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Article Number: 000148643

Using the Chkdsk Utility

Summary: All you need to know about the CHKDSK utility provided in Windows 10 and Windows 8.1.

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Article Content

Symptoms

Using the Check Disk Option (Chkdsk) to Detect and Correct Disk Errors

Check Disk scans your hard disk for errors and corrects those errors. The Check Disk option runs the CHKDSK program, which is supplied with all versions of Windows.

CHKDSK can either scan your hard disk and provide just a report, or scan your disk and correct file errors and/or bad sectors. A file error is an error that involves the Windows filing system. A bad sector is an area on your hard disk that is unable to store information. Correcting file errors takes more time than reporting, and correcting both file errors and bad sectors takes even longer.

Depending on the number of files, the size of the hard disk, the number of errors on the hard drive, and the options you choose, CHKDSK can take anywhere from minutes to hours to complete.

Note: Since CHKDSK takes over the hard disk and does not allow other programs to run until complete. It is important to run CHKDSK when several hours of downtime are acceptable.
 
Warning: Do not interrupt CHKDSK while it is running unless certain that the program has stopped responding or shows an error message. Interrupting CHKDSK by restarting the system can result in the creation of additional errors. See the Troubleshooting Check Disk section at the end of this topic for more details.

This topic covers the most frequently used aspects of CHKDSK. For more comprehensive information, see the Microsoft article Chkdsk his hyperlink is taking you to a website outside of Dell Technologies which discusses CHKDSK options and parameters in detail. 

The following section explains how to run the Check Disk option in Windows 10 and Windows 8.1.

 

Run CHKDSK in Microsoft Windows 10, and Windows 8.1

Using the Graphical User Interface (UI)

  1. Click Start and then click My Computer.
  2. Right-click the drive to perform a check disk and then, select Properties.
  3. Click on the Tools tab in the Properties window.
  4. Click Check under error checking.  To perform a complete check of the hard drive for errors, check off both options in the open check disk window.
  5. Click the Start button to start the process.  If checking a hard drive with open files, an error message appears stating Windows can’t check the disk while it’s in use.  Click Schedule disk check.  The computer will reboot and check the disk before Windows Vista boots up.

Using the Command Line Interface

  1. CHKDSK can also run using the command line (DOS) prompt.
  2. Click Start and then click Run.
  3. Open the command prompt and type cmd in the search box.
  4. Click OK.
  5. Right-click cmd.exe in the search results and then select Run as Administrator.
  6. Type chkdsk and press <Enter>.
 

Cause

No Cause Information is Available.

Resolution

No Resolution Information is Available.

Article Properties

Last Published Date

01 Aug 2023

Version

5

Article Type

Solution

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