Bug in Windows 7 RTM

QuadAllegory said:

Hopefully they fix it soon through an update.

It may not be a question of a 4kb structure but how many 4kb structures.

The screenshots below indicate that Win7 has more robust capabilities in memory management than either XP or Vista.

In the first with CHKDSK running, max memory usage peaked at 7.4GB. At which point several other apps were started - Photoshop Elements, Microsoft Publisher, MalawareBytes Anti-Malaware (ran a quick scan), Picasa and Sound Forge 9 (see Taskbar), etc.

As expected all "Standby" memory quickly disappeared and hard page faults started. Though the pictures do not show it, dynamic Working Set size adjustments were made to CHKDSK and the other processes (Task manager - View Columns option). The system response time slowed of course, but it still responded.

The second screenshot shows the Resource Monitor screens shortly after CHKDSK completion.

As can be seen CHKDSK relenquished its Working Set allocation when it was no longer needed. System performance returned to normal. There were no BSOD or Event Log messages.

As a long time VMS Cluster Admin I can tell you that one of the maintenance functions never performed during production hours, except when absolutely necessary, is the "Analyze/Disk" utility (the VMS "CHKDSK"). The nature of the activity requires expediency and priority to resolve a problem or perform maintenance. For this reason it is allocated resources as appropriate to the detriment of all other system processes

If the WIN7 CHKDSK is buffering the disk to memory for performance considerations there is nothing to fix. MS could cap the MAX Working Set size to some % of available memory but why bother? CHKDSK is a maintenace function.

What....? You want to run CHKDSK while playing Half-Life 2? Well you can. You will just play it more slowly.

Reminds me of the guy who goes to the Doctor with a rock in his hand. Every few seconds he hits himself in the face with the rock and says, "Doc every time I do this it hurts!". The Doctor says "Don't do that anymore. That will be $25 please."

If it is not a bug, MS may be the Doctor. Just don't be surprised.

Antman said:

Two months worth of postings all over the internet about this and a single well-qualified analysis. New group task: start posting links on other fora.

BTW - can you refer me to your doctor? What's the co-pay?

Thank you Antman.

My Doctor? His name is Doctor Who. It is difficult to get an appointment with him because one never knows at what time he will be available.

dmex said:

I just scanned an empty 500gb drive, I fail to see how 800mb of memory is required for that operation

Im still using build 7127 and these are the resources it used before chkdsk finished its scan a minute later

The 500GB disk is not empty. It may not contain data, but it is not empty. Chkdsk is still going to analyze each 4kb cluster to check for errors. Muad provided probably one of the best analysis I have seen regarding this issue.

PhreePhly

Got this over on another forum:

After emailing back and forth with the VP Sinofsky, it was found that the chkdsk /r tool is not at fault here. It was simply a chipset controller issue. Please update you chipset drivers to the current driver from your motherboard manufacturer. I did mine, and this fixed the issue. Yes it still uses alot of physical memory, because your checking for physical damage, and errors on the Harddrive your testing. I'm currently completed the chkdsk scan with no BSOD's or computer sluggishness. Feel free to do this and try it for yourselves. Again, there is no Bug.

There ya go guys, try the fix and see if it works.