How to Troubleshoot Disk Problems CHAPTER 30 1503 How to Use the Graphical ChkDsk Interface In addition to using the command-line version of ChkDsk, you can run ChkDsk from My Computer or Windows Explorer by following these steps: 1. Click Start and then click Computer. 2. Right-click the volume you want to check and then click Properties. 3. Click the Tools tab and then click Check Now. 4. Do one of the following: • To run ChkDsk in read-only mode, clear all check boxes and then click Start. • To repair errors without scanning the volume for bad sectors, select the Automatically Fix File System Errors check box and then click Start. • To repair errors, locate bad sectors, and recover readable information, select both the Automatically Fix File System Errors and Scan For And Attempt Recovery Of Bad Sectors check boxes and then click Start. ChkDsk will run immediately if the volume is not in use and then display the results in a dialog box. If the volume is in use, ChkDsk will request that you schedule a disk check for the next time the computer is restarted. How to Determine Whether ChkDsk Is Scheduled to Run Windows might also configure ChkDsk to run automatically at startup if it detects problems with a volume. Volumes that Windows determines need to be checked are considered dirty. To determine whether a volume is considered dirty, run the following command at a com- mand prompt. Chkntfs volume: For example, to determine whether drive C is considered dirty, run the following. Chkntfs C: You can also use the Chkntfs tool to prevent a dirty volume from being checked at startup, which is useful if you want to avoid the time-consuming ChkDsk process and will not be at the computer during startup to bypass ChkDsk. For more information, run the following at a command prompt. Chkntfs /? ChkDsk Process on NTFS Volumes When you run ChkDsk on NTFS volumes, the ChkDsk process consists of three major stages and two optional stages. ChkDsk displays its progress for each stage with the following messages. Please purchase PDF Split-Merge on www.verypdf.com to remove this watermark. CHAPTER 30 Troubleshooting Hardware, Driver, and Disk Issues 1504 Windows is verifying files (stage 1 of 5) . File verification completed. CHKDSK is verifying indexes (stage 2 of 5) . Index verification completed. CHKDSK is verifying security descriptors (stage 3 of 5) . Security descriptor verification completed. CHKDSK is verifying file data (stage 4 of 5) . File data verification completed. CHKDSK is verifying free space (stage 5 of 5) . Free space verification completed. The following list describes each of the ChkDsk stages. n Stage 1: ChkDsk verifies each file record segment in the Master File Table During stage 1, ChkDsk examines each file record segment in the volume’s Master File Table (MFT). A specific file record segment in the MFT uniquely identifies every file and directory on an NTFS volume. The percentage complete that ChkDsk displays during this phase is the percentage of the MFT that has been verified. The percentage complete indicator advances relatively smoothly throughout this phase, although some unevenness might occur. For example, file record segments that are not in use require less time to process than do those that are in use, and larger security descriptors take more time to process than do smaller ones. Overall, the percentage complete indicator is a fairly accurate representation of the actual time required for that phase. n Stage 2: ChkDsk checks the directories in the volume During stage 2, ChkDsk examines each of the indexes (directories) on the volume for internal consistency and verifies that every file and directory represented by a file record segment in the MFT is referenced by at least one directory. ChkDsk also confirms that every file or subdirectory referenced in each directory actually exists as a valid file record segment in the MFT and checks for circular directory references. ChkDsk then confirms that the timestamps and the file size information associated with files are up to date in the directory listings for those files. The percentage complete that ChkDsk displays during this phase is the percentage of the total number of files on the volume that are checked. For volumes with many thou- sands of files and folders, the time required to complete this stage can be significant. The duration of stage 2 varies because the amount of time required to process a directory is closely tied to the number of files or subdirectories listed in that directory. Because of this dependency, the percentage complete indicator might not advance smoothly during stage 2, though the indicator continues to advance even for large directories. Therefore, do not use the percentage complete indicator as a reliable representation of the actual time remaining for this phase. Please purchase PDF