CHKDSK Errors

^{How to Troubleshoot and Repair CHKDSK Errors}

Troubleshooting Hard Disk Errors with CHKDSK

What does CHKDSK do?

The CHKDSK hard drive-scanning tool inspects, restores and repairs hard disk drive volumes and file systems, as well as physical errors on the drive. The CHKDSK scan creates a report about the condition of the computer system. CHKDSK works by scanning for corrupt sectors, cross-linked folders or files, directory errors or lost connections or clusters.

Regular CHKDSK Use

The CHKDSK hard disk tool gives users more control over the condition of their computer file system and performance. To keep your system in the best working order, you should run CHKDSK regularly. It is even more important to run the CHKDSK tool after system changes like program installation and de-installation, power failures or program crashes. You can run the tool as often as you like, preset it to run at boot up, schedule a regular scan time or run the tool manually.

You can choose the volumes, paths, files and sets of files to scan with CHKDSK, as well as select the specific report, repair and restore tools to use.

/f – fixes disk errors

/v – lists the name of every file as it is checked

/r – finds and attempts to recover readable data from bad sectors

/x – for use with NTFS systems only – forces disk to dismount

/i – for use with NTFS only – runs less rigorous scan, reducing time

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

Running CHKDSK in Windows XP

To run CHKDSK from the desktop in Windows XP, follow these instructions:

1. Click the My Computer icon
2. Right click on the icon for the drive you want to scan – most often the C: hard drive
3. From the menu that opens – select Properties
4. Select the Tools tab
5. In the Error-checking section, choose Check Now
6. A pop-up menu will open listing check disk options – choose the options you want.
7. Click Start

To run the CHKDSK tool from the XP command line first open a command prompt:

1. Click to open the Start menu and choose Run
2. Type cmd in the search box
3. Click OK

Running CHKDSK in Windows Vista

To run the CHKDSK tool from the desktop in Vista:

1. Click the Start button to open the menu
2. Click Computer
3. Right click the drive that you want to scan – most often the C: hard drive
4. Select Properties
5. On the pop-up window, choose the Tools tab
6. Under the Error Checking section, click Check Now
7. On the pop-up click to select both the Automatically fix errors option and the Scan for and attempt recovery of bad sectors option
8. Click Start

To launch the CHKDSK utility from the Vista command line.

1. Click the Start button to open the menu
2. Type cmd in the search box
3. From the search results, right click cmd.exe

CHKDSK Articles

• What Does CHKDSK Do?
• How to run CHKDSK in Microsoft Windows XP
• How to run CHKDSK in Windows Vista
• CHKDSK Options
• Running CHKDSK from a Command Prompt
• What if CHKDSK isn't able to fix the disk?
• CHKDSK vs Scandisk
• Common CHKDSK Errors
• Troubleshooting Hard Disk Errors with CHKDSK
• Scheduling Regular CHKDSK Scans