Tried Scandisk: did all these & nothing works [Expert user]

[dydavid]

My Background - from Dos to Win XP user.
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Problem:
Tried Scandisk:

I did all these & nothing works in Windows ME: Safemode, Quick Launch - only clock runs, [CTR+ALT+DEL >> only Explorer is running]

From Safemode:
"ScanDisk cannot check this drive now because a program such as a disk utility has locked it. Close the program or wait for it to finish. Then restart ScanDisk. "

Need more help.

Best link so far:

http://www.tek-tips.com/viewthread.cfm?qid=295300

Some Not helpful links:

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/280450/EN-US/

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/287914/EN-US/

http://www.computerhope.com/cgi-bin/search.cgi

 

[wolluf]

It would help if you would actually tell us what the problem is and how it arose ('Nothing works in ME' - so its always been like that then?).

 

[dydavid]

Don't know how the problem arose. Not my PC. The client is a young guy, under 22.

Problem is how to run Scandisk (see above). This important because I Norton Utilities Disk Doctor fails also.

Tried Safemode from a cold boot, still system says:
"ScanDisk cannot check this drive now because a program such as a disk utility has locked it. Close the program or wait for it to finish. Then restart ScanDisk. "

[MSconfig] is not helpful either. All [Startup] items are disabled. Found nothing else running in [System.ini] or
[Win.ini]

CTR+ALT+DEL has nothing but Explorer running.

I'm still trying. Any ideas?

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"It would help if you would actually tell us what the problem is and how it arose" - I said Scandisk does not work. What is it about Scandisk that you don't understand? It is important with hard drives to do this so that the operating system knows what errors exist on the hard drive and the operating system can map out those errors from where it writes data. If no one does Scandisk (or equivalent) then Windows becomes error prone over time.

"('Nothing works in ME' - so its always been like that then?)." What do you mean by this question? I can't get any Scandisk to work in Win ME Safemode or Standard Mode. Since I don't own this computer, I don't know its history regarding "always". I am just trying to put this into top shape.

I have fixed over 150 Windows problems using Norton Utilities, about 70 spyware, 2 viruses. I plan to do updattes on Win ME when I can get the Network Adapter to work.

Since PCs work on a layered process - hardware layers, software layers, etc. >>> if the lower levels are not fully functioning 100%, they cause problems for higher layers such as accessing the IE browser.

Is that clear enough? Thank you.

Dave

 

[wolluf]

sorry - but its not obvious to me why you are trying to run scandisk (and not for example, scanreg /restore). The problem is ME is not working - no reasons. You say you've no history - so ok (but presume you did ask your client what happened - if I'm asked to fix a PC, I like to have some idea of how it went wrong, even if its just - we turned it on as usual and it just hung).

Have you tried booting from an ME boot floppy and running scandisk from there? Scanreg /restore from a boot floppy is another option - pick earlier registry to see if that allows it to boot normally. Or you could slave the drive in another machine and run scandisk from windows there (or chkdsk if 2k/XP).

Another approach would be to disconnect as much hardware as possible (so just hard drive, graphics card/monitor, keybord, mouse (could even leave this out to start)connected for example). Then see if it boots. If it does, reconnect devices one at a time.

HTH

 

[mattjurado]

Yeah, I'm with wolluf on this one, the initial posting was a bit confusing, but anyways, the real problem is that windows is not working right. Scandisk not running in ME is not shocking to me. In 98, you could boot to safe mode and run scandisk no problem, but it often fails in safe mode in ME. I would start by following the above suggestions. If that fails, can you uninstall applications in safe mode? I would start by removing norton utilities itself. Look for any other programs in add/remove programs, that might be spyware.

Matt J.

Please always take the time to backup any and all data before performing any actions suggested for ANY problem, regardless of how minor a change it might seem. Also test the backup to make sure it is intact.