A recovery logging method wherein when a node in a computer network becomes unavailable, file systems which require verification and are locked are logged in a recovery log and checking of other file systems continues. In this manner, the host node effectively utilizes time which would otherwise be spent waiting for a file system to become available. Upon completing available file system verifications, those file systems which were logged are checked for availability via background processing. When a logged file system becomes available, it is then verified. During the time spent waiting for a logged file system to become available, the affected node is available for other processing.