Split-Merge on www.verypdf.com to remove this watermark. How to Troubleshoot Disk Problems CHAPTER 30 1505 n Stage 3: ChkDsk verifies the security descriptors for each volume During stage 3, ChkDsk examines each of the security descriptors associated with each file and directory on the volume by verifying that each security descriptor structure is well formed and internally consistent. The percentage complete that ChkDsk displays dur- ing this phase is the percentage of the number of files and directories on the volume that are checked. The percentage complete indicator advances relatively smoothly throughout this phase, although some unevenness might occur. n Stage 4: ChkDsk verifies file data During stage 4 (which is optional), ChkDsk verifies all clusters in use. ChkDsk performs stages 4 and 5 if you specify the /r parameter when you run ChkDsk. The /r parameter confirms that the sectors in each cluster are usable. Specifying the /r parameter is usually not necessary, because NTFS identifies and remaps bad sectors during the course of normal operations, but you can use the /r parameter if you suspect the disk has bad sectors. The percentage complete that ChkDsk displays during stage 4 is based on the percent- age of used clusters that are checked. Used clusters typically take longer to check than unused clusters, so stage 4 lasts longer than stage 5 on a volume with equal numbers of used and unused clusters. For a volume with mostly unused clusters, stage 5 takes longer than stage 4. n Stage 5: ChkDsk verifies free space During stage 5 (which is optional), ChkDsk verifies unused clusters. ChkDsk performs stage 5 only if you specify the /r parameter when you run ChkDsk. The percentage complete that ChkDsk displays during stage 5 is the percentage of unused clusters that are checked. How to Use the Disk Cleanup Wizard With Disk Cleanup (Cleanmgr.exe), you can delete unneeded files and compress infrequently accessed files. This tool is primarily useful for resolving problems that might be related to a shortage of disk space. Insufficient free disk space can cause many problems, ranging from Stop errors to file corruption. To increase free space, you can do the following: n Move files to another volume or archive them to backup media. n Compress files or disks to reduce the space required to store data. n Delete unneeded files. To run Disk Cleanup, follow these steps: 1. Click Start and then click Computer. 2. Right-click the drive you want to clean and then select Properties. On the General tab of the Properties dialog box, click Disk Cleanup. 3. If prompted, click either My Files Only or Files From All Users On This Computer. 4. On the Disk Cleanup tab, select the files to delete and then click OK. Please purchase PDF Split-Merge on www.verypdf.com to remove this watermark. CHAPTER 30 Troubleshooting Hardware, Driver, and Disk Issues 1506 How to Disable Nonvolatile Caching Windows Vista is the first Windows operating system to support caching hard disk data to a nonvolatile cache on hard disks with the required cache. Windows Vista and Windows 7 can use the cache to improve startup performance, improve the performance of frequently modi- fied system data, and reduce utilization. In rare circumstances, the failing nonvolatile cache might cause problems. To eliminate the possibility that the nonvolatile cache is causing prob- lems, you can disable different cache functionality using the following Group Policy settings (located in Computer Configuration\Administrative Templates\System\Disk NV Cache): n Turn Off Boot And Resume Optimizations Enable this policy to prevent Windows from using the nonvolatile cache to speed startup times. n Turn Off Cache Power Mode Enable this policy to prevent Windows from putting disks into a nonvolatile cache power-saving mode, which enables the hard disk to spin down while continuing to use the nonvolatile cache. n Turn Off Non Volatile Cache Feature Enable this policy to completely disable all use of the nonvolatile cache. n Turn Off Solid State Mode Enable this policy to prevent frequently written files such as the system metadata and registry from being stored in the nonvolatile cache. How to Troubleshoot Driver Problems Drivers are software features that Windows uses to communicate with hardware accessories. Windows typically has dozens of drivers active at any given point, allowing it to communicate with your graphics card, hard disks, sound card, USB devices, and other hardware. Without a driver, hardware cannot function properly. Additionally, you might have problems with hard- ware if a driver is outdated or unreliable. The following sections describe how to work with drivers to solve hardware problems. How to Find Updated Drivers Microsoft or hardware vendors occasionally release updated drivers to improve hardware performance and reliability. Many updates are available directly from Windows Update. To find and download any updates available for a computer, follow these steps: 1. Click Start, click All Programs, and then click Windows Update. 