Windows 2000 Quick Fixes

Windows 2000 runs chkdsk at startup

Windows 2000 provides recoverability of the filesystem, which means it can recover filesystem errors, particularly for NTFS volumes. To that end, Windows 2000 writes data to the disk at shutdown to indicate that the volume has been shut down properly, meaning that there are no open files and no uncompleted disk I/O. When Windows 2000 starts, it checks the filesystem to determine if it was shut down properly, and if not, it automatically runs chkdsk at startup to analyze and repair the filesystem.

Shut down properly

The best way to keep chkdsk from running automatically at startup is to make sure you shut down the system properly. Choose Start → Shutdown, then Shut down or Restart, as needed. Don’t just turn off the machine, as you could not only lose some data but also potentially corrupt your Windows 2000 installation. While I’ve never had it happen in the several times it has been necessary to shut off the system rather than shut it down, you shouldn’t run the risk if you don’t have to.

Disable automatic chkdsk execution

It’s possible to configure a system to run chkdsk at startup even when there is no problem with the drive. If your system is running chkdsk at startup even after you shut down the system properly, this could be the case. You can check a setting in the registry to determine if Windows 2000 is forcing a check at startup. Here’s how:

1. Click Start → Run, and enter regedit in the Run dialog box.

2. In the Registry Editor, open the branch HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager.

3. Make note of the current setting for BootExecute in case you decide to restore it.

4. Change the value of BootExecute to read autocheck autochk * and then close the Registry Editor.

Tip

The value for BootExecute referenced in step 4 is the default value and restores the default behavior to chkdsk.