Checking file system on C:

[coccoo]

i know, im a n00b, and sorry if my english isnt the best!

im typing this from my old pc.
i have windows xp on a dell. i hadnt opened the pc for a week and when i did turn it on a creen came up saying:

"checking file system on c:
the tye of the file sistem is FAT32
one of your disks needs to be checked for consistency. you may cancel the disk check, but it is strongly raccomended that you continue.
WIndows will now check the disk.
volume serial number is 3d66-130d
WIndows is now verying files and folders...
file and folder verification is complete. windows has checked......"
ive checked out the CHKDSK article on wikipedia, but it doesnt seem to resolve my problem.
the screen has been on for 1 hour since the file and folder verification completed.
i tried restarting my computer by pressing the buttem a couple of times, bt the screen just keeps coming back on again.
also, i noticed that te resolution became lower!
can anyone please tell me what i should do about this checking file system on c?

ps: when i shut the pc down and turn it on again and cancel the check, it still freezes!

 

[Matthew DeCarlo]

Doesn't sound good if chkdsk is hanging. It's possible that your HDD is on it's way to failure. If you have any valuable data on that drive, you may want to consider backing it up as soon as possible. Test the HDD with one of utilities on this page.

 

[coccoo]

thanks for the quick reply, but thats exactly the problem!
i cant get to the desktop of my pc, i just boot it u and the blue screen comes!

 

[Matthew DeCarlo]

You do not have to boot into the Windows environment on that drive to retrieve your data. Attach the HDD to another PC as a Secondary/Slave HDD or look into a Linux LiveCD such as Knoppix to access the data and transfer it to another storage device.

 

[coccoo]

ok, il do that, thanks!
but what should i do with the dell?

 

[Matthew DeCarlo]

Well, if you've got data worth anything to you, save it now to cover yourself. Then, test the drive with a utility from the link above that is compatible with your HDD. Depending on the outcome, you may want to just junk the drive and get a new one.

 

[coccoo]

ok, thanks so much!

 

[Matthew DeCarlo]

You're welcome and good luck .