On-Call Computer Service - Columbus, GA

We have been running into a lot of problems lately with data corruption on hard drives. It is a somewhat common problem often caused by power outages, automatic updates, or other conditions that cause a bad shutdown on the computer.

If you cannot boot Windows in normal or safe mode this is the first procedure to try. It's a little time consuming but does have a very high success rate. Please note: if you need to run this on a regular basis, or it takes an unusual amount of time to compete (more than 2 hours) then your hard drive may be failing. Make a backup, and seek assistance.

This can take several hours, you may want to run the scan overnight or when you will not need access to your computer. You can run this scan with any XP CD, it does not have to be the one that came with your computer.

Steps to run CheckDisk: (you can use the print icon in the top right to save these instructions)

1. Power the computer on with the Windows XP disc loaded. If your system does not boot off the CD but instead starts Windows normally you will need to CD drive. This is done in the bios which is usually accessed with one of the following keys F2, F10, or F12. Some computers will also let you choose a boot device without changing the bios. Often this is F1 or ESC, oberve the bottom of the screen when you first power on to check for these options.

2.  Press any key  when you are prompted.  You will now see your system loading load files and then will bring you to a Windows XP Setup screen.

3. At the Windows Setup screen, press R to enter the Recovery Console.

4. At the black screen (recovery console) choose the number for your Windows installation, or press enter i not prompted. 

6. Now type chkdsk /r and press ENTER.

7. You will serveral messages while it scans, it may take several hours for the scan to complete, when the completed you will see a summary of the scan and the C: prompt will return.

8. You can now reboot Windows, type Exit to reboot.

Good Luck!

---