Hibernation (Windows XP)

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Dear Loungers,

I was wondering if anyone had any experience with this message coming up whenever they were taking their computer out of hibernation mode:

“The system could not be restarted from its previous location due to a read failure … Delete restoration data and proceed to system boot menu.”

On some online forums, it is described as a minor inconvenience, the solution of which is simply avoiding the hibernation mode and using Standby. But I am worried that it is a symptom of a larger problem within my hard drive. I have performed a scandisk three times and each time, I have received a message that I have 20 kb of bad sector files.

I don’t know how grave that is, but as you may have seen from my earlier posts, it has been enough to cause me to consider buying a new hard drive and imaging software to transplant the information from my old hard drive to the new.

But before undergoing this costly and time-consuming operation, I thought I would just throw out this message to see if anyone had any experiences with the message and knew if it was as dangerous as I suspect or whether it was a mere inconvenience after all.

Kind regards,

JMT

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If you have had chkdsk repair the bad sectors each time, you should be concerned about the disk. Repeated new errors is a very bad sign. If this is the case then you should invest in imaging software ASAP and get a good backup of your system. If you have a good backup then replacing the disk is your choice. I’d recommend doing it but if you want to just use it until it quits that is up to you. You should be sure to get a good new image any time any data changes that you want to keep.

Joe

--Joe

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Dear Joe, here are excerpts of the reports I have received:

2.5.08 (6:13 pm):
(This was the day that issues to the hibernation filed were detected and repaired)
Windows has made corrections to the file system.
0 KB in bad sectors.

2.5.08 (7:33 pm)
(This was on that same day)
Windows has made corrections to the file system.
20 KB in bad sectors.

2.22.08:
20 KB in bad sectors.

3.2.08:
Windows has made corrections to the file system.
20 KB in bad sectors.

3.9.08:
20 KB in bad sectors.

3.16.08:
Windows will now check the disk.
Cleaning up minor inconsistencies on the drive.
20 KB in bad sectors.

Are those 20 KB in bad sectors the same 20 KB being found every week, or are they new ones spreading around the hard drive? Do you think that the gravity of the problem seems to be decreasing, or would you be worried?

In any event, I am getting imaging software.

JMT

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If you are letting Windows fix the file system, then it is highly unlikely that they are the same sectors. Sectors marked as bad are unusable. So, if you are letting Windows make the corrections then I’d think you’ve got a drive that is deteriorating and should be replaced soon.Are you running chkdsk and having it make corrections?

Joe

--Joe

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Dear Joe:

Every week, I go to the check disk function and check on “Automatically fix file system errors” and “Scan for and attempt recovery of bad sectors” before running the check disk.

If every week there are indeed new bad sectors found, then why is it always 20 KB? Don’t you think that’s a strange coincidence? I suspect that Windows has found 20 KB in bad sectors and has isolated them. Each week, it is reporting these same 20 KB, don’t you think?

Regards,

JMT

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No, I don’t thinks it is a strange coincidence. It is dependent on the exact peice of software that is trying to write to the disk. If you are running CHKDSK at boot time and it is fixing sectors by marking them as bad it is NOT the same sectors all the time. Once sectors are marked as bad they are never used again.

Joe

--Joe

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I wonder if 20KBytes is the allocation size for your file system. So even a single bad byte would result in a 20KByte section of the disk being marked as bad.

StuartR

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I understand that once sectors are marked as bad, they are never used again; but isn’t it possible that Windows continues to report them as bad even though they are not in use (and every week, since they remain bad, they show up on the report)? Or is it rather that once a sector is marked as bad, it is never used again and never shows up in checkdisk reports?

Regards,

JMT

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This would only be possible if you are running chkdsk in a mode where it does not repair problems that it finds. What is the EXACT chkdsk command that you are entering?

StuatR

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Hello StuatR,

I am going to the Tools Tab under the Local Disk (C:) Properties window, and selecting “Error-checking.” I then check “Automatically fix file system errors” and “Scan for and attempt recovery of bad sectors.”

Every week, after running the check disk, I am told that there are 20 kb in bad sector files.

Kind regards,

JMT

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Click Start > Run, type

chkdsk /f

hit Enter, confirm your choice and restart your computer.

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Dear kaplinb,

Was your post in reply to my message to StuartR? Doesn’t the command you give me perform a scandisk on the F drive? My hardrive in located in the C drive.

Best regards,

JMT

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The f/ switch (I think) means ‘fix’ – any errors are automatically repaired. The alternative is that you would be given a list of errors found.

See MSKB 315265: How to perform disk error checking in Windows XP.

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kaplinb‘s alternative is how to perform one type of disk error check via the command prompt, it isn’t different from what you can do on the tools tab, which I think he should have mentioned. The command prompt can, however, take some different, more, instructions.

At the command prompt you can point the “disk error check” to any drive, if you don’t, it will be performed on the current drive.

As Leif mentioned the /f is a switch, An instruction that, in this case, is equivalent to check the first “Automatically fix file system errors” check box in the “Check disk options” dialog box you mention. The second check box: “Scan for and attempt recovery of bad sectors” is the equivalent to use the /r switch at the command prompt (which implies /f, no need for both).

BTW, the Windows 9x/Me “scandisk” tool isn’t available in Windows XP, as I think you know; it’s replaced by the Error-checking tool, for manual run it’s started either via GUI Tools menu or at the command prompt.

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From here……

Taken from http://www.smartcomputing.com/editorial/ar…09r03/09r03.asp

Error Message: “System restart has been paused: Continue with system restart. Delete restoration data and proceed to system boot menu.”

Translation: During hibernation, the computer accessed memory incorrectly.

Solution: This error occurs on notebooks occasionally after returning from hibernation, the sleep mode in WinXP. There’s no option for returning to the Desktop, so you may lose your work. Use the option to Delete Restoration Data And Proceed To System Boot Menu, which will cause WinXP to reboot. Microsoft will fix this problem in a future WinXP update. For now you can set the power management features on your notebook to use standby mode but not hibernate, but only if the error occurs frequently.

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You may want to delete the current hibernation file and create a new one in the off chance it is corrupt. Then run Memtest for the memory modules.

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