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One last question before I continue my studies, is it safe to run the chkdsk while I do other things? Can I reboot at a later time instead of immediately?
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chkdsk is safe to run with other things - but that is because when it runs with one of the fix switches, e.g. "/r", it pretty much takes over - and it forces the reboot. It runs in the early stages of the boot process, before any critical system files are opened, and with only the bare minimum drivers loaded.
However, if there is something wrong with the drive, or data on the drive, it is best to minimize use of the computer until chkdsk is run. That's the only way to ensure (further?) corruption does not occur. Hard drives are resilient - they can keep running with many errors - the concern is the data stored in the magnetic substrate of the disk platters. How valuable is it to you? There's no PC in the world worth as much as the data stored on my computer. Not that it would be valuable to anyone else, but since I built this computer nearly 15 years ago, even though it has "evolved" through several motherboards, CPUs, hard drives, versions of Windows, PSUs, and even a couple cases, I still have 15 years of letters, papers, taxes, contacts, bookmarks, password safe contents, appointments, etc. that would be very bad if I lost. That's why I use a mirrored RAID 1, and I do frequent backups to networked computers in another part of the house. You do have a current backup, right? You can always reinstall Windows and your programs, a hassle, but it can be done. But restoring all your personal documents is impossible without some backup - or a whole lotta time, and lots of money.
Unfortunately, chkdsk /r can take many hours to run, often appearing stuck for long periods. So in your case, you will need to plan it around your studies - like overnight or a quiet weekend. That said, if you go to Start > Run and enter
cmd, then, in the command window, enter
chkdsk, without the "/r", chkdsk will simply inspect your disk for errors - but will not make any changes. This "read-only" mode takes just a few minutes (usually less than 5). It is not as thorough an inspection as "/f" or "/r", and it fixes nothing, but if you have errors here, it will tell you about them. If any, don't put off running chkdsk without, at least, the "/f" option for long.
Windows limits the half-open (incomplete/syn packets) connection attempts the system can make each second. The limit is set to 10 for XP SP2 (I think 2 for Vista). The intent is to slow down viruses that attempt to propagate to a large number of random IP numbers, and potentially turn the computer into zombie, drafted into a botnet army. These botnets are then used by badguys to launch distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks against others, typically, against sites and organizations that help users protect themselves from such badguys. These tactics are also used by terrorist organizations to attack in cyberspace, the networks (and communications backbones) of their enemy-of-the-day, in an attempt to disrupt and confuse, or better (worse!) yet, hack in and cause real damage. Serious stuff here. People get hurt, or worse.
The downside of this limit,
for a few, is that it affects the performance some users of P2P (Peer 2 Peer) file sharing see. The irony is that many (not all) users of P2P tend to be users that upload and download large amounts of copyrighted materials without the required royalties and licensing/registration fees being paid. Bottom line, this is stealing and EVERYONE knows it is not right. It falls under the exact same categories as counterfeiting and software piracy, which are illegal.
The sites (and often corrupt govenments) that host such file sharing turn a blind-eye to the illegal transfers - claiming they are not responsible for what their posters post. A perfect proving ground for badguys to test their new malicious code.
But to make matters worse, many (not all) of those users tend to be folks who are lax on those
practicing safe computing steps I mention in my link above that are
required of all users - that is, keeping systems patched, updated, scanned and blocked as necessary, always scanning attachments and downloads before opening, and
never going to places where badguys are known to wallow in, that is, porn, chat/social gatherings, gambling, and P2P sites that condone illegal file sharing. It is those users and computers, the easy pickings, that badguys seek out first - to turn in to weapons against the rest us!