SteveJohnson
New Member
Hello all,
( I started to write this post as a question, but it turns out that I solved the problem while writing ... I'll post it anyway, so that the solution might benefit others )
The problem: I've got two Western Digital's MyBooks plugged in via USB 2.0 and I've formatted them both to NTFS file system. The other disk is mounted to drive letter J: and the other disk is mounted to directory "J:\Partition 2 [Shelfbook1]" (yes, the directory name might be a bit confusing, but I was just testing how NTFS directories work).
When I run "CHKDSK J:" from administrative command prompt, does it check both of the disks or just the first one? I am suspecting that it will only check the first disk, and not the other one that is mounted to the above mentioned directory.
I tried using MOUNTVOL command to see what is the correct GUID for my mounted NTFS directory, but it will only produce this (the GUIDs seem to be the same):
And when I try to run CHKDSK with the above mentioned GUID, I only get this:
For the reference, I've also tried the following:
...The solution:
It turns out that I need to first dig up the old "short name" for the particular mounted directory. Like so:
And so it seems that at least in Vista there is still some use for the "short" names. I haven't tried this on XP, so that might be another story.
But hey, now I know that mounting volumes to NTFS directories indeed does work, and there is also the possibility to use CHKDSK if (when) things go wrong and the disk starts failing.
One more side note: I can access the "J:\Partition 2 [Shelfbook1]" directory properties by using Windows Explorer, and right clicking it. It says "Type: Mounted Volume" and has a convinient "Properties" button next to it. By clicking on that button, I can see the properties of my USB disk and even click on "Tools" and "Check Now". But alas! The "Check Now" button does nothing! I suspect that this might actually be a bug in Vista's Explorer and it gets confused about my long directory name. But, for me, it's enough to be able to run CHKDSK from the command prompt.
Cheers!
( I started to write this post as a question, but it turns out that I solved the problem while writing ... I'll post it anyway, so that the solution might benefit others )
The problem: I've got two Western Digital's MyBooks plugged in via USB 2.0 and I've formatted them both to NTFS file system. The other disk is mounted to drive letter J: and the other disk is mounted to directory "J:\Partition 2 [Shelfbook1]" (yes, the directory name might be a bit confusing, but I was just testing how NTFS directories work).
When I run "CHKDSK J:" from administrative command prompt, does it check both of the disks or just the first one? I am suspecting that it will only check the first disk, and not the other one that is mounted to the above mentioned directory.
I tried using MOUNTVOL command to see what is the correct GUID for my mounted NTFS directory, but it will only produce this (the GUIDs seem to be the same):
Code:
Possible values for VolumeName along with current mount points are:
\\?\Volume{c4254bda-a600-11dd-9321-001bfcdb7003}\
J:\
\\?\Volume{c4254bdd-a600-11dd-9321-001bfcdb7003}\
J:\Partition 2 [Shelfbook1]\And when I try to run CHKDSK with the above mentioned GUID, I only get this:
Code:
C:\>chkdsk \\?\Volume{c4254bdd-a600-11dd-9321-001bfcdb7003}:
Cannot open volume for direct access.
C:\>chkdsk \\?\Volume{c4254bdd-a600-11dd-9321-001bfcdb7003}: /X
Cannot open volume for direct access.For the reference, I've also tried the following:
Code:
C:\>chkdsk "j:\Partition 2 [Shelfbook1]"
Invalid parameter - 2
C:\>chkdsk "j:\Partition 2 [Shelfbook1]" /X
Invalid parameter - 2...The solution:
It turns out that I need to first dig up the old "short name" for the particular mounted directory. Like so:
Code:
C:\>dir j:\part* /X
Volume in drive J is Storage [Shelfbook2]
Volume Serial Number is 4083-EAFB
Directory of j:\
31.10.2008 20:19 <DIR> PARTIT~1 Partition 1 [Shelfbook2]
30.10.2008 09:00 <JUNCTION> PARTIT~2 Partition 2 [Shelfbook1] [\??\Volume{c4254bdd-a600-11dd-9321-001bfcdb7003}\]
0 File(s) 0 bytes
2 Dir(s) 90*143*277*056 bytes free
C:\>chkdsk "j:\Partit~2"
The type of the file system is NTFS.
Volume label is Storage [Shelfbook1].
...etc...And so it seems that at least in Vista there is still some use for the "short" names. I haven't tried this on XP, so that might be another story.
But hey, now I know that mounting volumes to NTFS directories indeed does work, and there is also the possibility to use CHKDSK if (when) things go wrong and the disk starts failing.
One more side note: I can access the "J:\Partition 2 [Shelfbook1]" directory properties by using Windows Explorer, and right clicking it. It says "Type: Mounted Volume" and has a convinient "Properties" button next to it. By clicking on that button, I can see the properties of my USB disk and even click on "Tools" and "Check Now". But alas! The "Check Now" button does nothing! I suspect that this might actually be a bug in Vista's Explorer and it gets confused about my long directory name. But, for me, it's enough to be able to run CHKDSK from the command prompt.
Cheers!