CHKDSK Errors

Running CHKDSK from a Command Prompt

Run CHKDSK from the Windows XP Command Line

The Microsoft CHKDSK disk scanning utility can be run as a command line application. To run the tool this way, you first need to open command prompt.

In Windows XP:

Run CHKDSK from the Windows Vista Command Line

To run the CHKDSK utility from a command line interface prompt in Windows Vista:

CHKDSK Scan Settings

The Windows CHKDSK tool can be programmed to check specific volumes and to perform certain actions for different results.

To use the scan in read-only mode - in which the scan will look for errors but not attempt to repair or recover data – the command is only chkdsk
You can also choose to select the volume – or drive – to scan. To do this, enter chkdsk followed by a space and then the drive letter and a colon – c: or d: or e: or f:
Depending on the set-up of the computer hard disk you can program CHKDSK to run different functions. There are three possible file systems available for hard disk partitions on Windows platforms: NTFS, FAT and FAT32. You can first check how your hard drive is formatted by following these instructions:

Click on My Computer to open
Right click on the drive icon that you want to scan, this is usually the C: hard drive
When the pop-up screen opens, select Properties
On the top of the Properties screen you can find the File System listed as either NTFS or FAT32.
If the system is set for FAT32, you can add a location of specific files or sets of files to scan. The * and ? symbols are wildcards. The path location entry is: chkdsk c: *

It is also possible to specify different processes for the CHKDSK tool. To do this, they are listed following the volume and path (if used) like in this example: chkdsk c: * /f /r

There are numerous commands you can give the CHKDSK tool to run different variations to best suit your needs. These commands are called switches.

/c – for use with NTFS only – skips some cycles, reducing time