This is the first time I've ever seen this. At bootup, Windows 7 ran a CHKDSK on my boot drive automatically. What's that all about? A sign that the drive is going bad? It didn't seem to find any errors although it said something about some unallocated space being freed up. The text was up so briefly, I couldn't catch it all. I just sat there frozen in fear.

Thanks as always.

Comments

baysidebas wrote on 2/19/2010, 6:56 AM

While I haven't seen this in Win7, previous versions would do this if the system was shut down abnormally, among other triggers.

TheHappyFriar wrote on 2/19/2010, 7:07 AM

Ahh... the days when you'd run a chkdsk @ the first sign of trouble vs going on message boards saying "it can't be my drive!" :)

it's nothing to fear. consider it the "smoke alarm" for PC drive trouble. some times it's just there as a "just in case" measure, some times it's the real deal.

Laurence wrote on 2/19/2010, 10:19 AM

I believe that Windows 7 (like Vista) runs a CHKDSK every time it sees a FAT32 formatted drive (instead of NTSF) Could it be that you did an upgrade on a FAT32 formatted drive?

goshep wrote on 2/20/2010, 3:07 AM

Maybe it's the new camera. I've plugged that in a couple of times in the last two days. The memory card would beseen as a FAT32, wouldn't it? Perhaps it didn't like the way it was shut down (or turned off) last time.

Steve Crouch wrote on 2/20/2010, 6:04 AM

There is an issue in the NTFS driver on Windows 7 where antivirus software can cause CHKDSK to run unecessarily.

I have seen this problem with Microsoft Security Essentials, especially after capturing or rendering video.

For more information see: http://techblog.avira.com/2009/11/26/chkdsk-in-windows-7/en/