U
uvbogden
For about 6 weeks I'm having 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 below, 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? Why can't I just copy the
good file from the Vista DVD to my OS?
"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/ArticleID/94616/94616.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
> >
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 below, 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? Why can't I just copy the
good file from the Vista DVD to my OS?
"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/ArticleID/94616/94616.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
> >