CHKDSK "Replacing invalid security id..."

I've been running Windows Vista Ultimate (64-bit) on my DELL XPS M1710 laptop
for at least 6 months with no issues. I regularly take backups (usually
twice a week) using Norton Ghost 12 (2008) and the laptop is patched with ALL
the latest software updates from both Microsoft and Symantec (Norton).

Earlier today the backup that i normally take hung at 34% and the estimated
time left continued to climb. Normally this backup would take about 90
minutes. I cancelled the backup and thinking that there may be a file system
error, scheduled a CHKDSK C: /f, and rebooted the computer.

CHKDSK has started finding a number of issues including "Deleting an index
entry with Id 261 from index $SII of file 9" and is now displaying thousands
of "Replacing invalid security id with default security id for file xxxxx"
messages. Probably one for each file on the hard drive.

I have seen a number of problems with CHKDSK under Windows 2000 and Windows
2003 server but not with Vista.

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/873437
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/327009
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/913034

CHKDSK has NOT completed yet and i will post back if i get any other issues
when restarting Vista.

Any comments would be appreciated.

Many thanks.

OK, it's just finished running CHKDSK and replaced the security id's for
197,504 files, and rebooted. The screen is not displaying (i.e. black)
however only the mouse is present, both in normal and safe modes.

Will update further when i have some news.

First, it's a really bad idea to run chkdsk with the /f until you know what
it's going to try to do. I say that only so that others reading will see it,
since we're already past that point here.

Second, I'm concerned about the presence of Norton on this machine. There's
a good reason a lot of us here won't allow anything in a bright yellow box
on our 64bit machines. But are you only using Ghost? Or also their A-V and
other "security" products?

Finally, since you have a good backup, hopefully, with the Ghost, I would
strongly consider simpy re-imaging from the most recent ghosted backup prior
to the problems. Yes, you might lose a few files you've worked on in the
last few days, but the confidence that you're at least back to a known good
state wouild be enough to make me want to do it. I'm not at all trusting
that things will be "normal" or right after what has happened any other way.

I just experienced the exact same issue, but on the 32-bit version of
Vista. So far, none of the normal troubleshooting approaches have
helped (i.e., repair tools from the install DVD).

Any update on your issue?

Update; As Paul stated none of the normal repair options e.g. repair from
the install disk or any of the other repair options worked.

I am running other Norton (Symantec) AV and Firewall products (all 2008
versions), however i have NOT experienced any issues for the year or so i
have been running Vista, until now.

I develop software as a living, and am reasonably used to failures etc.,
Vista 64-bit is certainly the most stable windows i have experienced so far.
However i believe the issues i experienced yesterday are not connected with
Norton, and that they are to do with the CHKDSK utility, as stated in the
knowledge base articles (although not yet referenced to Vista).

Having said that my solution was to restore from a previous backup (5 days
ago), on to a spare hard drive which worked 100%. I then attempted to mount
the old drive as an external USB hard drive, however Vista did not recognise
the disk and no matter what i did with permissions i couldn't get Vista to
recognise it. I eventually booted to a USB pendrive loaded with VistaPE and
was able to access the old drive and copy a number of files i know have been
change since the backup (using the command prompt). I was then able to
overwrite these on to my restored system, and am now back up and working
perfectly, as if nothing had gone wrong.

My advise to anyone reading this is that things do go wrong, sometimes these
can be quite easily fixed, however if something major does happen make sure
you have implemented a backup policy.

I'm glad you're back up, and I agree about the importance of backups.

I also am very leary about using chkdsk. Which is why I started this out
with the comment about not using it with the /f option until you're sure
what it's going to try to do.

I hesitate to ask this to a guy with your qualifications, but...

Did you use Disk Management to be sure the spare drive was recognized as a
"foreign disk" and properly initialized in Vista? You probably did, but
your post didn't mention DM.

I haven't had this problem of adding an external USB hard drive, but several
users have reported it here. There has not been much feedback, though, as
to the eventual diagnosis and resolution of the problem. Many users are
simply not familiar with the many uses of Disk Management, even though it
has been a part of Windows since Win2K, and has been greatly improved in
WinXP and again in Vista. Much of DM's help file is focused on dynamic
disks and the GUI disk system, which few of us are involved with yet, so
it's sometimes hard to dig out the nuggets that we mainstream users need,
but the information is usually there - somewhere. (It's even harder for
non-techies like me.) Search the Help file for "foreign", and be sure it is
looking in Disk Management, not in the broader MMC.

Please report back with what you learn. Other users (and we who try to help
them) can benefit from it.

Good point, RC. I've seen the same thing with USB disks - you have to
"introduce" them to Vista. ;)

I have to agree that this is the same issue as reported in KB913034.
I'm testing the theory by manually setting permissions back to how they
are on a good install, though this may take some time unless the app I
wrote to go through and replace permissions ends up working.

[Nasty Pirate]

Hi, I'm new in this forum and registered because this thread seems closer to my problem.

First of all my knowledge on computers is Intermediate to Advanced so feel free to talk freely.

I use Vista x64 setup on a Raptor 74GB HDD. I was planning to take a backup in order to format the PC with a dual-boot OS configuration. Today as I was viewing my e-mails in Outlook the OS froze. I powered down and on reboot the OS was taking forever to load and the HDD LED was blinking once every now and then (not usual for the raptor as it continuously stays on during boot). I installed Vista x64 on another hard drive and configured the faulty one as secondary and booted. The chkdsk was giving me errors like deleting invalid file entry xxxx (4 entries) and then saying something deleting invalid index string Ultimate from file xxxx. Finally it took forever to finish as it was processing the index 4 blocks at a time. When inside the OS the windows explorer kept not responding. When it finally opened an explorer window the faulty drive showed up but with no info available (i.e. size, file system, free space). Needless to say I wasn't able to access the drive.

*Checked with DM but the drive was not visible so I couldn't use the option to activate it.

My question is: If I install the drive in an external case for HDDs (USB) will the OS finally be able to access the HDD? I have important files in it that I've been working them for several years... Sadly I was not taking backup as often I would like... so I'd really appreciate it if someone shed some light on the matter..

Also forgot to add the hard drive is correctly identified in BIOS. So I guess no mechanical failure is in order.

Do you hear "click"-like noises when trying to access the drive?
Looks like a hardware (i.e.: RIP raptor) issue rather than a logical one.
You might also try diagnostics tool downloadable from western digital web
site.

The fact that the hard drive is correctly identified in BIOS means that it
(BIOS) can communicate with the drive electronics.
Al the mechanical injured disks I have ran into were properly "seen" by BIOS.

This freeware tool:
http://www.pcinspector.de/default.htm?Language=1
might come in handy for solving your issue.