Err Msg: This Drive Cannot Be Checked with this Version of UNTFS.DLL

ID: Q239838

This article discusses a Beta release of a Microsoft product. The information in this article is provided as-is and is subject to change without notice.

No formal product support is available from Microsoft for this Beta product. For information about obtaining support for a Beta release, please see the documentation included with the Beta product files, or check the Web location from which you downloaded the release.

The information in this article applies to:

Microsoft Windows NT Server versions 3.51, 4.0
Microsoft Windows NT Workstation versions 3.51, 4.0
Microsoft Windows 2000 Advanced Server
Microsoft Windows 2000 Datacenter Server
Microsoft Windows 2000 Professional
Microsoft Windows 2000 Server

SYMPTOMS

If you try to perform a manual NTFS file system check by using the Chkdsk.exe tool or when you restart your computer, when Autochk.exe starts to check NTFS volumes, you may receive the following error message:

This drive cannot be checked with this version of UNTFS.DLL

CAUSE

This behavior occurs because the code that actually performs the verification when running Chkdsk.exe or Autochk.exe resides in utility .dll files such as Untfs.dll and Ufat.dll. When an NTFS file system check is invoked, the NTFS $Volume metafile is read to extract the version number of the file system. If the version of the NTFS file system being checked is greater than what can be repaired by the current version of Untfs.dll, the error message is generated. Another probable cause of this message is the possibility that the NTFS $Volume metafile became damaged in such a way that the version field contains invalid version information, and that even the latest utility .dll files incorrectly interpret the file system version is one that is currently not supported. Note that under this circumstance, it is very likely that the entire file system is damaged, and Windows may have to be reinstalled.

MORE INFORMATION

If an installation of Windows 2000 was ever attempted or your computer is configured to dual boot between Windows NT and Windows 2000, this message will be generated every time Windows NT tries to repair an NTFS volume. This is because Windows NT does not support many of the new NTFS Features introduced by Windows 2000 and so it cannot perform the repairs.

In order to successfully repair the volume, you must permit the Windows 2000 Chkdsk.exe or Autochk.exe utilities to repair the volume, or boot to the Windows 2000 "Recovery Console" and use the chkdsk command with the /p parameter to repair the volume.

For more information, please click the article numbers below to view the articles in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

Q184299 Dual-Booting Windows NT 4.0 and Windows 2000 on NTFS Partitions

Q198904 Windows 2000 Setup Upgrades Existing NTFS File System Volumes

Q229716 Description of the Windows 2000 Recovery Console

Additional query words:

Keywords : kberrmsg
Version : WINDOWS:2000; winnt:3.51,4.0
Platform : WINDOWS winnt
Issue type : kbprb