A CHECKING FILE SYSTEM message appears every time I start the computer.

IMPORTANT: This article applies only to specific products and/or operating systems. Check Applicable Products and Categories for details.

The message you are seeing is part of the Check Disk utility. The Check Disk utility is a tool the operating system uses to scan the entire hard drive and find problems. The tool will sometimes start automatically whenever the operating system detects there may be a problem. If the Check Disk utility is running every time the computer starts and you have let the utility run completely at least once with no problems being found, there may be an installed software program that is causing the issue.

To resolve the issue, first try using the System Restore feature  to restore the computer to a time before the message began appearing.

If the issue continues to appear after the System Restore procedure, follow these steps to disable automatic disk checking from the Windows® registry.

WARNING: There is a risk of data loss. This procedure involves editing the Registry. Using the Registry editor incorrectly can cause serious problems that may require the operating system to be reinstalled and can result in the potential loss of data.

IMPORTANT: A backup of the registry  should be created before proceeding.

1. Click the Start button and in the Search programs and files field, type REGEDIT, and then press the Enter key.

   

2. In the Registry Editor window, in the left-hand column, double-click HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE.
3. Under HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE, double-click SYSTEM.
4. Under SYSTEM, double-click CurrentControlSet.
5. Under CurrentControlSet, double-click Control.
6. Under Control, double-click Session Manager.
7. In the right-hand column, double-click BootExecute.
8. In the Edit Multi-String window, in the Value data section, change autocheck autochk * to autocheck autochk /k:C *, and then click the OK button.

   NOTES:

   • Adding the /K switch to the value disables the autocheck feature on C: drive at Windows startup.
   • If you want to add more drives, simply add another switch for that drive. For example, to disable the autocheck feature on both the C and D drives, the key should look like this: autocheck autochk /k:C /k:D *
   • If you ever wish put back the autocheck feature to the way it was, just replace the key with the default value: autocheck autochk *
9. In the Registry Editor window, click the X in the upper-right corner to close the window.
10. Restart the computer.

NOTE: If the issue continues to appear even after the Registry edit, repeat the Registry edit steps above and completely remove the autocheck autochk * value.