Windows startup after a sudden shutdown leads to an annoying feature chkdsk. It automatically checks the entire drive for any infected files. This checking can be skipped by pressing any key before it starts during the blue screen which says:
Click to View
"Checking file system on C:
The type of file system is NTFS.
One of the drives needs to be checked for consistency. You may cancel the disk check, but it is strongly recommended that you continue.
To skip disk checking, press any key within 10 second(s)."
The problem is that skipping is only a temporary option and though it is highly recommended, this chkdsk can be disabled manually. Even if the checking is skipped, it would prompt again during the next windows boot up.
Editing the registry to avoid the automatic checking is one option. It is most recommended if you are looking to exclude the main drive from the automatic checking. To avoid checking during Windows startup would be to exclude the main drive used from the chkdsk option. chkntfs is the command in command prompt. /x is to be used to exclude any drive from being checked automatically.
For instance if C: is the hard drive, to remove it from the chkntfs command, use:
chkntfs /x c:
If there are two drives for instance C: and D: then the command can be modified as:
chkntfs /x c: d:
How It Works:
The chkntfs value is directly related to the BootExecute value in the system registry. The current BootExecute value can be found in:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CURRENTCONTROLSET\CONTROL\Session Manager
By default the BootExecute value is set to autocheck autochk *. Modifying the chkntfs command with a /x adds further value to the autocheck autochk * command before the asterisk. The further command is the /k which is used to exclude or prevent certain files or drives to be included in the search. So if chkdsk /x c: is given it modifies the autocheck autochk * command into autocheck autochk /k c: which avoids C: during the checking.
Most experts recommend not skipping or disabling the automatic checking option at a Windows bootup to detect any malicious file which may have caused a sudden shut-down to the system. This feature however does not delete any infected file if it detects one but simply turns into another format not accessible to the user. It saves the infected file under the name File00001.CHK. This mostly does not stop the bad activities of the infected file and it has to be removed manually again.
This feature does not prevent the function or delete the infected file but simply detects, renames and saves it in another place. This function is mostly unnecessary if you have other tools like an anti-virus software package to detect infected files. Most anti-virus software also quarantines and deletes the infected file which is an added bonus compared to this feature. This feature also requires us to manually search for the .chk file again and then delete it manually. Most times it even corrupts the entire hard drive for one infected file which rarely happens in an antivirus software package.
