How to Troubleshoot the "Autochk Program Not Found" Error

Troubleshoot the "Autochk Program Not Found" Error

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When the "Autochk" error occurs, when your computer boots, you will see this message on your screen: "Autochk program not found => reboot" over and over again. After this error message is displayed, your computer reboots and displays the very same error yet again, and this cycle continues over and over again! What's more, using the Recovery Console or rebooting the PC in Safe Mode will not work. The "Autochk" error often occurs if you try to uninstall Norton Antivirus. You can easily resolve the issue with a software application package by Symantec called PowerQuest. A program within this package, called PTEDIT, will fix it. Here's how.

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Instructions

Difficulty: Moderately Challenging

Step1

Download the compressed file PTEDIT.zip from the Symnatec website (see Resources below). Save it to your hard drive, to a location such as your desktop where you can easily find it.

Step2

Create a bootable disk. Insert a floppy disk into the disk drive. Double-click on "My Computer" and then right-click "Drive A." Next, click on "Format."

Step3

Check "Create an MS-DOS Startup Disk" and then click "Start." Click on "OK" in the confirmation screen, and then click "OK" again once the formatting process is complete.

Step4

Copy the PTEDIT file to your floppy disk. Do this by double-clicking the downloaded zip file, right-clicking the "ptedit.exe" file, and then clicking "Copy." Next, you'll open "My Computer" and double-click on "Drive A." Click the "Edit" button (it's located toward the top of the window). Click on "Paste."

Step5

Place the floppy disk into the drive of the computer that has the "Autochk" error. Configure your BIOS settings so that your PC will boot from its floppy drive. At the A:> prompt that appears, type "PTEDIT" and hit Enter.

Step6

In the "PowerQuest Partition Table Editor" window that pops up, go to the very first column of the table that is labeled "Type." Normally, the number displayed here will be "07," to represent an installable file system. However, if this number is anything other than this "07," it means that the drive is unbootable.

Step7

Go to the "Type" box using your Tab key. Press Alt+T, which opens up the "Set Type" menu. Now press Alt+S, which will save your changes. Press Ctrl+C to exit. Now Windows should boot normally.

Tips & Warnings

When you try to uninstall Norton Antivirus, the Norton "GoBack" tool will often attach itself to your hard drive and hide your partition when it uninstalls. You can diagnose the problem for yourself by removing your hard drive and installing it in another computer as a slave drive. It will likely appear as a hidden file, meaning that the partition was hidden accidentally.