My Adventure - or - Please help me get chkdsk /f to run on restart

My Adventure (after which follows a question):

- Laptop has disk errors - suggests running chkdsk /f. So I do.

- Reboot.

- chkdsk doesn't run

- Try again

- chkdsk still doesn't run. Hmm.

- Search the web: I can try to run chkdsk from recovery console. OK.

- Scrounge up old XP Home disc.

- Boot from CD.

- Select "repair using recovery console"

- Recovery console asks for Administrator password

- What the hell is the Administrator password?

- Blank doesn't work.

- My normal password doesn't work.

- A bunch of random characters doesn't work.

- Recovery console reboots after three invalid password attempts. Sigh.

- Search web for how to set Administrator password

- Type command: net user Administrator 12345 (that's the same combination
I have on my luggage!)

- Reboot from CD. In Recovery Console again.

- Type "12345"

- Administrator password not valid.

- Type "1..2..3..4..5"

- Administrator password not valid.

- Type "1....2....3....4....5"

- Administrator password not valid

- Reboot.

- Swear. Loudly.

- Find knowledgebase article describing a problem with an OEM tool called
"sysprep" that modifies the way the registry stores passwords, so Recovery
Console doesn't work. Swear again. Shake fists in air.

- See that there is a hotfix for this - but you have to contact Microsoft
to get it (!)

- Scour the Internet by the hotfix number to see if it's out there floating
around.

- Instead, find another KB article showing how to disable Administrator
passwords entirely for recovery console.

- Follow those instructions and reboot

- Watch as chkdsk runs.

- Think hmm...maybe it was the Administrator password disconnect thingy
that prevented chkdsk from running.

- Run chkdsk again to make sure everything is okay.

- Better, but still some problems.

- Run chkdsk /f

- Reboot

- chkdsk doesn't run. Lather. Rinse. Repeat.

Next computer: Mac OSX or Ubuntu. I know Macs really don't "just work" but
holy *** I've never seen anything like this crap. Can't even run chkdsk?
WTF?????

You know what, forget the question. No Microsoft: that's the answer. I
feel like two hours of my life have been murdered.

Hank

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