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Windows XP Tip: Disk Defragmenter has detected that Chkdsk is scheduled to run on the volume (C). Please run Chkdsk /f.

Simeon — Thu, 21 Apr 2011 12:01:22 +0000

Have you ever been unable to use the Disk Defragmenter on Windows XP because of Checkdisc (Chkdsk/f)? If yes, read further.

You are running Windows XP Service Pack 2.
You try to run disk defragmenter. A window pops up and you get the message: “Disk Defragmenter has detected that Chkdsk is scheduled to run on the volume (C). Please run Chkdsk /f.”
Note: The /f tells the Check Disk to automatically fix disk errors. If you disk is NFTS, you can as well run Chkdsk /x.

To run the Chkdsk /f, you click on “Start”, choose “Run”; type “cmd” and hit enter.
You then run Chkdsk /f and you get pop up window with the message:
“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”

You type in Y, hit enter.
You then reboot up your computer and it performs no checkdsk.

You wonder what to do.

You then go to verify the scheduled tasks and, surprise, you find no Check Disk scheduled.

What does all that means?
That means that there are processes (applications) which are running when you reboot your computer and which prevent the Windows XP from performing the chckds /f command.

How do you go around this catch 22 problem?

Here’s how I solved the problem:

1. Set your system to safe mode with the “/SAFEBOOT” command from the MSCONFIG program. Click on “Start” and choose “Run”. Type in “MSCONFIG” and click “OK”.
Choose the BOOT.INI tab and enable the “/SAFEBOOT” option.
Choose the STARTUP tab and disable programs such as anti-virus or anti-spyware software or network monitors or …
These might be the ones preventing Chkdsk from functioning.
When you disable those programs, you might have an ‘Access Denied’ message. Ignore it and go ahead. You might have a dialogue box such as: “An Access Denied was returned while attempting to change a service. You may need to log on as Administrator account to make the specified changes”. Just click on “OK” and go ahead.

2. Go on Start again, choose “Run”; type “cmd” and hit “OK”.
Type in “Chkdsk /f” (or Chkdsk /x if using NTFS file system).
If you get the message:
“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”, type in “Y” and hit the Enter key.

3. Reboot the computer and here you go: Windows starts by scanning the disk.

4. After scanning the disk, Windows goes on and asks you to log in the Safe Mode. Log in. You certainly want to take this opportunity to defragment the disk before doing anything else.

5. Right-Click on “My Computer” and choose “Manage”.
On the Computer Management window, under “Storage”, Choose Disc Management, choose the disc you want to defragment and click on “Analyze”.
The defragmenter should start analysing your disk. After analyzing the disk, you get a report and if you want to go ahead with defragmentation, you choose “Defragment”.

6. Have a break (it can be long!). Do not use the computer until it has finished defragmenting.

7. Do not forget to go back to MSCONFIG to uncheck the “/SAFEBOOT” and reactivate the applications you want on the Startup tab.

That’s it. Congratulations! You have now solved the problem!

Cannot open the Printer Services of HP K7100 Printer in order to check ink levels of the cartridges – “Unable to perform the operation”

Simeon — Fri, 10 Dec 2010 14:36:35 +0000

I am running XP Pro Sp3.
My HP K7100 Printer stopped working, showing that there was a problem with an ink cartridge. But, as the the printer has 2 ink cartridges (black and color), I didn’t know which one was empty and needed to be replaced. For that, I needed to check the ink levels of each cartridge.
Normally, you check the ink levels of the printer by choosing Printer Preferences, clicking on the Tab ‘Features’ and then clicking on the ‘Printer Services’ button.
When I clicked on the Printer Services button on the preferences screen, a message box was popping up that says “Unable to perform the operation”.
In order to try to solve the problem, I fully uninstalled the printer driver.
I downloaded the latest drivers for the HP K7100 and installed them on the computer.
But the problem was not solved. I was still not able to check the ink levels on the printer. It was frustrating.
I spent time googling for this kind of problem, and somewhere, a user of another type HP printer had written that the Printer Services don’t appear when you have set Firefox as default internet browser.
I set the Internet explorer as default browser, and the problem was solved.
Summary:
Problem: Cannot open the Printer Services of HP K7100 Printer in order to check ink levels of the cartridges?
Solution: Set Internet Explorer as Default browser.

