How to Recover an NTFS-Based Windows Vista System Inaccessible Due to Autochk Exe Tool

The Autochk.exe tool in the Windows systems is used to scan and check the system integrity during the startup. This utility is invoked whenever there is some unclean system shutdown. However, if your file system is NTFS partitioned and the hard disk is damaged, then the system may become inaccessible and does not restart. Such disk corruption can occur because of various reasons such as virus infections, abrupt system shutdown, etc. You should try out certain methods to perform NTFS data recovery failing which you must use a third-party NTFS Partition Recovery software.

Let us assume a situation in which you are trying to start your Windows Vista system, which has the release version of Vista. The system does not start displaying a black screen.


Cause:



The most possible cause of this problem is that one of the NTFS volume in the system is corrupt.

What is actually happening here is that the Autochk.exe tool employs different criteria to find out the disk corruption in the system, which is different from the one that NTFS uses. So, when NTFS identifies a volume as corrupted, it is not recognized by the Autochk.exe and marks the volume as clean and restarts the system after that. However, during the system restart it is again marked as corrupted by NTFS system. In this process, the Autochk.exe tool restarts again and the black screen is displayed.


Resolution:



To resolve this situation, you should perform the following steps:

• Download the Automated Installation Kit (AIK) for Windows Vista Service Pack 1.

• Create a Windows Preinstallation Environment (Windows PE) 2.1 disk.

• Adjust the BIOS (Basic Input/Output System) section to boot the system using a CD.

• Restart the system with the Windows PE 2.1 disk.

• Use the 'chkdsk' tool with the following parameter and press the 'Enter' key to correct the hard disk corruption.

chkdsk /f

If you are still unable to start the system and it is still inaccessible, then it is a very dangerous preposition as the data would get vulnerable. In such cases, the best bet is to use a third-party NTFS file recovery software. These data recovery tools are very safe to use and possess highly interactive user interface to make it a very easy NTFS data recovery task.

The best NTFS data recovery software that enables you to recover data from NTFS and NTFS5 file systems is Stellar Phoenix NTFS Data Recovery. Compatible with Windows 7, Vista, Server 2003, XP, and 2000, this data recovery tool performs NTFS file recovery on different types of storage devices. In addition, this NTFS data recovery utility is available with a Boot CD that is very helpful when you are unable to start the system.