2. If available, click Check For Updates. 3. If Windows Update displays any optional updates, click View Available Updates. 4. Windows displays any driver updates if available. Select the update and then click Install. 5. Windows Update downloads any selected updates, creates a system restore point, and then installs the updates. Please purchase PDF Split-Merge on www.verypdf.com to remove this watermark. How to Troubleshoot Driver Problems CHAPTER 30 1507 Additionally, hardware manufacturers might release updated drivers directly to users before they are available on Windows Update. Check manufacturer Web sites for updated drivers. How to Roll Back Drivers When you update a device driver, your computer might have problems that it did not have with the previous version. For example, installing an unsigned device driver might cause the device to malfunction or cause resource conflicts with other installed hardware. Installing faulty drivers might cause Stop errors that prevent the operating system from starting in normal mode. Typically, Stop message text displays the file name of the driver that causes the error. Windows provides a feature called Device Driver Roll Back that might help you restore system stability by rolling back a driver update. note You can use System Information or the Sigverif tool to determine whether a driver on your computer is signed and to obtain other information about the driver, such as version, date, time, and manufacturer. This data, combined with information from the man- ufacturer’s Web site, can help you decide whether to roll back or update a device driver. To roll back a driver, follow these steps: 1. Click Start, right-click Computer, and then select Manage. 2. Under System Tools, click Device Manager. 3. Expand a category (Network Adapters, for example) and then double-click a device. 4. Click the Driver tab and then click Roll Back Driver. 5. You are prompted to confirm that you want to overwrite the current driver. Click Yes to roll back the driver. The rollback process proceeds, or you are notified that an older driver is not available. How to Use Driver Verifier Windows 7 (and all versions of Windows since Microsoft Windows 2000) includes the Driver Verifier (Verifier.exe). You can run either graphical or command-line versions of the Driver Verifier. To run a command-line version, open a command prompt and then type Verifier.exe. To run the graphical version, click Start, type Verifier.exe, and then press Enter. Driver Verifier is useful for isolating a problematic driver that is causing a computer run- ning Windows to intermittently fail, because you can use the tool to configure Windows to actively test potentially problematic drivers. After driver verification has been configured for a driver, Windows puts additional stress on the driver during normal operations by simulating conditions that include low memory and verification of I/O. Enabling driver verification for a problematic driver is highly likely to initiate a Stop error that identifies the driver. Please purchase PDF Split-Merge on www.verypdf.com to remove this watermark. CHAPTER 30 Troubleshooting Hardware, Driver, and Disk Issues 1508 To use Driver Verifier Manager to troubleshoot problems that might be related to a driver, enable driver verification for all drivers that might potentially be causing the problems. Restart the system and then wait. Driver verification happens in the background while the system performs normal tasks and might not yield immediate results. If a verified driver returns an inappropriate response, Driver Verifier will initiate a Stop error. If a Stop error has not occurred after several days, the verified drivers might not be the source of the problem you are troubleshooting. After you have completed the troubleshooting process, use Driver Verifier to delete the settings and disable driver verification. note Use Driver Verifier only on nonproduction systems to identify a problematic driver. Using Driver Verifier greatly increases the likelihood of a Stop error occurring and decreases system performance. To verify unsigned drivers, follow these steps: 1. Click Start, type Verifier, and then press Enter. 2. Click Create Standard Settings and then click Next. 3. Click Automatically Select Unsigned Drivers and then click Next. As shown in Figure 30-8, Driver Verifier Manager finds unsigned drivers, enables verification of those drivers, and then displays the list of unsigned drivers. FIGURE 30-8 Driver Verifier Manager can help you identify problematic drivers. 4. Click Finish. 