Recently I re-installed a clean version of Windows Vista Home Premium. I
have done all the updates and installed anti-virus software. Then I was
trying to run defrag and when it opens it says "Your file system performance
can be improved" at which point I click on "Defragment Now". At this point it
would say "analyzing disk" for 2 or 3 seconds and it then goes back to "Your
file system performance can be improved". I keep clicking on "Defragment Now"
over and over again but it keeps doing the same thing.

I then scheduled Error-Checking on the next start-up but when the computer
restarts, nothing happens. I've tried it a few times and the disk is never
scanned. Any help or suggestions will be appreciated.

For the Birds wrote:
> Recently I re-installed a clean version of Windows Vista Home Premium. I
> have done all the updates and installed anti-virus software. Then I was
> trying to run defrag and when it opens it says "Your file system performance
> can be improved" at which point I click on "Defragment Now". At this point it
> would say "analyzing disk" for 2 or 3 seconds and it then goes back to "Your
> file system performance can be improved". I keep clicking on "Defragment Now"
> over and over again but it keeps doing the same thing.
>
> I then scheduled Error-Checking on the next start-up but when the computer
> restarts, nothing happens. I've tried it a few times and the disk is never
> scanned. Any help or suggestions will be appreciated.

Perhaps the Event Viewer will give you some useful error messages to
follow up. I can't recall the exact location, but you will find it
somewhere in Control Panel. Or, type 'event' in Start->Search.

Yeah, I did actually find an application event and it says that Volume C: was
not defragmented because is marked as dirty and it directs me to run chkdsk.
The problem is that I schedule error checking for the next restart but it
never actually scans. It just start normally. I'm not sure what is causing
this.

For the Birds wrote:
> Yeah, I did actually find an application event and it says that Volume C: was
> not defragmented because is marked as dirty and it directs me to run chkdsk.
> The problem is that I schedule error checking for the next restart but it
> never actually scans. It just start normally. I'm not sure what is causing
> this.

If there really is something wrong with the filesystem, that might
account for almost any malfunction. If you have a Vista install DVD
there might be a way to run chkdsk from its repair facility. (I've
never tried it.)

"For the Birds" <FortheBirds@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:71C38EB3-494E-4C54-BEC9-79372612DE71@microsoft.com...
> Yeah, I did actually find an application event and it says that Volume C:
> was
> not defragmented because is marked as dirty and it directs me to run
> chkdsk.
> The problem is that I schedule error checking for the next restart but it
> never actually scans. It just start normally. I'm not sure what is
> causing
> this.


I haven't seen this in Vista, but I do remember seeing the same problem in
XP a couple of years ago. Basically, the registry got out of sync with the
drive, I guess. In XP there's a registry setting that you can change to
unmark the drive as dirty. Sorry, but I don't remember the reg key value and
don't know if that still holds true for Vista. Sorry I'm not much help at
the moment, but you can go off and Google something like "incorrect dirty
flag" or something like that.

Good luck.

Lang

I've been having trouble with my computer (Vista) doing similar things.
Some others also having the dirty bit-chkdsk won't run problem. The
autochk.exe file keeps getting corrupted. Autochk.exe is what calls chkdsk
to run, so if it's broken, no scan. Try opening a command prompt as an
administrator (Start -> Programs -> Accessories -> right click 'Command
Prompt' and choose Run as administrator) When that's open, type
'autochk.exe'. If the file is normal, you should get an error like 'The
C:\Windows\system32\AUTOCHK.EXE application cannot be run in Win32 mode.' If
it is corrupted, you will get an error like 'Program too big to fit in
memory' . This is what my and another person's autochk said. We both
replaced the autochk.exe file and scanning at startup worked again.

If your autochk.exe file is corrupted, just replace it - the following is
from an earlier post on this topic - title 'Scan Disk does not run on startup'
---
Okay, I got the no-scan-on-startup problem fixed on my computer. Credit
definately goes to the blogger who posted on this topic. I'll add the link,
but know that the first 3/4 of the article includes some frustrated
profanity. In a nutshell the stupid autochk.exe file is corrupted somehow,
so all you do is replace it. This takes some work in Vista, but it worked
for me. My computer scanned! I believe this was the real problem because my
computer used to scan itself, but wouldn't after a while. There is a very
significant chance the problem came from a microsoft hotfix. I'll leave it
to them to figure out if that's what happened or which hotfix, etc... All I
care about is my computer scans itself without recovery console :) So here
are the steps to fix this problem in Vista... the only problem is you will
need a windows XP Install disk (I'll explain why...)

Go to C:\Windows\System32
Right click on Autochk.exe -> Properties
Click the Security tab, then click Advanced (button)
On the new window 'Advanced Security Settings for Autochk.exe' click the
'Owner' tab
Below the box labeled 'Change owner to:' click 'Edit...'
In the new window, under 'Change owner to:' select yourself (or the
Administrators group), then click OK
Close all property windows for autochk.exe, then go back to (right click)
Properties->Security
Click 'Edit...'
On the window 'Permissions for Autochk.exe' select the Administrators group,
then under 'Allow' click the 'Full Control' checkbox
Click OK and close the property windows
Ok...NOW you can rename autochk.exe to autochk_old.exe (that took a lot of
work!)

