Roxio admits chkdsk bug

Back on Track to be put back on track after PCW's Barry Fox highlights problem

Roxio has admitted that its disk-cloning software Back on Track blocks the Windows chkdsk module that cleans up a hard disk after a system crash.

The problem, associated with the package's Instant Restore feature, is highlighted by columnist Barry Fox in his column in the current (March) edition of PCW.

Roxio thanked Fox for finding the bug, which it said turned out to be quite tricky to deal with. The company said in an email: "We have a massive Quality Assurance team that diligently goes through all our products and usually finds even the smallest problems. Somehow, this one slipped through our radar."

It said the fix would involve a change at the core of our application and takes time to work with. There should be a fix "within a few weeks, at the very latest by the end of Feb".

Fox said: "I respect the way Roxio took me seriously and owned up when I was proved right, in stark contrast to the way Symantec handle queries, like mine recently on Ghost 12. I wish more companies would behave as responsibly."