Howdy.I'm trying to defragment this computer (HP PCm7170n) equipped with Windows XP. Each and every time I try I get a message saying "Disk Defragmenter has detected that Chkdsk is scheduled to run on the volume: HP_PAVILLION (C). Please run Chkdsk /f".I searched for almost an hour now on the internet trying to find the solution. So far I've read and tried...-Restarted the computer, same thing.-Went into Control Panel and opened scheduled tasks, did not see anything remotely close to "Chkdsk /f".-Tried going Start - Run - Chkdsk /f, came up with the cannot run would you like to schedule it for next time you start your computer y/n message. From here I tried typing Y and hit enter then restarted computer, still same problem.-I repeated this but instead typed N, pressed enter, restarted computer, still same problem.-I tried the above two steps but did not restart comptuer after, still same problem.-One website suggested typing something like "Chkdsk c: /f" (going off of memory, but it was something like that), same Y/N message, still could not defrag after.Not being much of a computer guy, this is starting to get very annoying. Can anyone please help?1 person got this answerI do too

Problem appears to be solved. Not being a computery guy a lot of these things go right over my head, but something must have worked. Thanks y'all...

When Disk Defragmenter reports:Disk Defragmenter has detected that Chkdsk is scheduled to run on this volume: (C:)This means that XP has marked the volume as "dirty". It doesn't necessarily mean any data has been lost on the volume, it just means that XP thinks the volume needs to be checked for errors because of something that happened before.(It does not mean that a check disk is scheduled and you cannot unschedule what needs to happen in this case because that is not the problem. You can still run a disk defragment with a scheduled check disk pending).A volume can be marked dirty if the system suffered a power interruption (power failure, plug pulling, battery removal, power button), aborted restart or ungraceful shutdown . Have any of those events occurred?XP automatically checks the dirty bit on every volume when it starts. You can also tell XP to ignore the dirty bit on any volume, but that is probably not a good idea in case there is a real problem that needs to be fixed.If the XP startup finds the volume is dirty, it will automatically run check disk with error correction (chkdsk /r) and try to correct any problems it finds and if it succeeds, it will clear the dirty bit. If you don't have the message anymore, it means check disk ran on some earlier reboot, corrected any problems and cleared the dirty bit. You will only see that message when a volume has been marked as dirty.You can check the status of your dirty bit from a Command Prompt window. To do that, click Start, Run and in the box enter:cmdClick OK to open a Command Prompt window.To query the dirty bit on drive C, type:fsutil dirty query C:Sample output: Volume C: is dirtyVolume C: is not dirtyOnce a volume has been marked dirty, the only way to clear the dirty bit is to run "chkdsk /r" or "chkdsk /p" when the volume is not in use. The only way a volume can be not in use is while XP is just starting to load or from the XP Recovery Console. You can manually schedule the check disk with error correction to run on the next system reboot, but if the dirty bit has been set, XP should run check disk automatically with error correction on the next reboot. It is usually the case that after a reboot, the issues will be resolved since XP will automatically run check disk on dirty volumes when it restarts. If you don't check the logs, you will never know what problems were found, corrected or remain.When you choose to run check disk with error correction from the Disk Properties Tools menu, you will be prompted with a message similar to the following:The disk check could not be performed because the disk check utility needs exclusive access to some Windows files on the disk.These files can be access only by restarting Windows. Do you want to schedule the disk check to occur the next time you restartWindows?Respond in the affirmative if you would like to schedule the check disk the next time Windows restarts.When you choose to run check disk with error correction from the Command Prompt window, you will be prompted with a message similar to the following:The type of the file system is NTFS.Cannot lock current drive.Chkdsk cannot run because the volume is in use by anotherprocess. Would you like to schedule this volume to bechecked the next time the system restarts? (Y/N)Respond in the affirmative if you would like to schedule the check disk the next time Windows restarts.When XP restarts, let check disk finish and correct any problems it might find. Do not interrupt the check disk. It may take a long time (hours or days) to complete or it may appear to be 'stuck'. Be patient. If the HDD light is still flashing, it is doing something. Keep an eye on the percentage amount to be sure it is still making progress. It may even appear to go backwards sometimes.When chkdsk runs automatically on a reboot, the results are shown in the Event Viewer Application log. You need to look there after check disk has run and XP has finished loading for the results and for any problems. To see the Event Viewer logs, click Start, Settings, Control Panel, Administrative Tools, Event Viewer.A shortcut to Event Viewer is to click Start, Run and in the box enter:%SystemRoot%\system32\eventvwr.mscClick OK to launch the Event Viewer.Look in the Application log for an event sourced by Winlogon, something like:Event Type: InformationEvent Source: WinlogonEvent Category: NoneEvent ID: 1001Description:Checking file system on C:The type of the file system is NTFS.A disk check has been scheduled.Windows will now check the disk. 39070048 KB total disk space. 25151976 KB in 78653 files. 48256 KB in 10264 indexes. 0 KB in bad sectors. 237080 KB in use by the system. 65536 KB occupied by the log file. 13632736 KB available on disk.Windows has finished checking your disk.If you see any errors - even errors that are corrected, run chkdsk /r again until you see no errors. You should have no errors.Do, or do not. There is no try.I need YOUR votes and points for helpful replies and Propose as Answers. I am saving up for a pony!