Now, I looked at Vista's installation DVD. All of the system files are
tucked nicely into 1 .wim file. This is a windows image file, and I'm not
sure how to pull the files out of it, so I just grabbed a handy XP
installation CD. The autochk.exe file is located at
(DriveLetter):\I386\AUTOCHK.EXE

Copy the AUTOCHK.EXE file from the XP installation disk to
C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\AUTOCHK.EXE and you should be good to go!

I'll recontact Dell with this information, apparently other (non-Dell) users
are having this problem too.

Oh, yeah, the site where I found the solution:
"http://www.suehappycowboy.org/blog/?p=112" Thanks very very much!

dutchscout

PS As a followup, I searched online for 'how to open a wim file' in order to
get the vista 'version' AUTOCHK.EXE from the install.wim file on the install
disk. The process seems a little complicated, but there is a toolkit from
Microsoft for it. I'm probably just going to stick with the XP version until
there is a hotfix for this problem. The Microsoft toolkit for .wim files is
called the Windows Automated Installation Kit (WAIK) and is mostly for system
administrators. If you want to, though give it a try and let me know how it
goes! You might want to read this first:
http://www.windowsitpro.com/Article/...616/94616.html

---

"Lang Murphy" wrote:

> "For the Birds" <FortheBirds@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
> news:71C38EB3-494E-4C54-BEC9-79372612DE71@microsoft.com...
> > Yeah, I did actually find an application event and it says that Volume C:
> > was
> > not defragmented because is marked as dirty and it directs me to run
> > chkdsk.
> > The problem is that I schedule error checking for the next restart but it
> > never actually scans. It just start normally. I'm not sure what is
> > causing
> > this.
>
>
> I haven't seen this in Vista, but I do remember seeing the same problem in
> XP a couple of years ago. Basically, the registry got out of sync with the
> drive, I guess. In XP there's a registry setting that you can change to
> unmark the drive as dirty. Sorry, but I don't remember the reg key value and
> don't know if that still holds true for Vista. Sorry I'm not much help at
> the moment, but you can go off and Google something like "incorrect dirty
> flag" or something like that.
>
> Good luck.
>
> Lang
>

I have also been having recent problems with chkdsk not running as scheduled.
Using the "system file check" utility I discovered that my autochk.exe file
is corrupted and sfc could not repair it. I read the links cited above, but
could not locate WAIK, wimfltr.inf, or imagex utility on my OS drive or on
the Windows Vista DVD, and Vista has no repair utility like all previous
versions have had, so I'm unable to replace my corrupt autochk.exe file from
the DVD and I don't have an XP disk.

I just got off the phone with Dell Support and after three hours of
attempting fixes, they recommended a complete reformatting the hard drive and
reinstalling Vista to solve the problem, but I'm not willing to do this right
now as it would mean reinstalls of all the other programs and drivers I have
on my computer as well. Does anybody have any ideas how I can fix this
without having to totally reinstall everything?

uvbogden

"dutchscout" wrote:

