Whenever there are errors in loading programs or if the hard disk should have anomalous behaviors such as, for example, continuous work even if nothing is being done and if occasionally the blue screen of the fatal error should appear, it could there is a problem on the disk because some files or sectors are damaged . When a disk error is suspected, Windows provides an internal tool called Chkdsk, better known as Scan Disk or Disk Control . The Check Disk is not only a tool that checks the entire hard disk to find and resolve any errors, but it can really help prevent bigger problems and, above all, avoid data loss. Chkdsk can be used in two ways:
- To scan the integrity of the file system, file system metadata, a volume master file table (MFT), security descriptors associated with files, or date and time alignments or even file sizes on individual files.
- Chkdsk can also optionally check each sector of the disk for sectors with badly written data or hardware damage to the disk.
In this case Scandisk tries to solve these problems to repair the bad sectors and to mark the bad ones so that they are no longer reused by the system and programs. Although, described in words, it seems something very technical only for experts, in reality Windows makes Scandisk really easy to use.
The chkdsk tool works more or less the same in all versions of Windows, although in Windows 10 and 8.1 it has been improved and made faster than it works in Windows 7.
To check a disk from Windows, open Windows Explorer and press on This PC from the left column. Right click on the unit you want to check, press " Properties ", go to the "Tools" tab and then click the " Check " button.
In Windows 10 and 8, a " no need to scan " message may appear immediately, with the option to start a manual scan anyway. This type of scan doesn't correct problems, it's just a quick check. However, if errors are found, then Windows will give instructions on how to proceed and the computer will restart. If you want you can force the deep control of the Scandisk by opening a DOS command prompt window as we will see later in this article.
In Windows 7, on the other hand, pressing the " Execute Scandisk " key, two options can be enabled: Automatically correct the filesystem errors and attempt to recover the bad sectors .
Keep in mind that by activating these two options, disk checking will take some time, even several hours. Also, if the one being checked is the system disk, Windows will prompt you to schedule a disk check to run it the next time you restart your PC.
Help to Chkdsk from command prompt
Windows disk error checking is based on the Chkdsk tool which can also be run from the command line by adding many more options. It may be necessary to use the command prompt because Windows does not start correctly or to force automatic fix and scan for bad sectors in Windows 10 and 8.1.
To open the Command Prompt, press the Start button, type cmd, right click on the Command Prompt and choose " Run as administrator ". Here are the main commands with chkdsk, to be written on the prompt and to be executed by pressing Enter .
- chkntfs c: check the status of the disk scan, if it was required and if it was scheduled (the letter c: is the letter of the disk which can also be different).
- chkdsk / fc: it is used to ask to check and even correct disk errors (if the disk is in use, the scan will take place at the next restart and confirmation is required).
- chkdsk / rc: is the scan of bad sectors
- chkdsk / r / fc: scan with error checking and correction plus bad sector checking.
- chkntfs / xc: used to cancel a scheduled scandisk
The check I say of chkdsk should be performed every time the PC goes haywire, every time Windows closes abnormally (for example, turning it off suddenly or when the light goes off), every time the blue screen appears and also in case of problems with programs that do not load or crash the system. Keep in mind that in the event of bad sectors, the data written in them could be lost forever. For this reason, you should always have a backup of important files.
Here are some programs to start Windows scandisk and use all its options without using the command prompt
1) Foolish Checkdisk is a small tool for launching the scandisk, checking and correcting errors (Fix) and checking multiple disks together and setting up a Rescan until all the errors disappear.
2) CheckDisk allows you to scan your disk, search for bad sectors and repair errors, using the chkdsk utility but with a much more explanatory and understandable graphic interface. This simple portable utility, which requires no installation, absolutely free of charge, offers simplicity and efficiency in checking bad sectors, errors or other anomalies and to repair the hard disk.
3) Macrorit Disk Scanner (from which I took the image above) is a program to check errors on the hard disk that has some more options than the normal scandisk. The best one is the possibility of being able to check only a part of the disk. To correct the errors, however, the Windows deep scandisk must be used.
4) CheckDrive, a recent program (2019) for Windows 10 that allows you to check disk errors and which also offers diagnostic data such as the rotation speed and health of the unit, hard disk or SSD. Also you can leave it running in the background to be warned of write or read errors. The program can be downloaded by pressing the free download button.
In another article, however, several tools for checking the hard disk, health status and performance of the disks are reported, including HDTune that also allows you to do the scandisk.
