Run Scandisk or Check Disk in Exclusive Mode

This Tip Will Provide You With Information on How To Gain Exclusive Rights to Repair Your Security Descriptors and Files OR if need be Repair Bad Sectors on You Hard Drive.

Firs, as a user on the system do you have limited or administrator privileges? That is a good question. Most users have administrator privileges. If you do not I will address that below.

Let me run down the procedure. OK?

To run Check Disk
Press at the same time the Windows Logo key + R, this launches the Run Command Dialog box at the bottom left of the screen.
In the text area of the run command dialog type: cmd
This opens a Command Window
With the Command Window open type this exactly:
chkdsk /f /x c:

The command is "chkdsk" without the quotes
Then there are operators known as switches. These are invoked using the forward slash (or slash) more commonly known as a "switch" in programming language.
There are several operators that can be invoked. To see them all type:
chkdsk /?
That will list all the possible operators you can invoke in the chkdsk command. This is useful should you need to refresh your memory of what to do.

The operators invoked with the slash switch may often be substituted with the dash symbol (-) without the parenthesis.
In our case we want Check Disk to check drive C and access the drive exclusively. As the C drive has the operating system running it has open handles. Open handles are executable files running to allow the function of Windows. By invoking the /x switch this forces Windows to execute your command in the only exclusive mode possible which is during bootup.

The switch /f tells Check Disk to fix any errors. Should you suspect you have damaged areas of your hard disk you would use the /r switch which instructs Windows to attempt to repair any damaged sectors and if unable to mark them as unusable and move that data to another area of the hard drive. The /r switch implies the /f switch.

Normally you will not want or need to use the /r switch unless you are told by Windows that there are damaged areas of your hard drive.

So, in our case the /f (to fix sectors and files) and the /x (to do this in exclusive mode) and then lastly typing the drive letter to check in our case c: instructs Windows to act immediately.

In order to run this command you do need permissions called security descriptors for your user account. Simply put, your account would be an Administrator account and not a limited account. Most accounts in Windows are administrative.

To change a limited account to an administrator account you need a logged on Administrator who can access your limited account and change your privilege to Administrator. If you have none, you need to bootup in Safe Mode log in as Administrator (usually no password, or it is "Admin" without the quotes and either upper and lower case or all lower case.

In conclusion, should you press Windows Key + R, the run command line dialog appears; next you type CMD to gain a command window; you then type in "chkdsk /f /x c:" without the quotes. Windows should attempt to obtain exclusive mode which it can't and will then ask you if you want to run this on the next boot. That is the normal response. You would then answer Y for yes and Windows will reboot or you will have to tell it to reboot using the Restart Sequence.

Should non of this happen and you do have an administrator account, then you probably have a virus infection hiding in a sector on your hard drive where Check Disk would remove it. There is a way around this if this if this is an impediment you are facing. More on this at the end if you are locked out.

Reboot your computer and on restart Press F8 like a piano key, you may be asked from where do you want to boot? Choose your Hard Drive and then immediately, immediately press F8 again like a piano key. This will bring up the Safe Mode boot options. Here is where you would usually choose Safe Mode. However, in this case, choose Safe Mode with Command Prompt.

Once it boots up and you have half the screen occupied by a command window, type out the command once again to run Check Disk with the switches
chkdsk /f /x c:
needed to fix your hard drive and repair your security descriptors. From this Safe Mode Command Prompt you will have privileges and the command should execute with no problem. If it doesn't you have a serious problem on your hand and will require running a thorough Virus Scan specifically from an online Virus Scanner.

To run an online Virus Scanner follow the instructions in this Tip I wrote here:

After you attempt this and if you still have a question or should you run into trouble use the Ask Me Button to respond to me directly. I will then receive an email alert of a personal request. Supply as much detail and what you have done already and I will respond at my soonest. Note that I am away from my desk a great deal of the working day and am at it in the evenings though.

Regards, and good hunting,
Worldvet