Can't get CHKDSK utility to run...

I am new here and i hope you wonderful folks can help me with my situation.

I am trying to run chkdsk on my computer (PC w/XPsp2) and it will not run the chkdsk. I cannot defrag because it says I must run chkdsk. I have tried running it with DOS and with the XP tool option.
I says that there is something running and/or it cannot lock the disk.
It will not run chkdsk at re-boot and I have used 3 different registry repair tools to clean and repair the registry, but still cannot run chkdsk and I need to run my disk defrag (Diskeeper) tool.

I type in cmd promt to run.... chkdsk c:/f

It says:
Cannot lock current drive.

Chkdsk cannot run because the volume is in
use by another process. Would you like to
schedule this volume to be checked the next
time the system restarts? (Y/N)

I select "Y", but no chkdsk takes place at
reboot. Tried in safe mode and I get the same message.

I use ZoneAlarm and I disable when I try to run the chkdsk.
I have not had this problem in the past using my Diskeeper defrag. I have had several crashes here of late. I noticed it did not run an auto defrag on June 23. A few days agao I tried to do a manual defrag and that's when I got the error warning me that the disk needed to run a chkdsk. I have tried and it will only run it in "read only". There seems to be nothing out of the ordinary running in process that would keep it from chkdsk at reboot, I have even tried in "safe" mode and it still indicates that the disk cannot be "locked" and will schedule a chkdsk at reboot....to no avail.
I have tried entering different commands to run and all the dos prompt does is flash real quick, then disappears.
Is there a tool or software that will repair this chkdsk utility or to lock and unlock the disk?
Any ideas or suggestions to get chkdsk running again would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you so much!!!
tarmin8or

 

:wave Welcome to Major Geeks! :major
Try this:
Click Start, click Run, type cmd and press Enter, then type chkdsk C: /r and press Enter. You will get the same message about if you want to run chkdsk at the next restart; answer yes to thaty question. Type exit and press Enter. Then restart the PC. Chkdsk should start. I think the reason it is not running at reboot is because the "F" switch (in other words /f ) is no longer a valid parameter for chkdsk with Windows XP SP2. I think /f was built in to /r with the arrival of SP2. Post with your results; if it didn't work, we'll find out why and get it going for you....

GOOD LUCK!

[dlb]
:major

(BTW- there's a space before and after the C: in the command above)

 

dlb,

Thank you for that, however...I tried that per your instructions and while I did get the blue, non-dos screen after reboot, It gave me info. saying it could not access the C drive to run and it was finished checking disk.

I fear that my drive is headed toward crapville.

I will try other suggestions if there are some.

Thank you!!!
tarmin8or:

 

Then we have the repair install option. Tutorial on this blog. You should run some online scanners first to address any malware issues that could be involved. This here is the link for Kaspersky and this here is the link for ESET NOD32.

Also Microsoft has this relatively new service - a free online scanner. It can on some occations repair broken files, it installs updates, defragments selected sections, removes obsolete registry keys safely, removes temporary Internet files and a lot of malware. It worth giving it a try. Link to Windows Live OneCare Safety Scanner here.

This scanner can do quite a few things that other online scanners can't. Most important: it can repair and eliminate some bugs in Microsoft's own programs. It is true that other online scanners perform better when it comes to malware removal but OneCare definitely has it's advantages. And the malware removal isn't exactly bad either...

 

Chkdsk says it could not access the C: drive to run? If Windows loads to the desktop, but chkdsk cannot access C:, then something very strange is going on here. I got an idea a minute ago (bear with me on this).... in the past, I have seen Windows install itself and label the hard drive as drive F: or G:. This happens sometimes during the initial installation of Windows when a PC has a media reader plugged in to a USB port (or USB motherboard header) or one or more external USB drives connected. Windows will see the each slot in the media reader (and external drives) before it recognizes the internal hard drive. The media reader slots are labeled as hard drives C: and D: and E: and so on, and what should be drive C: is labeled last. So, if Windows was installed on a clean, un-partitioned hard drive, it culd be that drive C: is actually an empty media reader slot. This would explain why chkdsk cannot access drive C:. If your Windows does load to the desktop, right click on any shortcut, click Properties, click the Shortcut tab, and see what it says in the "Target" box and in the "Start In" box. If they don't start with C:, then we know what the problem is. Open My Computer and open the drive listed in the shortcut properties and you'll see that this is your Windows drive (let's say it's drive F: ). You would change the chkdsk command accordingly so it would be chkdsk F: /r..... Unfortunately, there is no way to change it back to C: because every program, shortcut, file association, linked file, etc, is set for F: and it's impossible to change it. All you can do is live with it, or power down, unplug the media reader, power up, format and reload Windows....

(Thanks for humoring me in this way-too-long post. Hopefully this is exactly what's going on; if not, then everyone has learned something new.... I hope )

Keep us posted!

 

Thank you to all for your suggestions.

I have tried the Windows site and it found the hard drive to be fine and not in need of a defrag at this time, however, i still can't get the CHKDSK utility to work.
I am at a loss.
I think I am going to get another hard drive and clone my exsisting drive onto it, and then make IT my new "C" drive using the Acronis True image software.

I do greatly appreciate the help, thanks a ton!!!!