I've used Norton SystemWorks on several computers over the years. I'm now using NSW Basic 2008. However, I've not been able to use Disk Doctor when the "Fix errors" box is checked. I receive the following error messages when testing Drive C:
"Norton Disk Doctor cannot obtain the physical disk characteristics of hard disk 2 and is unable to test the partition information of the drive."
"The operating system, or another process, currently has exclusive access to this drive, or some of its files. Norton Disk Doctor cannott continue with a repair under these conditions. A repair can be scheduled to occur the next time you restart the system. Norton Disk Doctor can still diagnose this drive if 'Fix errors' is unchecked. Would you like to schedule a repair?"
I do not have a hard disk 2. I have only one hard drive and am not aware of any partitioning that may or may not have been done pre-delivery by Dell (Inspiron 530 desktop running Win XP). Neither the floppy or DVD drives contains any media. There are no zip, flash or other removable internal or external drives connected. When I attempt to schedule a repair as indicated above, the Windows boot process stops at the Disk Doctor screen stating that it can't do the job. I then have to click OK to bypass Disk Doctor and have the system continue booting Windows.
I've been trying to understand whether the OS or another process (such as my Norton Internet Security 2009) may be interfering. Could it be a NIS process? What might it be and how can it be bypassed?
<< ... I do not have a hard disk 2. I have only one hard drive and am not aware of any partitioning that may or may not have been done pre-delivery by Dell (Inspiron 530 desktop running Win XP). ... >>
I'm glad you mentioned you have a Dell computer! You do have more than one drive partition since the Dell Recovery System depends on one or more hidden partitions it creates on the hard drive.
Thank you huwyngr. That's a very interesting link. That partition was something that I had suspected may have been hidden somewhere but was not knowledgeable enough to confirm. It would have been much more convenient if it had been identified as drive F, G, H, etc. That way Disk Doctor could have been directed to scan a particular drive and not another.
However, your suggestion to not worry about the error message still leaves me without the ability to run Norton Disk Doctor. Any further thoughts?
In the meanwhile, I'll be doing further reading about the hidden partition.
Have you, or Jackson, posted about this in the Dell Forums? It may not be specific to Norton Disk Doctor. Have you searched Dell Support on line for references to the problem? I'd have a look but when I did try a while ago I think I found I had to have the PC serial number to get anywhere.
<< It would have been much more convenient if it had been identified as drive F, G, H, etc. >>
Then it would not have been hidden if I understand correctly! I've run into the inverse of this testing Windows 7 beta where it expects the first partition on the first hard drive to be hidden since it creates a hidden partition there when you install it normally on a single disk (which I did not). As a result it hid my first drive partition which contains my XP Pro and so I could not see that drive in Windows Explorer until I went into Drive Management and gave it a drive letter.
If all else fails I imagine you could do that with your installation but you might risk losing the ability to recover your system. I don't know that that is worth it in exchange for Norton Disk Doctor..... Please do not take this as a suggestion to carry out. I only mentioned it in case you thought of it and did it blindly.
PS I have not read it through entirely but here is a link to a thread that deals at length with your problem:
Hu is correct in why you are getting the message about disk 2. As to the “fix errors” box, you cannot use NDD to fix errors on the boot partition in Win2K and higher while in Windows. Instead running chkdsk /r from a command prompt and scheduling a scan on the next boot is what you’ll need to perform.