MS-DOS: Running CHKDSK As A Child Process (71586)



The information in this article applies to:
    Microsoft MS-DOS operating system 2.11
    Microsoft MS-DOS operating system 3.1
    Microsoft MS-DOS operating system 3.2
    Microsoft MS-DOS operating system 3.21
    Microsoft MS-DOS operating system 3.3
    Microsoft MS-DOS operating system 3.3a
    Microsoft MS-DOS operating system 4.0
    Microsoft MS-DOS operating system 4.01
    Microsoft MS-DOS operating system 5.0
    Microsoft MS-DOS operating system 5.0a
    Microsoft MS-DOS operating system 6.0
    Microsoft MS-DOS operating system 6.2
    Microsoft MS-DOS operating system 6.21
    Microsoft MS-DOS operating system 6.22

This article was previously published under Q71586

SUMMARY

To maintain a fixed disk, you may wish to run CHKDSK /F as a child process from an application that runs continuously. However, you should not do this.

CHKDSK assumes that the file allocation table (FAT) is in a stable state. If CHKDSK detects an error and attempts to correct it by making changes to the FAT, CHKDSK could destroy the FAT operations that MS-DOS has done up to that point.

More specifically, if CHKDSK is run when a file is open, the chain of clusters "owned" by the file could be altered in the FAT by CHKDSK. When the file is closed and MS-DOS finishes updating the FAT and the directory, you may be left with an error in the FAT.

Modification Type: Major Last Reviewed: 5/10/2003
Keywords: KB71586