Chkdsk will Not Run at Startup in Vista

How to Fix Chkdsk will Not Run at Startup in Vista​

   Information

If after you set Check Disk or chkdsk to run at startup it will not run, then this will show you how to fix this problem so chkdsk will run at startup. This problem is usually caused when the autochk.exe file gets corrupted, or the registry BootExecute data value is incorrect.

This is not for if chkdsk cannot finish or stops running.

   Note

• Check Disk uses the file autochk.exe to run chkdsk.
• If you still cannot run chkdsk at startup after this, then you might consider performing a System Restore, Repair Installation, or Clean Installation to fix the problem. See related links below.
• If you had changed your default boot screen, then you will need to temporarily uncheck the No GUI boot to be able to see what is happening when chkdsk is running at boot up. See: How to Enable or Replace the Hidden Aurora Boot Screen in Vista

STEP ONE

Safe Mode Workaround

   Note

This is to see if something may be loading before the check disk program preventing chkdsk from running.

1. Schedule check disk to run using chkdsk /f (STEP FIVE below) in the command promt.​

​

2. Run msconfig (step 1 in METHOD TWO at link), and click on the Boot​

tab and click on Safe boot with the minimal button selected. (See screenshot below)​

​

​

3. Restart the computer to hopefully have chkdsk run.​

​

4. Set msconfig (step 2 in METHOD TWO at link) to boot normally again.​

​

5. If chkdsk still will not run at startup, then proceed with the steps below. If it did, then you're done.​

STEP TWO

Reset chkdsk BootExecute

   Note

• This will reset chkdsk back to it's default setting of not to run at startup.
• This step will also fix the problem of chkdsk always running at startup.
• If BootExecute already has a Data value of autocheck autochk *, then you do not need to do this. (See the Manual Way below to check) Continue to STEP THREE below instead.

Through a Download:​

1. Click on the download button below to download the Reset_chkdsk.reg file.​

​

​

2. Click on Save, and save the .reg file to the Desktop.​

​

3. Right click on the .reg file (on Desktop) and click on Merge.​

​

4. Click on the Run button for Security Warning pop-up.​

​

5. Click on Continue (UAC), Yes, and then OK when prompted.​

​

6. When done, you can delete the .reg file (on Desktop).​

​

​

The Manual Way:​

1. Open the Start Menu.​

​

2. In the white line (Start Search) area, type regedit and press Enter.​

​

3. Click on the Continue button in the UAC prompt.​

​

4. In regedit, go to: (See screenshot below step 5)​

​

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager​

5. In the right pane, right click on BootExecute and click on Modify.​

​

​

6. Type autocheck autochk * and click on OK. (See screenshot below)​

NOTE: You will be replacing autocheck autochk /p \??\C: with autocheck autochk* instead. If BootExecute already has a Data value of autocheck autochk *, then you do not need to do this. Go to STEP THREE below.​

​

​

7. Close regedit.​

​

STEP THREE

Run a SFC /SCANNOW Command

1. Try running a sfc /scannow command to see if it can fix chkdsk.​

​

2. When SFC is finished, try running chkdsk again.​

​

3. If chkdsk still will not run at startup, then proceed with the steps below. If it did, then you're done.​

​

STEP FOUR

Replace autochk.exe File

NOTE: This will show you how to replace your corrupted copy of the autochk.exe file with clean copy to be able to run chkdsk at startup.

1. Be sure that you already have ran a SFC /scannow from STEP THREE above to see verify that the autochk.exe file was foud to be corrupted first in the sfcdetails.txt file. If it's not, then you do not need to do STEP FOUR.​

​

2. In Windows Explorer, go to C:\Windows\System32\autochk.exe. (See screenshot below)​

​

​

3. Take ownership of the file autochk.exe at the C:\Windows\System32\autochk.exe location, and "Allow" your user account "Full Control" of it. (See screenshot above)​

​

4. Right click on autochk.exe and click on Properties. (See screenshot below step 2)​

​

5. Click on the Details tab. (See screenshots below)​

​

A) Make note of what File version the autochk.exe file is.​

NOTE: If the File version is blank or you have SP1 installed, then do step 6. If not, then do step 8.​