> I've been having trouble with my computer (Vista) doing similar things.
> Some others also having the dirty bit-chkdsk won't run problem. The
> autochk.exe file keeps getting corrupted. Autochk.exe is what calls chkdsk
> to run, so if it's broken, no scan. Try opening a command prompt as an
> administrator (Start -> Programs -> Accessories -> right click 'Command
> Prompt' and choose Run as administrator) When that's open, type
> 'autochk.exe'. If the file is normal, you should get an error like 'The
> C:\Windows\system32\AUTOCHK.EXE application cannot be run in Win32 mode.' If
> it is corrupted, you will get an error like 'Program too big to fit in
> memory' . This is what my and another person's autochk said. We both
> replaced the autochk.exe file and scanning at startup worked again.
>
> If your autochk.exe file is corrupted, just replace it - the following is
> from an earlier post on this topic - title 'Scan Disk does not run on startup'
> ---
> Okay, I got the no-scan-on-startup problem fixed on my computer. Credit
> definately goes to the blogger who posted on this topic. I'll add the link,
> but know that the first 3/4 of the article includes some frustrated
> profanity. In a nutshell the stupid autochk.exe file is corrupted somehow,
> so all you do is replace it. This takes some work in Vista, but it worked
> for me. My computer scanned! I believe this was the real problem because my
> computer used to scan itself, but wouldn't after a while. There is a very
> significant chance the problem came from a microsoft hotfix. I'll leave it
> to them to figure out if that's what happened or which hotfix, etc... All I
> care about is my computer scans itself without recovery console :) So here
> are the steps to fix this problem in Vista... the only problem is you will
> need a windows XP Install disk (I'll explain why...)
>
> Go to C:\Windows\System32
> Right click on Autochk.exe -> Properties
> Click the Security tab, then click Advanced (button)
> On the new window 'Advanced Security Settings for Autochk.exe' click the
> 'Owner' tab
> Below the box labeled 'Change owner to:' click 'Edit...'
> In the new window, under 'Change owner to:' select yourself (or the
> Administrators group), then click OK
> Close all property windows for autochk.exe, then go back to (right click)
> Properties->Security
> Click 'Edit...'
> On the window 'Permissions for Autochk.exe' select the Administrators group,
> then under 'Allow' click the 'Full Control' checkbox
> Click OK and close the property windows
> Ok...NOW you can rename autochk.exe to autochk_old.exe (that took a lot of
> work!)
>
> Now, I looked at Vista's installation DVD. All of the system files are
> tucked nicely into 1 .wim file. This is a windows image file, and I'm not
> sure how to pull the files out of it, so I just grabbed a handy XP
> installation CD. The autochk.exe file is located at
> (DriveLetter):\I386\AUTOCHK.EXE
>
> Copy the AUTOCHK.EXE file from the XP installation disk to
> C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\AUTOCHK.EXE and you should be good to go!
>
> I'll recontact Dell with this information, apparently other (non-Dell) users
> are having this problem too.
>
> Oh, yeah, the site where I found the solution:
> "http://www.suehappycowboy.org/blog/?p=112" Thanks very very much!
>
> dutchscout
>
> PS As a followup, I searched online for 'how to open a wim file' in order to
> get the vista 'version' AUTOCHK.EXE from the install.wim file on the install
> disk. The process seems a little complicated, but there is a toolkit from
> Microsoft for it. I'm probably just going to stick with the XP version until
> there is a hotfix for this problem. The Microsoft toolkit for .wim files is
> called the Windows Automated Installation Kit (WAIK) and is mostly for system
> administrators. If you want to, though give it a try and let me know how it
> goes! You might want to read this first:
> http://www.windowsitpro.com/Article/...616/94616.html
>
> ---
>
> "Lang Murphy" wrote:
>
> > "For the Birds" <FortheBirds@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
> > news:71C38EB3-494E-4C54-BEC9-79372612DE71@microsoft.com...
> > > Yeah, I did actually find an application event and it says that Volume C:
> > > was
> > > not defragmented because is marked as dirty and it directs me to run
> > > chkdsk.
> > > The problem is that I schedule error checking for the next restart but it
> > > never actually scans. It just start normally. I'm not sure what is
> > > causing
> > > this.
> >
> >
> > I haven't seen this in Vista, but I do remember seeing the same problem in
> > XP a couple of years ago. Basically, the registry got out of sync with the
> > drive, I guess. In XP there's a registry setting that you can change to
> > unmark the drive as dirty. Sorry, but I don't remember the reg key value and
> > don't know if that still holds true for Vista. Sorry I'm not much help at
> > the moment, but you can go off and Google something like "incorrect dirty
> > flag" or something like that.
> >
> > Good luck.
> >
> > Lang
> >

I have tried to run this from an elevated "administrator" level and it still
doesn't work.

"brink" wrote:

>
> For the Birds;347965 Wrote:
> > Recently I re-installed a clean version of Windows Vista Home Premium. I
> > have done all the updates and installed anti-virus software. Then I was
> > trying to run defrag and when it opens it says "Your file system
> > performance
> > can be improved" at which point I click on "Defragment Now". At this
> > point it
> > would say "analyzing disk" for 2 or 3 seconds and it then goes back to
> > "Your
> > file system performance can be improved". I keep clicking on
> > "Defragment Now"
> > over and over again but it keeps doing the same thing.
> >
> > I then scheduled Error-Checking on the next start-up but when the
> > computer
> > restarts, nothing happens. I've tried it a few times and the disk is
> > never
> > scanned. Any help or suggestions will be appreciated.
>
> Hi For the Birds,
>
> Have you tried running the error check through a elevated command
> prompt? It will usually work better than going through windows
> explorer. See the link below for more details.
>
> 'http://www.vistax64.com/tutorials/67612-checkdisk.html#post295446'
> (http://www.vistax64.com/tutorials/67...tml#post295446)
>
> Hope this helps,
> Shawn
>
>
> --
> brink
>
> *There are no dumb questions, just the people that do not ask them.*
> '_www.Vistax64.com_' (http://www.vistax64.com/www.Vistax64.com)
> *Please post feedback to help others.*
>

I ran across an article by John Barnett (a Windows Vista freelance MVP) about
repairing Vista OS by doing an upgrade install, which preserves your
programs, settings, data, etc. I did this today and my computer is back up
and purring. It does chkdsk and defrag without a hitch.

"brink" wrote:

>
> uvbogden;369491 Wrote:
> > I have tried to run this from an elevated "administrator" level and it
> > still
> > doesn't work.
> >
> >
>
> Ok uvbogden,
>
> You might try using this free 3rd party defrag program, Auslogics Disk
> Defrag. It's a great program with a progress graph, and it's faster.
>
> 'http://www.auslogics.com/disk-defrag/'
> (http://www.auslogics.com/disk-defrag/)
>
> Hope this helps,
> Shawn
>
>
> --
> brink
>
> *There are no dumb questions, just the people that do not ask them.*
> '_www.Vistax64.com_' (http://www.vistax64.com/www.Vistax64.com)
> *Please post feedback to help others.*
>