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"CHKDSK detected minor inconsistencies" error message in Windows 2000 and in Windows NT

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Article ID:109524
Last Review:February 20, 2007
Revision:3.2
This article was previously published under Q109524

SYMPTOMS

In Windows NT, if you check your hard disk drive with CHKDSK in Read Only mode and it has files currently open or in use by Windows NT, one of the following error messages may appear:

Message 1
CHKDSK detected minor inconsistencies on the drive.
Message 2
Errors found, F parameter not specified
Corrections will not be written to disk.
\WINNT\SYSTEM32\RAS\DEVICE.LOG entry has a bad size
This message does not indicate that the drive or the sectors are defective. CHKDSK cannot check the validity of the files that are open by Windows NT. Therefore, CHKDSK reports that it has detected minor inconsistencies.

Also, the event log will contain the folowing information message:

Event Type: Information
Event Source: Winlogon
Event Category: None
Event ID: 1001
Date: 12/15/2004 Time: 11:14:10 PM
User: N/A
Computer: ComputerName
Description: Checking file system on C: The type of the file system is NTFS. A disk check has been scheduled. Windows will now check the disk. Cleaning up minor inconsistencies on the drive. Cleaning up 4 unused index entries from index $SII of file 0x9. Cleaning up 4 unused index entries from index $SDH of file 0x9. Cleaning up 4 unused security descriptors.

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CAUSE

In the above error message, "minor inconsistencies" refers to a state where redundant information stored in different places is "out of synch." This is a natural and expected condition whenever there are open files on the volume that have undergone modification. The redundant information is not brought into synchronization until the files are closed. Typically, this error message occurs when CHKDSK is run against the volume containing Windows NT system files (including active user profiles and the pagefile). If you also receive a message indicating that CHKDSK /f cannot run because the volume is in use by another process, that is a confirmation that there are open files on the volume.

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WORKAROUND

You can usually safely ignore this error message even if the message appears without there being open files, because it is only the redundant information that is out of synchronization. The only side effect you may see as a result of this message is an incorrect reading of free disk space or something similar.

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APPLIES TO
•Microsoft Windows 2000 Server
•Microsoft Windows 2000 Advanced Server
•Microsoft Windows 2000 Professional Edition
•Microsoft Windows NT Advanced Server 3.1
•Microsoft Windows NT Workstation 3.1
•Microsoft Windows NT Workstation 3.5
•Microsoft Windows NT Workstation 3.51
•Microsoft Windows NT Workstation 4.0 Developer Edition
•Microsoft Windows NT Server 3.5
•Microsoft Windows NT Server 3.51
•Microsoft Windows NT Server 4.0 Standard Edition

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Keywords: 
KB109524

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