​

​

​

​

​

​

6. Download the same version that you have in step 5.​

​

7. For the Vista 6.0.6002.18005 SP2 Version of autochk.exe​

NOTE: This is for the 32 bit and 64 bit Vista with SP1 and SP2 installed.​

​

A) Click on the download button below to download the 6.0.6002.18005.zip file.​

​

B) Go to step 10.​

​

​

8. For the Vista 6.0.6001.18000 SP1 Version of autochk.exe​

NOTE: This is for the 32 bit and 64 bit Vista with SP1 installed.​

​

A) Click on the download button below to download the 6.0.6001.18000.zip file.​

​

B) Go to step 10.​

​

​

9. For the Vista 6.0.6000.16386 RTM Version of autochk.exe​

NOTE: This is for the 32 bit and 64 bit Vista without SP1 or SP2 installed. This version has been reported to still work with or without SP1 installed, so you may try it if you still have problems with the newer 6.0.6001.18000 SP1 or 6.0.6002.18005 SP2 version.​

​

A) Click on the download button below to download the 6.0.6000.16386.zip file.​

​

​

10. Save the ZIP file to your desktop.​

​

11. Open on the downloaded autochk.exe.zip file.​

​

12. Extract (drag and drop) the autochk.exe file from wihtin the ZIP file to your desktop.​

​

13. Right click on the autochk.exe file on your desktop and click on Properties and the Unblock button under the General tab. (See screenshot below)​

NOTE: If you do not have the Unblock button, then it is already unblocked. Continue on to step 14.​

​

​

14. Right click on the autochk.exe file on your desktop and click on Copy.​

​

15. Go back to the Windows Explore window at C:\Windows\System32\autochk.exe. (See screenshot below step 2)​

​

16. Right click on a empty space in the Windows Explorer window and click on Paste. (See screenshot below step 2)​

NOTE: If it will not let you Copy or Paste the new autochk.exe file (on desktop) over, then rename the old one and repeat step 14, then delete the old renamed autochk.exe file afterwards.​

​

17. Click on Copy and Replace. (See screenshot below)​

NOTE: This replaces your autochk.exe with the downloaded clean one on the desktop that has not been taken ownership of.​

​

​

18. Click on Continue for Access Denied prompt.​

​

19. Click on Continue for UAC prompt.​

​

20. Close the Windows Explorer window.​

​

​

​

STEP FIVE

Set Chkdsk to Run at Startup

1. Try the different methods in this tutorial below to run chkdsk to see which one works best for you.​

​

That's it,
Shawn

Related Tutorials

---

• How to Run Check Disk at Startup in Vista
• How To Perform a Repair Installation For Vista
• How to Do a Clean Install of Vista with a Upgrade Version
• How to Do a Clean Install with a Full Version of Vista
• How to Do a System Restore in Vista
• How to Repair and Verify the Integrity of Vista System Files with System File Checker
• How to Change Vista Disk Check Press Any Key Timeout Value at Startup
• How to Read the Event Viewer Log for Check Disk (chkdsk) in Windows

 

[1604]

Actually, you are correct, I doublechecked my permissions and (my mistake) I had not granted full control,...having corrected that.... then I went back and it replaced the file and I have already successfully run the chkdsk /f and solved a problem that has been going on for days. Thank you very much.

 

[Brink]

LOL 1604. It happens. I was starting to scratch my head to why it was still not letting you with full control.

I'm glad to hear that chkdsk ran for you now.

Shawn

 

[1604]

Appreciate the help. Thx.

 

[Brink]

Your welcome 1604. Anytime.

Shawn

 

[Shastapop23]

Hit F8 once every second right after starting the PC
This gets you into the DOS looking screen with safe mode and other options, select Repair

Recovery manager starts
Select Advanced Options
Select computer checkup
Select command prompt

CMD prompt starts in X:
Enter C: to change to the C drive
Enter chkdsk /f
When asked to force a dismount select Y

Check disk should now start automatically.

Exit then boot

This worked for me too. I had tried every other method I could find on this forum and nothing was working! Thank you so much for posting RJCC!!

 

[youknowandy]

This fixed up my system good! I did have a headache though trying to move the new autochk.exe file over though. I hate just replacing a file without having a backup, so instead of just overriding it with the new one, I renamed the original one first then tried pasting in the new version. The system didn't let me copy the new one because it gave me some kind of error message that it was incompatible with my version of windows (don't remember the exact error). After wondering what was going wrong, I just made a backup copy of the original, then overwrote the original version of the file with the new one, and it worked fine. Its funny how it let me overwrite an existing file in that directory, but wouldn't let me add a new file with a filename that didn't already exist in the directory.

