Glenda

Thank you all for your help. During the scan, it said 100% complete, so I thought it was finished and would shut down. The last time I waited and it went on to other sequences that took over an hour. I just wasn't waiting long enough.

The first time I ran on the command prompt, I accidentally ran in read only. It said, "correcting error in index $SII for file 9" error found cannot continue in read only. OK I then I did it right and chose Y so it would scan on next start-up and it went to a scan disk screen, which is what it always does when I restart. Before I began asking the questions on this forum I let it go through the entire sequence. when it is done, it just hangs there with a underscore cursor. It says it has completed the 3 steps, but just sits. If it indicates that it is finished what is it doing when it sits for several minutes? Will it eventually give me another prompt or eventually morph out of that screen and continue to load windows? How long shall I wait? Or is there something wrong that scandisk will not fix. Is that why it hangs there?

CptMurphy How do I get this sample screen? Is that the option to press F2 or F12 while it is starting up. Or is it the option Command Prompt under accessories. I am embarrassed that I don't know this. Will the screen go away once the scan has been completed -whether it is manual or on the next start-up?

I so appreciate your help!!!!!!!!!! I am not as smart as I look. OK command prompt from safe mode, right? Then if it refuses, at the command prompt is there a Y that I select that will take it directly to the scan process when I restart? What is Windows (GUI)? What do you mean when you say my system will be gone? I am in the middle of a big project -is this a risky process?

I have tried scan disk, it will not go through the process under normal mode. I have tried to restore to several points and it would not restore. There is a place to type in a restore point, but I am not sure what it wants -just a date or some other info. Somehow it may have lost critical info during the shut down. I wonder if the scan will work in safe mode. I am not having any problems with any programs. Perhaps I should not be concerned. If I catch it within 10 seconds and hit a key, it has started thus far. Or will it get to a point where it will not/

I have XP home edition. Last week it locked up -I shut it down abnormally. Now when it starts up it wants to go through a scan every time. It comes to a point where it finishes all 3 steps and just sits there and does nothing. So now when it starts and it tries to do it, I hit a key to go straight through. This makes me very nervous about restarting it. Will system restore fix this problem? I do not want to chance a melt down.

deXter I have not had the time to go through the steps yet. Regarding the first step - ► Diagnosis: • To confirm if it's a software or hardware issue, boot from a Linux LiveCD (Eg: Knoppix) and try copying large files and/or deleting files. If you're able to do so without any problems, then its a Windows issue. Do I go, download the entire file and burn a cd. Then boot? CD writer is external and is one of the things that hangs up or times out.

When I try to save or copy a large file to an external hard drive, it begins the process, but about half way through it says invalid file and fails to see the drive at all until I turn off and restart the drive. It almost seems like the copy or write process times itself out - it happens during the write to cd process or copying to external drive. Sometimes it says that it failed in the process, but when the drive is restarted, the file is there. I seem to think another related problem is that when I delete files, it deletes them and then leaves the question "are you sure". If I say yes, its like -files not there. Almost like the computer is blind Has Microsoft recently created an update that may have caused the problem? I do know that my computer keeps asking for a larger usb connection, but the one I have has worked all along until now. Somehow it all feels related -can someone help?