5. Click OK and then restart the computer. Please purchase PDF Split-Merge on www.verypdf.com to remove this watermark. How to Troubleshoot Driver Problems CHAPTER 30 1509 To verify all drivers, follow these steps: 1. Click Start, type Verifier, and then press Enter. 2. Click Create Standard Settings and then click Next. 3. Click Automatically Select All Drivers Installed On This Computer and then click Finish. 4. Click OK and then restart the computer. To disable driver verification, follow these steps: 1. Click Start, type Verifier, and then press Enter. 2. Click Delete Existing Settings and then click Finish. 3. Click Yes. 4. Click OK and then restart the computer. How to Use the File Signature Verification File Signature Verification (Sigverif.exe) detects signed files and allows you to n View the certificates of signed files to verify that the file has not been tampered with after being certified. n Search for signed files. n Search for unsigned files. note Unsigned or altered drivers cannot be installed on x64-based versions of Windows. Driver signing is a multistage process in which device drivers are verified. For a driver to earn this certification, it must pass a series of compatibility tests administered by the Windows Hardware Quality Labs (WHQL). Because of stringent WHQL standards, using signed drivers typically results in a more stable system. When troubleshooting a problem that might be caused by a driver, you might choose to remove unsigned drivers to eliminate the possibil- ity that the unsigned driver is causing the problem. Although most unsigned drivers will not cause problems, they have not been verified by Microsoft and therefore have a higher risk of causing problems than signed drivers. Microsoft digitally signs drivers that pass the WHQL tests, and Windows performs signature detection for device categories such as: n Keyboards n Hard disk controllers n Modems n Mouse devices n Multimedia devices n Network adapters n Printers n SCSI adapters Please purchase PDF Split-Merge on www.verypdf.com to remove this watermark. CHAPTER 30 Troubleshooting Hardware, Driver, and Disk Issues 1510 n Smart card readers n Video adapters A Microsoft Corporation digital signature indicates that a driver file is an original, un- altered system file that Microsoft has approved for use with Windows. Windows can warn or prevent users from installing unsigned drivers. If a driver is not digitally signed, the user receives a message that requests confirmation to continue. Microsoft digitally signs all drivers included with Windows or distributed by Windows Update. When you download updated drivers from a manufacturer’s Web page, always select drivers that are signed by Microsoft. The following tools are useful for troubleshooting problems caused by unsigned files: n File Signature Verification n Device Manager n Driver Verifier Manager To identify unsigned drivers, follow these steps: 1. Click Start and then type Sigverif. Press Enter. 2. In the File Signature Verification window, click Start. 3. After several minutes, the Signature Verification Results page displays unsigned drivers. Unsigned drivers can be reliable, but they have not undergone the same testing that is required of signed drivers. If you are experiencing reliability problems, you should replace unsigned drivers with signed versions from Microsoft. 4. Click Close to return to the File Signature Verification window. 5. Click Close again. How to Use Device Manager to View and Change Resource Usage Installing new hardware or updating drivers can create conflicts, causing devices to become inaccessible. You can use Device Manager to review resources used by these devices to manually identify conflicts. Typically, however, you should let Windows automatically allocate resources. With modern hardware, there is almost never a valid reason to adjust resource usage manually, and you might cause more problems than you resolve. To use Device Manager (Devmgmt.msc) to view or change system resource usage informa- tion, follow these steps: 1. Click Start, right-click Computer, and then click Manage. 2. Click Device Manager and then double-click a device. 3. Click the Resources tab to view the resources used by that device. 4. Click a resource and then clear the Use Automatic Settings check box. 5. Click Change Setting and then specify the resources assigned to the device. For more information about managing devices, see Chapter 17, “Managing Devices and Services.” Please purchase PDF Split-Merge on www.verypdf.com to remove this watermark. How to Troubleshoot USB Problems CHAPTER 30 1511 How to Use System Restore System Restore regularly captures system settings so that you can restore them later if you experience a problem. Using System Restore to return your computer to an earlier state should be one of your last troubleshooting steps, however, because it might cause problems with recently installed applications and hardware. You can run System Restore from within either the System Recovery tools or from within Windows. To use System Restore from System Recovery tools (which is necessary only if Windows will not start), see Chapter 29. To use System Restore from within Windows, follow these steps: 1. Click Start, click All Programs, click Accessories, click System Tools, and then click System Restore. The System Restore Wizard appears. 