Need help with chkdsk in windows xp

We have started this process at 6:30 pm est. it,s 12:05 am
now. it is at stage 4 of 5 , 30% complete. At the current rate
it won't complete before we need to use this program in the morning. Can chkdsk be aborted ? if so , what are the consequences?

Chkdsk CAN be aborted by performing a hard reset. In most cases there are no consequences. Was Chkdsk started with the /r switch?

i used the graphical version of windows xp chkdsk. please explain what the /r switch means. In the grafical mode, i checked boxes to 1)automatically fix file systemerrors and 2)
scan for and attempt recovery of bad sectors. I'm guessing option 2 is the /r switch you were talking about??

Yes. In the graphical version option 1 is the equivalent of the /f switch and option 2 is the equivalent of the /r switch. The /r switch can sometimes make changes to the drive that could present an issue if the process doesn't complete all the way. However, this typically isn't a problem. If you stop it and it doesn't work, you'll need to let chkdsk run all the way through to fix it again.

thanks for your help. I'm going to wait until tommorow morning and let my boss decide if we should wait, or try to escape.
when you say stop it and it doesn't work, do you mean it comes back to chkdsk instead of booting like normal??

If you have an extra hard drive lying around you could clone the hardrive install the new one in the box and use your application. Then take the old Hard drive and install on another machine as slave drive and run your check disk and other hard diagnostics while keeping your other machine running. Then you can take 10 days if needed.