Is this normal XP behaviour or virus?

It is called Scan Disk. It is normal. It is actually a good thing as it fixes the errors you have after turning off the computer unsafely.

I guess its not a virus, it actually and normally appears (the bluescreen checking the disc), when your computer shut down not in a normal way. It checks your computer for possible errors that occurs in your hard drive. And as you also stated, It is a 4 year old desktop so maybe you should also upgrade its specifications because it is getting more prone on errors as time goes by.

There are other reasons, apart from a possible malware attack, why the screen would freeze. One common reason is the heavy work that the XP operating system has been asked to do, as in when having many active applications running at the same time. This happens when the virtual memory available is insufficient to accommodate the the demands made on the system. In certain cases things will return to normal after some time. The waiting time varies, and in many cases using the power button cuts it short. Another factor which you may look at is the age of the components in your computer. An overworked or old hard disk can also cause the computer to freeze. The third possibility is heat fatigue of at least one of the components. This usually affects the RAM. Overheating of the CPU usually causes the system to shut down without any warning. I use XP.

You say your screen froze! Did it freeze whilst on the desktop? If this was the case and you wasn't able to do anything if you turn off your computer in this state then when you turn it back on you will receive the blue screen that shows you that a disk check is being carried out. This only happened as a result of you not shutting your computer down properly. If it froze though this is not your fault and there was nothing else that you could do other than turn your computer off abruptly. Generally a disk check with the blue screen doesn't happen when you reboot your computer! You should load into windows normally. As I mentioned, you only receive this blue screen when the computer has not been shut down properly. Anyway, just make sure that you have things like your antivirus up to date and make sure that you have your settings configured to receive microsoft updates automatically. Andrew

it is not like that u can say its normal for a 4 years old pc.. its just a normal things happens sometime with windows.. to prevent damage to the windows... dont think that its a virus.. its not at all a virus... be happy and hope for the best...

ah need not to worry of just some sort of windows fault and was corrected by scnning no need to worry at all

Hi apples99, I don't think it is a computer virus. I too, have Windows XP and I have experienced this sort of behavior from time to time, but not for a very long time now. If you had a virus your software, hopefully will cleanup your system. I don't think the system runs a computer check with a completely blue screen. I would maybe stop in at one of the computer geek stores such as Best Buy or CompUSA, and just casually ask about this problem, especially if the problem continues. They may give you free advice as to whether you need to bring your computer in for a checkup and a cleanup. They may even tell you that you have nothing to work about. I did take my computer in for a free diagnostic test, and allowed the geeks to clean it up and do some upgrades. I am happy I did it. Good Luck

yes it is common, when you haven't properly shutdown your system, when rebooted it will check all system files (only c drive) for correcting errors caused due to improper shutdown. if you haven't fragmented the drive for long time then you will see this check screen more often. don't forget to fragment at least once per month.

Hello apples Yes, it is absolutely normal, the utility runs automatically is chkdsk, which verifies logical integrity of the file system and performs necessary actions to fix file system data. The utility is called chkdsk which was previously known as scandisk in earlier versions of windows XP.

Hi Apples, Yes, what you got as a blue screen is when Scandisk runs after you turn off your pc without actually shutting it down as is expected while using WinXP. It also occurs if you have a partition that is not on NTFS(if it sound too geeky, NTFS is a File System that is supported and supposed to be used when you using WinXP). You can find some information on Scandisk here (not a referral link) http://geniuzs.blogspot.com/2010/04/save-your-hard-disk-part-i-scan-disk.html It is about running scandisk manually and correcting the errors on your hard disk.

there are many circumstances could result in blue sreen , and when the computer was crash , it would have a self check the next time . sounds nothing spcial . but the better way is to scan your system by the unti-virus software . win7 system is more steady.

Yes once a compute shuts down unexpectedly it will run a CHKDSK that scan for files or bad sector file that is normal for your computer to run a check disk. Better shuts your computer down properly :D

Windows XP normally runs this disk diagnostic tool to scan your hard disk for errors after an improper shut down of computer like force shut down or restarting the computer using the reset button. This XP tool is called "chkdsk" or check disk or what we know as scandisk for older versions of Windows. The background color of this tool is light blue or sky blue just like how you described it. This tool can also be canceled by pressing any key before the 10 second waiting finishes. It's okay to cancel it especially if you are rushing things then just run it later. You don't have to worry about this tool. This is a normal self check of Windows and its definitely not a virus. -)