When Disk Defragmenter reports:Disk Defragmenter has detected that Chkdsk is scheduled to run on this volume: (C:)This means that XP has marked the volume as "dirty". It doesn't necessarily mean any data has been lost on the volume, it just means that XP thinks the volume needs to be checked for errors because of something that happened before.(It does not mean that a check disk is scheduled and you cannot unschedule what needs to happen in this case because that is not the problem. You can still run a disk defragment with a scheduled check disk).A volume can be marked dirty if the system suffered a power interruption (power failure, plug pulling, battery removal, power button), aborted restart or ungraceful shutdown . Have any of those events occurred?XP automatically checks the dirty bit on every volume when it starts. You can also tell XP to ignore the dirty bit on any volume, but that is probably not a good idea in case there is a real problem that needs to be fixed.If the XP startup finds the volume is dirty, it will automatically run check disk with error correction (chkdsk /r) and try to correct any problems it finds and if it succeeds, it will clear the dirty bit. If you don't have the message anymore, it means check disk ran on some earlier reboot, corrected any problems and cleared the dirty bit. You will only see that message when a volume has been marked as dirty.You can check the status of your dirty bit from a Command Prompt window. To do that, click Start, Run and in the box enter:cmdClick OK to open a Command Prompt window.To query the dirty bit on drive C, type:fsutil dirty query C:Sample output: Volume C: is dirtyVolume C: is not dirtyOnce a volume has been marked dirty, the only way to clear the dirty bit is to run "chkdsk /r" or "chkdsk /p" when the volume is not in use. The only way a volume can be not in use is while XP is just starting to load or from the XP Recovery Console. You can manually schedule the check disk with error correction to run on the next system reboot, but if the dirty bit has been set, XP should run check disk automatically with error correction on the next reboot. It is usually the case that after a reboot, the issues will be resolved since XP will automatically run check disk on dirty volumes when it restarts. If you don't check the logs, you will never know what problems were found, corrected or remain.When you choose to run check disk with error correction from the Disk Properties Tools menu, you will be prompted with a message similar to the following:The disk check could not be performed because the disk check utility needs exclusive access to some Windows files on the disk.These files can be access only by restarting Windows. Do you want to schedule the disk check to occur the next time you restartWindows?Respond in the affirmative if you would like to schedule the check disk the next time Windows restarts.When you choose to run check disk with error correction from the Command Prompt window, you will be prompted with a message similar to the following:The type of the file system is NTFS.Cannot lock current drive.Chkdsk cannot run because the volume is in use by anotherprocess. Would you like to schedule this volume to bechecked the next time the system restarts? (Y/N)Respond in the affirmative if you would like to schedule the check disk the next time Windows restarts.When XP restarts, let check disk finish and correct any problems it might find. Do not interrupt the check disk. It may take a long time (hours or days) to complete or it may appear to be 'stuck'. Be patient. If the HDD light is still flashing, it is doing something. Keep an eye on the percentage amount to be sure it is still making progress. It may even appear to go backwards sometimes.When chkdsk runs automatically on a reboot, the results are shown in the Event Viewer Application log. You need to look there after check disk has run and XP has finished loading for the results and for any problems. To see the Event Viewer logs, click Start, Settings, Control Panel, Administrative Tools, Event Viewer.A shortcut to Event Viewer is to click Start, Run and in the box enter:%SystemRoot%\system32\eventvwr.mscClick OK to launch the Event Viewer.Look in the Application log for an event sourced by Winlogon, something like:Event Type: InformationEvent Source: WinlogonEvent Category: NoneEvent ID: 1001Description:Checking file system on C:The type of the file system is NTFS.A disk check has been scheduled.Windows will now check the disk. 39070048 KB total disk space. 25151976 KB in 78653 files. 48256 KB in 10264 indexes. 0 KB in bad sectors. 237080 KB in use by the system. 65536 KB occupied by the log file. 13632736 KB available on disk.Windows has finished checking your disk.If you see any errors - even errors that are corrected, run chkdsk /r again until you see no errors. You should have no errors.Do, or do not. There is no try.I need YOUR votes and points for helpful replies and Propose as Answers. I am saving up for a pony!