2. If this is the first time you are running the System Restore Wizard, click Next to accept the default restore point. Then, skip to step 4. 3. If you have run System Restore previously and it did not solve the problem, click Choose A Different Restore Point and then click Next. 4. On the Restore Your Computer To The State It Was In Before The Selected Event page, select the most recent restore point when the computer was functioning correctly. Click Next. 5. On the Confirm Your Restore Point page, click Finish. When prompted, click Yes. 6. System Restore restarts your computer. When the restart has completed, System Restore displays a dialog box to confirm that the restoration was successful. Click Close. If System Restore does not solve your problem, you can do one of two things: n Undo the system restore The problem might not be the result of changes to your computer at all, but rather a hardware failure. Therefore, using System Restore might not solve your problem. Because restoring the computer to an earlier state might remove important changes to your system configuration, you should undo any restora- tions that do not solve your problem. To undo a system restore, simply rerun System Restore using the steps in this section and choose the default settings. n Restore an earlier restore point Your problem may be caused by recent changes to your computer, but the negative changes occurred before the most recent system restore. Therefore, restoring an earlier restore point might solve your problem. Repeat the steps in this section to restore to an earlier restore point. How to Troubleshoot USB Problems The most common way to connect external devices to a computer is USB. USB provides expandability without the complexity of connecting internal devices such as PCI cards. Connecting USB devices is so simple that most users can connect and configure USB devices Please purchase PDF Split-Merge on www.verypdf.com to remove this watermark. CHAPTER 30 Troubleshooting Hardware, Driver, and Disk Issues 1512 without help from the Support Center (provided that they have sufficient privileges). How- ever, users do occasionally experience problems with USB devices. The following sections provide guidance for troubleshooting USB problems. How to Solve USB Driver and Hardware Problems If you do experience problems, following these steps might solve them: 1. Restart the computer. Some software might require the computer to be restarted before functioning properly. Additionally, restarting the computer forces Windows to detect the USB hardware again. 2. Install updated driver software, if available. Check Windows Update and the hardware manufacturer’s Web site for updates. 3. Uninstall the device’s driver and software, disconnect the USB device, restart the com- puter, and then follow the manufacturer’s instructions to reinstall the software. Many USB devices require a driver. Typically, the driver should be installed before connecting the USB device. If you are experiencing problems with a USB device, the most likely cause is a driver problem. For information on how to troubleshoot the driver problem, see the section titled “How to Troubleshoot Driver Problems” earlier in this chapter. External storage devices such as USB flash drives and external hard drives typically do not require a driver, because the required software is built into Windows. 4. Disconnect the USB device and reconnect it to a different USB port. This can cause Windows to detect the device as new and reinstall required drivers. Additionally, this will solve problems related to a specific USB port, such as a failed port or power limitations. 5. Replace the USB cable with a new cable or a different cable that you know works properly. Understanding USB Limitations If you installed the USB device’s software correctly and you are using the most up-to-date version of the driver, you still might have problems because of USB’s physical limitations. Limitations that can cause problems include: n Insufficient power Many USB devices receive power from the USB port. Connecting too many unpowered devices to a USB hub can result in a power shortage, which can cause a USB device to not respond properly. This is particularly common when using an unpowered external USB hub. To quickly determine whether a problem is power related, disconnect other USB devices and connect each USB device directly to the computer one by one. If devices work when connected separately but fail when con- nected simultaneously, the problem is probably power related. Decrease the number of devices or add a powered USB hub. n Excessive length USB devices can be no more than 5 meters (16 feet) away from the USB hub to which they are connected. Although USB devices will never ship with cables Please purchase PDF Split-Merge on www.verypdf.com to remove this watermark. [...]