PRB: Windows NT 4.0 CHKDSK Refuses to Check NTFS 3.0/3.1 Volumes (196707)


The information in this article applies to:

  • Microsoft BackOffice Server 4.0
  • Microsoft Windows NT Server 4.0
  • Microsoft Windows NT Server, Enterprise Edition 4.0
  • Microsoft Windows NT Workstation 4.0
This article was previously published under Q196707

SYMPTOMS

On a computer running Windows NT 4.0 with Service Pack 4 or later installed, Chkdsk.exe may not attempt to process NTFS 3.0/3.1 partitions. The user receives the following message that indicates that this version of Chkdsk.exe cannot be used to check a volume:
The type of file system is NTFS:
This NTFS volume was created or modified by a later version of Windows NT. This version of chkdsk cannot be run on this volume. You must boot the version of NT that created/modified this volume and run chkdsk from that installation.

CAUSE

New features of the NTFS 3.0/3.1 file system, which include disk quotas, encryption, reparse points, sparse files, and the Update Sequence Number (USN) journal would not be recognized by the Windows NT 4.0 version of Chkdsk.exe. Enabling the Windows NT 4.0 version of Chkdsk.exe to process the NTFS 3.0/3.1 volume could result in volume corruption. Therefore, the version of Chkdsk.exe supplied with Service Pack 4 has been modified to prevent the processing of NTFS volumes.

STATUS

This behavior is by design.
Modification Type:MajorLast Reviewed:9/9/2002
Keywords:kbbug KB196707
©2002 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.