When Disk Defragmenter reports:Disk Defragmenter has detected that Chkdsk is scheduled to run on this volume: (C:)This means that XP has marked the volume as "dirty". It doesn't necessarily mean any data has been lost on the volume, it just means that XP thinks the volume needs to be checked for errors because of something that happened before.(It does not mean that a check disk is scheduled and you cannot unschedule what needs to happen in this case because that is not the problem)A volume can be marked dirty if the system suffered a power interruption (power failure, plug pulling, battery removal, power button), aborted restart or ungraceful shutdown . Have any of those events occurred?XP automatically checks the dirty bit on every volume when it starts. You can also tell XP to ignore the dirty bit on any volume, but that is probably not a good idea in case there is a real problem that needs to be fixed.If the XP startup finds the volume is dirty, it will automatically run check disk with error correction (chkdsk /r) and try to correct any problems it finds and if it succeeds, it will clear the dirty bit. If you don't have the message anymore, it means check disk ran on some earlier reboot, corrected any problems and cleared the dirty bit. You will only see that message when a volume has been marked as dirty.You can check the status of your dirty bit from a Command Prompt window. To do that, click Start, Run and in the box enter:cmdClick OK to open a Command Prompt window.To query the dirty bit on drive C, type:fsutil dirty query C:Sample output: Volume C: is dirtyVolume C: is not dirtyOnce a volume has been marked dirty, the only way to clear the dirty bit is to run "chkdsk /r" or "chkdsk /p" when the volume is not in use. The only way a volume can be not in use is while XP is just starting to load or from the XP Recovery Console. You can manually schedule the check disk with error correction to run on the next system reboot, but if the dirty bit has been set, XP should run check disk automatically with error correction on the next reboot. It is usually the case that after a reboot, the issues will be resolved since XP will automatically run check disk on dirty volumes when it restarts. If you don't check the logs, you will never know what problems were found, corrected or remain.When you choose to run check disk with error correction from the Disk Properties Tools menu, you will be prompted with a message similar to the following:The disk check could not be performed because the disk check utility needs exclusive access to some Windows files on the disk.These files can be access only by restarting Windows. Do you want to schedule the disk check to occur the next time you restartWindows?Respond in the affirmative if you would like to schedule the check disk the next time Windows restarts.When you choose to run check disk with error correction from the Command Prompt window, you will be prompted with a message similar to the following:The type of the file system is NTFS.Cannot lock current drive.Chkdsk cannot run because the volume is in use by anotherprocess. Would you like to schedule this volume to bechecked the next time the system restarts? (Y/N)Respond in the affirmative if you would like to schedule the check disk the next time Windows restarts.When XP restarts, let check disk finish and correct any problems it might find. Do not interrupt the check disk. It may take a long time (hours or days) to complete or it may appear to be 'stuck'. Be patient. If the HDD light is still flashing, it is doing something. Keep an eye on the percentage amount to be sure it is still making progress. It may even appear to go backwards sometimes.When chkdsk runs automatically on a reboot, the results are shown in the Event Viewer Application log. You need to look there after check disk has run and XP has finished loading for the results and for any problems. To see the Event Viewer logs, click Start, Settings, Control Panel, Administrative Tools, Event Viewer.A shortcut to Event Viewer is to click Start, Run and in the box enter:%SystemRoot%\system32\eventvwr.mscClick OK to launch the Event Viewer.Look in the Application log for an event sourced by Winlogon, something like:Event Type: InformationEvent Source: WinlogonEvent Category: NoneEvent ID: 1001Description:Checking file system on C:The type of the file system is NTFS.A disk check has been scheduled.Windows will now check the disk. 39070048 KB total disk space. 25151976 KB in 78653 files. 48256 KB in 10264 indexes. 0 KB in bad sectors. 237080 KB in use by the system. 65536 KB occupied by the log file. 13632736 KB available on disk.Windows has finished checking your disk.If you see any errors - even errors that are corrected, run chkdsk /r again until you see no errors. You should have no errors.Do, or do not. There is no try.I need YOUR votes and points for helpful replies and Propose as Answers. I am saving up for a pony!