Disk Utility's "Verify Disk" does not work

Question

For some reason I am not able to run the "Verify Disk" option in the Disk Utility application. I open up Disk Utility, I can click on the button, and it begins. However, while it says it is verifying the disk, and the status bar appears (just shows it working, doesn't show a time remaining), it continues like this for an inordinate amount of time. Eventually, the entire computer freezes up; I can move the mouse, but nothing responds to keyboard or mouse clicks. I am forced to hold down the power button to shut-down.
To get more information I decided to run this command in the Terminal. This is what I get:
+mycomputername~ root# diskutil verifyVolume /+
+Started verify/repair on volume disk0s2 Macintosh HD+
When I press enter after typing the first line, the second line appears, and it appears but nothing else shows up. Eventually, like in Disk Utility (which makes sense), the entire computer freezes up. (I've waited hours)
Does anyone know why this tool might not be working? I know, when using the terminal, more dialog should show what it is working on, which is why I find it strange it doesn't even get past the "Started verify" point. For example, the following is supposed to show up eventually, but doesn't:
+Checking HFS Plus volume.+
+Checking Extents Overflow file.+
+Checking Catalog file.+
etc...
I used the command line to verify with fsck too. +(sudo fsck_hfs -l /dev/disk0s2)+ This worked. From what I can tell, the problems it generated were benign.
On a different note, the reason I want to do this is because I am trying to use Bootcamp Assistant 1.4 Beta to create an XP Partition (after I had to get rid of it due to a virus), but it gets stuck on the "Partitioning Disk", and the status (which doesn't show remaining time) just continues to stay the same after a few hours, eventually freezing the computer in the same way the Verify Disk does. See a theme here? I'm not sure if this is related or not.
So why does the Verify Disk tool not work for me? Anyone have any ideas? I'm hesitant to try to use the Disk Repair tool, without the Verify Disk tool working.
Thanks for any help! Oh, and Happy New Year!
Michael
(Disk info, if this is useful for some reason)
+Device Node: /dev/disk0s2+
+Device Identifier: disk0s2+
+Mount Point: /+
+Volume Name: Macintosh HD+
+File System: Journaled HFS+ +
+Journal size 16384 k at offset 0x7d01000+
+Owners: Enabled+
+Partition Type: Apple_HFS+
+Bootable: Is bootable+
+Media Type: Generic+
+Protocol: SATA+
+SMART Status: Verified+
+Total Size: 148.7 GB+
+Free Space: 51.6 GB+
+Read Only: No+
+Ejectable: No+
+Disk Number: 0+
+Partition Number: 2+

Answer 1

Thank you so much!
For some reason that didn't cross my mind. I booted with the OSX installer disk, and used DU and the Verify Disk worked!
Oddly enough when it finished I got an error message. Maybe that's just because the Verify encountered errors. It said:
+First Aid failed+
+Disk Utility stopped verifying "Macintosh HD" beause the following error was encountered: The underlying task reported failure on exit+
Here's the results of the scan:
+Checking Catalog file.+
+Resereved fields in the catalog record have incorrect data+
+Incorrect block count for file Temp File 1.tmp+
+(It should be 4529 instead of 0)+
+Incorret number of thread records+
+Overlapped extent allocation (file 1815158 /Users/..)+
+Checking Volume bitmap+
+Volume Bit Map needs minor repair+
+Checking volume information+
+Invalid volume free block count+
+(It should be 13585467 instead of 13578598)+
+The Volume Macintosh HD needs to be repaired.+
+Error: The underlying task reported failure on exit.+
I'm going to repair the disk, only after I backup my data. Not sure if these problems are 'benign' or not. Maybe that will solve my Boot Camp problems, maybe not. If not, well, it's either a complete reformat of the drive, or I'll have to buy Leopard so I can get Boot Camp support.
Thanks for your help again! So nice to see something working right on my Mac, finally
Michael