... http://blogs.technet.com/markrussinovich/archive/20 07/ 10/01 /20 874 60.aspx and “The Case of the Missing AutoPlay” at http://blogs.technet.com /markrussinovich/archive/2008/01/02/269 675 3.aspx Summary Problems can arise when connecting hardware to a computer Fortunately, Windows 7 provides many different tools for diagnosing the source of the problem In many cases, Windows 7 also provides the tools required to resolve... Resetting the adapter can sometimes resolve an intermittent problem RepairGuid: {07D37F7B-FA5E-4443-BDA7-AB107B29AFB9} The repair option appears to have successfully fixed the diagnosed problem n Applications and Services Logs\Microsoft \Windows\ Diagnostics-Networking \Operational  This event log details the inner workings of the Windows Troubleshooting Platform and will be useful primarily when escalating... it can be used with Windows 7 Additional Resources These resources contain additional information and tools related to this chapter Related Information n Chapter 16, “Managing Disks and File Systems,” includes information about configuring disks and volumes Additional Resources  Chapter 30 Please purchase PDF Split-Merge on www.verypdf.com to remove this watermark 1519 n Chapter 17, “Managing Devices... LISTENING 884 TCP [::]:445 [::]:0 LISTENING 4 TCP [::]:2869 [::]:0 LISTENING 4 TCP [::]:3389 [::]:0 LISTENING 1512 UDP [fe80::28db:d21:3f 57: fe7b%11]:1900 UDP [fe80::28db:d21:3f 57: fe7b%11]:49643 *:* 1360 UDP [fe80::a54b:d9d7:1a10:c1eb%10]:1900 *:* 1360 UDP [fe80::a54b:d9d7:1a10:c1eb%10]:49641 *:* *:* 1360 1360 Notice that the line in bold is listening for incoming connections on TCP port 3389, which Remote... viewing shared resources Although other tools provide friendlier interfaces for much of the functionality provided by Net, Net is very useful for quickly determining the available shared resources on local or remote computers When you are troubleshooting connections to resources, this tool is useful for verifying that shared resources are available and for verifying the names of those shared resources How... PathPing, PortQry, Telnet Client, Windows Network Diagnostics n No clients can connect to a server  IPConfig, Network Monitor, PortQry, Telnet Client, Windows Network Diagnostics n Clients cannot connect to shared resources  IPConfig, Nbtstat, Net, Nslookup, Network Monitor, PortQry, Telnet Client, Windows Network Diagnostics n Clients cannot connect to the network  IPConfig, Windows Network Diagnostics... IP address, open a command prompt and run the following command nbtstat –A IP_Address Windows 7 (and all recent versions of Windows) prefers to use DNS host names instead of NetBIOS names Therefore, if you have an AD DS domain with a DNS server configured, you will rarely need to troubleshoot NetBIOS names However, Windows might still use NetBIOS names to communicate with computers on the local network... command Handle amanda Troubleshooting Tools  Chapter 30 Please purchase PDF Split-Merge on www.verypdf.com to remove this watermark 15 17 The following output demonstrates that Windows Media Player (Wmplayer.exe) has the file locked Handle v3.3 Copyright (C) 19 97- 20 07 Mark Russinovich Sysinternals - www.sysinternals.com wmplayer.exe pid: 3236 2C0: C:\Users\Public\Music\Sample Music\Amanda.wma Because... Local Computer Use the net share command to view shared resources located on the local computer If the Server service is started, Net will return a list of shared resources names and locations To view shared resources, open a command prompt and run the following command net share This command produces output similar to the following Share name Resource Remark C$... produces output similar to the following Windows IP Configuration Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection: Connection-specific DNS Suffix : Autoconfiguration IP Address : 169.254.1 87. 2 37 Subnet Mask : 255.255.0.0 Default Gateway : Tools for Troubleshooting  Chapter 31 Please purchase PDF Split-Merge on www.verypdf.com to remove this watermark 15 27 If the IP address shown is in the . driver is not available. How to Use Driver Verifier Windows 7 (and all versions of Windows since Microsoft Windows 2000) includes the Driver Verifier (Verifier.exe) computer. Fortunately, Windows 7 provides many different tools for diagnosing the source of the problem. In many cases, Windows 7 also provides the tools