BleepingComputer.com: Windows is asking to format the C drive

I was working on my computer, preparing to run the CCleaner. The program wouldn't open, and my computer froze. I turned the computer off by holding the button for five seconds.. Upon restarting, windows gave me a message saying 'A disk in drive C is not formatted. Would you like to format?" What is confusing me is that if the C drive wasn't formatted, wouldn't the computer not work at all? I'm currently posting from it, trying to figure out what to do.. All my desktop icons besides the recycle bin, and internet explorer have vanished. The computer is also running incredibly slow. I can still open any program I want, but they take a while to start, and are slow.

Now, I would rather not lose the things I have saved on this computer. Would anyone be able to tell me if I can save what's on the computer and return it to normal? It's still functioning at this current time, but it's still not normal. Please help me.

Hi -
Please list the make and model, and RAM installed (if you can), also are you running XP SP3 fully updated -

Thank You -

Take a screenshot of Disk Management and post it, please.

Start/Run...type diskmgmt.msc and hit Enter.

Generally, I would interpret any message such as you received...as an indication that either the file structure (NTFS) or the hard drive itself...has problems.

I would try running the chkdsk /r command as a first step...this can detect some file system problems.

Louis

Is XP installed on C?

As an update to my problem, I would like to note that all other users on the computer are not having this problem.. It only happens after starting up windows XP and logging into the computer under my own name. I am currently logged into this computer as a different user and am having no problems. Should I check the disk management under the user that is having the problems?

Yes.

Although...if multiple users exist and only one experiences this problem...that doesn't make sense to me, since it would seem to point to a profile problem, rather than a file system or hardware problem. In any case, let's see what we can see .

Louis

Just for safety sake, it wouldnt be a bad idea to backup your stuff just in case

hamluis, on 06 January 2011 - 01:12 PM, said:

Yes, very strange. No matter what the disk or file error, you would never normally see that message after the login screen. Without a formatted disk, you couldn't get to the login screen.
I'm wondering if it is some form of malware.

(unless as FrankOtheMoutain speculated the OS is not on C:)

This post has been edited by PolaBar: 06 January 2011 - 03:46 PM

have you observed MSCONFIG for this account? START/RUN (type this in box:) msconfig (then hit enter).
Are there any weird entries in the startup tab?

I checked the disk management, and this is the screen shot I took. Unfortunately, I couldn't attach the file directly because it kept telling me the file was too large.. When I tried to insert the image code.. It wouldn't let me do that either, so I simply put the link. I'm sorry for being difficult... ^^;

http://s135.photobucket.com/albums/q150/arucardslover/?action=view&current=Managementscreenshot.jpg

That worked nicely, thanks .

You seem to have an 80GB hard drive, with recovery partition and some other unnamed partition.

I would have to treat the hard drive as if it's about to fail...and move forward from that perspective.

Louis

Sorry for being so clueless... But what should I do...? Everything else is working except for that one bit...

have you observed MSCONFIG for this account? START/RUN (type this in box:) msconfig (then hit enter).
Are there any weird entries in the startup tab?

FrankOtheMountaiN, on 06 January 2011 - 07:48 PM, said:

Yes.. I checked it and didn't see anything that seemed abnormal.

Maybe run the files and settings transfer wizard to save your ID's setup and files, and create a new ID and apply the wizard data. If the error goes away, then ditch the weirdo ID.

This post has been edited by FrankOtheMountaiN: 06 January 2011 - 08:04 PM