A chkdsk question

Hi guys,
Everything was ok until I suddenly got a system request to run chkdsk as there was a corrupted opera file. Opera is the browser I use.
So I did a chkdsk run and it came up with the words:

WARNING: F parameter not specified chkdsk will run in read only mode

So what does that mean then? How can I specify the F parameter even though I don't know what the heck it is?

I have run "chkdsk/? and it tells me that the F parameter fixes errors. So does that mean that chkdsk is useless now?

Can anyone shine a flashlight on this one?

It finished the checking and said there were some errors BUT tha it couldn't continue in read only mode!!!

Why does Windows still depend on DOS? (that is a rhetorical question)

 

You running chkdsk from command line? Just add the F parameter, like so: /F Or use /R if you want a more thorough check that also checks the disk for bad sectors (takes a long time to run).

 

Running chkdsk with the /f parameter doesn't work as advertised. I think /f was a command for chkdsk with Win2000 and maybe WinXP SP1 and earlier. It has been replaced by the /r parameter (or 'switch' as it is commonly called). So, the command you really want to run is chkdsk c: /r with a space before and after the c:. For more info about chkdsk, visit this link:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/315265/en-us

I hope this helps!

(even in that link they mention using the /f switch with XP even though it isn't a valid option)

 

/f fixes errors
/r repairs(or trys to) lost sectors

 

Thank you that has been most helpful.
I did both the chkdsk /f and /r but I got the following message on both of them:

The type of file is NTFS
Cannot lock current drive
Chkdsk cannot run because the volume is in use by another process. Would you like to schedule the volume to be checked the next time the system restarts? Y/N

I answer Y to each one but it doesn't do it.
One clue may be that I have zonealarm and, when I set chkdsk to check after restart it comes up with a dialogue box saying that zonealarm is opening. If I want to cancel this, press Cancel. I don't normally get this dialogue box when I start or restart the laptop. So could zonealarm be causing chkdsk not to function properly?

 

I was assuming that you were trying to run chkdsk from the recovery console, not from a command prompt in Windows. So, either boot to your XP disc, enter the recovery console and then you can run chkdsk C: /r from there. Type exit and press Enter when it finishes to restart the PC.
-OR-
In Windows, go to a command prompt, type chkdsk C: /r and press Enter. You'll get the message about scheduling to run it when the PC restarts; answer Yes, type exit and press Enter. Then restart the PC. As Windows loads up, you will see chkdsk starting. DO NOT cancel it. Let it run completely and let it finish. Running a full chkdsk can take a long time, a very, very long time. You may think the PC has locked up; it hasn't. You may see the progress percentage counter actually go backwards. Don't worry, this happens and it's normal. DO NOT reboot the PC in the middle of a chkdsk!!! When the chkdsk completes, and Windows loads to the desktop, restart the PC again just be sure that everything is kosher.

(There's a space before and after the C: in the commands above. Using the /r switch implies /f which means that /f is 'built in' to the /r switch, making /f unnecessary.)

 

CHKDSK /F still works fine; but, you do need to wait and tell ZoneAlarm to allow the startup item or it will keep it from happening.

 

typing in exit after the sequence did it. It checked the system and you were right ... it seemed to go forever... over an hour I think.

I'll keep an eye on that zonealarm thing. But it didn't do it this time.

Thank you so much for all your replies.

maryanjo