XP won't boot, "NTFS Drive is marked in use"

[roman2]

Hi,

had a similar problem a few month ago, but i think starting a new thread is better then pushing an old one with useless answers. So straight to the problem:
When I booted my computer it hang up during the start up sequence, so i hit the reset button.
Now everytime I tried to boot windows it hang up right after checking for any bootable CD-Rom without any error message.
So I booted from an Ubuntu Live CD and tried to access my windows partition and linux told me:

Mount is denied because NTFS is marked to be in use. Choose one action:

Choice 1: If you have Windows then disconnect the external devices by
clicking on the 'Safely Remove Hardware' icon in the Windows
taskbar then shutdown Windows cleanly.

Choice 2: If you don't have Windows then you can use the 'force' option for
your own responsibility.

Choice 1 is obviously not possible, Choice 2 will let me backup my files, but won't solve my problem.
So: Does anyone know how I remove the "in use" mark on my windows partition without having to boot Windows?

(To prevent any further questions about what I've done: I've done nothing special the last time I used windows. Read Emails, played games, browsed the web. And I shut down the computer properly before it hang up the first time within the boot sequence)

[Philip21]

Sometimes the drive will fail to mount, as mentioned immediately above. You might get a messages like this one beginning "$LogFile indicates unclean shutdown. Mount is denied because NTFS is marked to be in use.......". These are symptomatic of disorderly processes previously interrupting a clean dismount or shutdown. If you have Windows (2000 or higher) installed or handy, boot the drive in that and allow Windows to right the situation either automatically by running a consistency check on booting or by running chkdsk /f yourself from the command prompt. You can also run chkdsk /f from the repair facility after you boot from the Windows install CD and run to the end where you select to repair the installed system. Failing that you can use the force option outlined just above, but that's not the preferred option.

[Warner]

If you dual-boot with Windows (or have access to a Windows machine if this is an external hard drive), you could always run Windows' scandisk/chkdsk on that volume to check for errors. In XP, open Windows Explorer, right-click on the volume, click Properties, go to Tools, then Check For Errors. Also, be sure to shutdown Windows properly, or if it's an external hard drive, Safely Remove it.

Good luck!

[allsecur3]

I also heard that same problem with my friend.
Try re-seating your drive. and make sure that your drive are perfectly detected by your BIOS.