 

[aquariusmoon]

When I schedule dskchk and reboot I get the screen that says it's starting, but it immediately says disk checking was canceled. I've tried from safe mode and diagnostic startup, with no luck. I also tried system restore. It will run from the recovery tools if I boot from the installation disc, and reports no bad files. System file checker also found nothing. Could it still be a corrupted autochk.exe file?

Computer Dell Inspirion 1501 with Vista home premium SP1.

 

[Brink]

Hi Aquariusmoon, and welcome to Vista Forums.

When it boots up to run chkdsk, you have 10 seconds to press a key to cancel it. You might check to see if you may have a stuck key on the keyboard or something that is triggering this to cancel the chkdsk.

Hope this helps,
Shawn

 

[aquariusmoon]

I checked and no keys seem to be stuck. I cleaned the keyboard thoroughly with canned air in case of a particle in there. This is a laptop, so I can't find a way to disable the keyboard, but it seems to be functioning fine.

 

[Brink]

Aquariusmoon,

See if you can run chkdsk /f using Option Three in METHOD TWO of this tutorial.

http://www.vistax64.com/tutorials/67612-check-disk-chkdsk.html

Hope this helps,
Shawn

 

[aquariusmoon]

I have tried that (boot from cd, run command prompt from recovery tools), and it will work. This is the only way I can get it to run without instantly saying it's canceled. I even tried uninstalling the antivirus, and it still didn't work. When I boot from the CD and run it, there are no bad files or sectors found. I tried running system file checker, and it said no bad files. I'm concerned there is another problem preventing it from running normally (from the computer rather than the disk). Thanks for all of your advice.

 

[Brink]

Aquariusmoon,

With what you have already tried, the only other thing I can think of other that a clean reinstall is to do a Repair install. This tutorial will show you how to.

http://www.vistax64.com/tutorials/88236-repair-install-vista.html

Hope this helps,
Shawn

 

[aquariusmoon]

Thanks

 

[Brink]

Your welcome Aquariusmoon.

Shawn

 

[sheik2411]

What does "The C:\Windows\System32\autochk.exe application cannot be run in Win32 mode" mean? Am I doing something wrong? It comes up right after I try to paste the new file.

 

[Brink]

Hi Sheik, and welcome to Vista Forums.

It usually means that the autochk.exe file is corrupted. You can try the SFC command in the FIRST section to see if it can repair it. If not then you can replace it with a clean copy in the STEP TWO section.

Hope this helps,
Shawn

 

[aquariusmoon]

I posted about this a few weeks ago. The computer (dell inspirion 1501 laptop - vista home premium) would immediately give a message that disk check was canceled. I have read that this can be caused by a faulty keyboard, but the keyboard seems to work fine. After it developed a couple of other problems, I decided to re-install vista. After a complete clean reinstall it has the same problems! The other glitches seem to be things that could be causes by the keyboard sending "ghost signals". For example, in a windows hotmail account the options menu will open, but only for a second and disappear. I tried on another computer that works properly, and pressing the space-bar key will close the menu. It has two other glitches, in MS onenote the pen tool will only show up for a second, then turns back into a cursor, and the same problem with a third party program to keep windows on top: when you click the icon your pointer turns into a push-pin until you click the window you want to pin, but on this computer you only get the push-pin for a second (again, on other computers the space bar key does the same thing). Are there any possibilities besides a faulty keyboard that may cause this? If not, is there any way to disable a laptop's built in keyboard? I haven't bought a new keyboard, but I've read that adding a USB keyboard won't over-ride signals from the default keyboard. I'm afraid the only fix is a new laptop, or repair shop (probably about the same price). Any suggestions are welcome.

 

[mitzieB]

Thank you for you very helpful forum. I wanted to do system restore due to problems I was having. But system restore wouldn't run saying there were disk errors & I could not get check disk to run to fix the errors. With you help I was finally able to get chkdsk to run! This allowed me to do the system restore. Hopefully this has things back to normal.

 

[Brink]

Your welcome MitzieB, and welcome to Vista Forums. I hope it is back to normal for you to.

Shawn

 

[Jordache]

RJCC-

Thank you for this post! Nothing else worked- I tried all the other steps. THis worked quickly and without a problem, and fixed the issue I was having. I seem to be having much file corruption in Vista.