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    chkdsk stuck on step 5

    Discussion in 'Hardware Components and Aftermarket Upgrades' started by ressom., Mar 2, 2008.

  1. ressom.

    ressom. Notebook Consultant

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    Running chkdsk to check an empty partition and it gets stuck at step 5 at 63%.

    I have reformated the partion via Windows disk manager and still the same problem.

    It is a Hitachi 7k200 hard drive, with Vista x64 installed on a 40GB partion and the rest is empty. I did run an HD tune test and it ran successfully.

    Is there a problem with the drive. I got it from newegg... can I have them replace it or do I have to go through Hitiachi? Are there any other tests I should do?
     
    ressom., Mar 2, 2008
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  2. Greg

    Greg Notebook Nobel Laureate

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    CHKDSK step 5 takes a LONG time, and it might freeze up occasionally. How long was it stuck at 63%?
     
    Greg, Mar 2, 2008
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  3. ressom.

    ressom. Notebook Consultant

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    About an hour. I'll run it again tonight before bed and see if it finishes by morning.
     
    ressom., Mar 2, 2008
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  4. Greg

    Greg Notebook Nobel Laureate

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    Shoot, I've seen CHKDSK take HOURS for step 5. Give it all night.
     
    Greg, Mar 2, 2008
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  5. ressom.

    ressom. Notebook Consultant

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    Ran it overnight and it still is stuck and cannot finish the test. Is there some other utility to scan and fix errors on hard drives?
     
    ressom., Mar 3, 2008
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  6. nizzy1115

    nizzy1115 Notebook Prophet

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    I would go to the drive manufacturer for a replacement.
     
    nizzy1115, Mar 3, 2008
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  7. ScifiMike12

    ScifiMike12 Drinking the good stuff

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    Just wondering, is your hard drive showing any activity (via HDD light)?
     
    ScifiMike12, Mar 3, 2008
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  8. ressom.

    ressom. Notebook Consultant

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    When it gets stuck the hard drive light stays off and is inactive.

    I downloaded Hitachi's diagnostic tools and ran them and everything checked out fine according to it. Then tried to chkdsk again and it's still stuck at 63%. I don't know what to do now.
     
    ressom., Mar 3, 2008
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  9. ScifiMike12

    ScifiMike12 Drinking the good stuff

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    Ya know, it could be a Windows error. I think the same thing happened to my HP desktop back in the day when I ran a chkdsk on it and it paused during the scanning. I thought my hard drive had errors on it and did the same kind of thing you just did. Turned up, my OS was just messing with me and I had to reformat. Fixed the issue right after.
     
    ScifiMike12, Mar 3, 2008
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  10. Greg

    Greg Notebook Nobel Laureate

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    Use HDTune to check the entire drive. It will tell you if there are any physical errors (those would definitely cause XP/Vista to hang).
     
    Greg, Mar 4, 2008
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  11. ressom.

    ressom. Notebook Consultant

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    Yeah, I did run HDTune and it checked out fine. The Hitachi test looked pretty exhaustive as well and all was successful. I even reformatted the empty partition and it still hung at 63%.

    But now I have FIXED IT!!!

    I decided to try to isolate the bad spot so I split the empty partition in half so now I have a 40GB partition for the OS and two ~43GB partitions that are empty. I ran chkdsk /r on both partitions and it found 4KB in bad sectors on the new partition and it marked as bad. And it finished checking both empty partitions!

    So I am good with this HD... no sending it back to Hitachi!
     
    ressom., Mar 4, 2008
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  12. Greg

    Greg Notebook Nobel Laureate

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    Keep a VERY close eye on that drive. If any more sectors show up as bad, definitely send it in.

    Also, get a plan in place that regularly backs up your data. Trust me on that.
     
    Greg, Mar 5, 2008
    #12