Windows 7: autochk.exe

Could you upload and post the sfcdetails.txt file using Option Three in the link below to see what the results were?
> done

According to your sfcdetails.txt file, the SFC scan did not find any corrupted system files. There's nothing wrong with your autochk.exe file then.

Normally when you have a disk check scheduled, you will have 10 seconds to press a key to cancel it. Since you are getting the "disc check cancelled" message, double check to make sure that you do not have a key that may be stuck pressed down on your keyboard, or that you are not pressing any key that may cancel it until after the 10 seconds.

Is it cancelling after X amount of seconds?

What "Data" value does it have for you for Bootexcute in the right pane of the registry (regedit) location below?

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager

<Is it cancelling after X amount of seconds?>
yes, exactly after 5 seconds - so it goes 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5 -> "check cancelled"
if i press a key (my keyboard is in good shape btw) before 5 secs, cancellation is immediate -
my bootexecute data is "autochek autochk * lsdelete"
LSdelete is from my lavasoft antispyware, which i've been using for years, so i assume lsdelete has always been there - besides, i was still able to perform chkdsk on startup as of last week...
the only thing (well, there might be other things too) i can think of is that i recently had a major crash (http://support.avs4you.com/UploadedF...d/Capture2.jpg) with video software after updating its components - i dont know if that's relevant (did the crash trigger the problem or vice versa?)...
if needed i could post the whole cascade of events that apparently led to the present issue (it all started with my odd not being recognized by the bios), but i dont want to swamp this thread in case it can be fixed the quick way...
(another solution i've thought of is to clean install Windows 7 - as i have access to both 32 and 64 bit, and given that i have 2 gb mem, i was wondering which would be best suited) - end of post, sorry -

Jmm,

As a possible workaround. See if using the command below in a elevated command prompt from the tutorial below to change the Disk Check countdown time to say 4 seconds might allow it to run since it will be before your 5 secs now.

chkntfs /T:4

AUTOCHK Initiation Countdown Time - Change

the trick worked!
chkdsk apparently didnt detect any error and tells me that my file system is clean (but is there a results-log generated that can be checked for details?)
so i set chkntfs timeout back to 10 secs, and now chkdsk cancellation occurs 3 secs after startup (as if it remembers i had set it to 4 secs), which is concerning - seems that the registry gets modified and that something occurs x secs after startup and acts as a keystroke -> virus? (am going to check)

You could go through the chkdsk Event Viewer log to see if there are any errors or a cause listed for this cancellation.

the only odd things i see in chkdsk log (translated):
- 2 EA records processed
- Cleaning 17 unused index entries from $SII (and $SDH) index of file 0x9 (+ 17 unused security descriptors)
- Read failure with state 0xc000009c at offset 0x18a7b1000 for 0x10000 bytes
- 12 kb in defective sectors

any major concern?

otherwise, i dont seem to have any virus (avast at boot time), so i'm concerned about this timeout thing because if i keep decreasing it down to zero, i'm afraid i wont be able to perform startup chkdsk anymore...
any further suggestion?

I'd set the timeout period to 2 seconds for now, and not change it again until you find the culprit to avoid not being able to use this workaround.

Yes, those log entries are a bit of a concern. I would recommend to backup anmything on that drive that you do not want to lose to another separate physical HDD to be safe in case this is a early warning of drive failure.

What brand is your HDD? I'll see if I may be able to find the manufacturer's recommended program to use to test the HDD with to see if it's failing or not.

ouch! scary!
WDC WD1600BEVS-07RST0 ATA Device

It may just be a bad sector, but it would be best to check and make sure. Here's the download link for the Data Lifeguard Diagnostic for Windows at WD for your specific HDD.

Be sure to backup anything that you do not want to lose to be safe. DO NOT USE the Write Zeros option in this program though. It will wipe the HDD clean if you do.

WD Support / Downloads / WD Scorpio & AV-25 / WD Scorpio Blue