An Advice on How to Recover From a Corrupted Registry That Prevents Windows XP From Starting (STOP: C0000218 {Registry File Failure})

Simeon — Sun, 08 Mar 2009 17:06:25 +0000

Two days ago, my laptop refused to boot. It was showing a blank (blue) screen and then kept rebooting. It could not even boot using the Last Known Good Configuration or the Safe Mode…
I was worried. I didn’t want to lose my data. I didn’t want to run the recovery software which is installed on the laptop because I didn’t want to lose my data, and I had so many useful programs installed on the computer which I could not afford to lose either. I went to a computer fair and I spent more than $150 to buy a new hard drive, cables and cloning software. The technician was very nice and helpful. He could only try to repair Windows after backing up my data. I sat in a corner and started the full cloning of my 120 GB hard disk. It took ages. After 1 hour and half, somebody unplugged by error the extension lead on which the whole system was running and we lost everything we had done. I was nervous. I prayed God to help me remain calm and I started the same process again.
The cloning process took again ages, but it was progressing. But after 2 hours, the technician wanted to see how far it had gone. He moved the laptop a little, and one of the USB cables which was connecting to one of the hard drives went out. Again, everything lost. I was devastated. It was already too late and I decided to go back home. I had not eaten the whole day and I was very tired and hungry.
Anyway, my plans for Sunday were now changed: I had to sort that problem out and recover the data on my laptop.
On Sunday, after making a full backup of the hard disk, I used the Windows XP CD to boot and I was hoping to be able to repair the operating system. But I could not repair using the Recovery Console as I had forgotten the Administrator’s password. And the setup would not allow me to log in the recovery console with a user other than Administrator.
At the end, I said: why not try something else? I wrote down the failure message quickly displayed by Windows at the blue screen before dumping and ‘googled’ it in order to see if Microsoft suggests some solutions.
The message was:
STOP: C0000218 {Registry File Failure} The registry cannot load the hive (file):\System Root\System32\Config\SOFTWARE or its log or alternate. It is corrupt, absent, or not writable.

After some research and reading, I finally found a good and easy solution.
Remove the failing hard disk from your machine.
Connect it to another machine. I did it through USB port. If you don’t have the necessary USB cables to connect it, you can mount it as slave in the host machine.
Follow the instructions given by Microsoft at http://support.microsoft.com/Default.aspx?kbid=307545
Identify the section relevant to your situation (in my case, I followed the instructions relating to Windows XP Professional using the NTFS File System on a Workgroup or Standalone Computer).
Go to the folder c:\System Volume Information folder and identify the last restore point. N.B. Microsoft gives also instructions how to access the System Volume Information folder: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/309531/.
From the snapshot folder of your chosen restore point, copy the file _REGISTRY_MACHINE_SOFTWARE and paste it into the C:\windows\system32\config\ folder.
In the C:\windows\system32\config\ folder, rename the file SOFTWARE to SOFTWARE.old
Rename _REGISTRY_MACHINE_SOFTWARE to SOFTWARE.
N.B. Depending on the type of failure message you had, you might need to do the same process with the files SECURITY, SYSTEM or SAM.
Close everything. Remove the hard drive from the host computer. Put it back into the computer it belongs to and boot.
Windows will now boot without problem. IT WORKS!
I am happy that the problem is solved. I now have all my programs and all my data. A happy man at the end! And although I spent some money and a lot of time in the process, I have learned something practical. And that is why I am so proud to share it with other computer users.