Simple request

[altheman]

For quite a while now, I've been having problems running chkdsk/f, and then rebooting for the check to take place. Most of the times, the BSODs that appear reference "ndis.sys" as the culprit. :blackeye:

By chance, while I tinkering in the device manager, I noticed the entry for "NDIS System Driver", under non plug 'n' play devices (which only appear when the option for show hidden devices is chosen). I'd just like someone to check if this is standard for Win XP, by checking their hidden devices, 'cos Ndis.sys has been preventing me from running chkdsk/f, and I don't wanna uninstall it if its part of XP. Cheers. :wave:

 

[Nodsu]

NDIS is the interface to network cards. Yes, it is standard and I'd not touch it if I were you.

It hints that your bluescreens are networking-related though. Look over your network card drivers, uninstall any low-level network software like firewalls, packet filetrs, VPN, etc and see if it helps.

Booting into Safe Mode should go without NDIS and you should be able to run chkdsk from there.

 

[gbhall]

Chkdsk should ONLY be run in safe mode

Due to the way XP has been written, as you have found, chkdsk requires a reboot if you want it to correct errors. It will run ok without the /f switch. It makes more sense to always run chkdsk only in safe mode.

I'm puzzled why you feel a need to run chkdsk often. As XP is 'normally' installed on a NTFS file system (a journalling system), there should be very little chance of the kind of corruption we used to get on FAT.

It seems to me you have probably got a bad spot or other problem on your HDD, and I recommend you to get hold of the HDD manufacturer's hardware test utility and give it a good wash-and-rinse.