How to run CHKDSK and what it is for in Windows
As is evident and well known, Microsoft Windows, is the Operating system for work and home computers, most used in the world. Over the years, it has improved in capabilities, functionality, and appearance. And on a technical level, either, for graphical interface (GUI) o Terminal (CLI) It has many options and commands. Commands, which by the way, some come from many versions back, such as, CHKDSK. So today, we will dedicate this entry to knowing how to "run CHKDSK".
El CHKDSK command is one of the most important and useful commands in Windows. And it's basically a terminal tool native of Microsoft Windows, which allows, among other things, the analyze the status of hard drives and external storage drives connected to the computer for find errors and fix them later.
And as usual, before delving into this present publication on the well-known and useful windows command called CHKDSK, and specifically about how to "run CHKDSK", we will leave for those interested the links to some of our previous related posts with said application and other related topics. So that they can do it easily, in case they want to increase or reinforce their knowledge about it, at the end of reading this publication:
“If we perceive that the operation of the system is slow, that strange noises are heard or anything that makes us think that the hard drive is damaged, the first thing we should do is carry out a diagnosis of the hard drive. To do this, we can use a tool to analyze and repair disks that Windows offers us, called CHKDSK”. How to recover a damaged hard drive
Useful Commands: Run CHKDSK
What is the CHKDSK command and what is it for?
Quoting the original source related to the CHKDSK command, in other words, Microsoft, this software utility is described as follows:
“It is a terminal command that checks for logical and physical errors in the file system and file system metadata of a volume. If used without parameters, chkdsk displays only the status of the volume and does not correct any errors. If used with the /f, /r, /x or /b parameters, it fixes errors on the volume.” About CHKDSK
In addition, they add the following to it:
“Chkdsk can only be used for local disks. The command cannot be used with a local drive letter that has been redirected over the network."
And something valuable about the CHKDSK command, also known as Check Disk, is that it is so simple to use that anyone with or without greater computer knowledge can use it without major difficulties. As we will see later.
How to run CHKDSK?
As explained on previous occasions, the CHKDSK command can be used in the following situation:
Perform diagnostics on a local hard drive or attached USB drive
In order to do so, verify that the operating system or computer failure come by physical or logical problems inside the hard drive. And consequently, proceed to detect and repair them, if possible.
On this point, it is important to note that, in a simple and predetermined way, this verification process (disk check) to find and fix file errors or bad sectors, it first scans the hard drive and then provides a report. And depending on how it has been run, it can fix file errors or bad sectors found.
“A file error is an error involving the Windows file system. A bad sector is an area of the hard drive that cannot store information. Correcting file errors takes longer than generating reports. On the other hand, fixing file errors and bad sectors takes even more time. Please note that the CHKDSK command may take minutes or hours to complete, depending on the number of files, the size of the hard drive, the number of hard drive errors, and the options you choose. Using the Chkdsk utility
Form of use and operation options
end track
To use the CHKDSK command via terminal, you should initially run a Terminal window as follows:
- Press the Applications Menu button and type CMD to open the activities window.
- Select the option: Run as Administrator.
Once the terminal (console) is opened, and within it, the CHKDSK command It can be used easily and directly, in the following ways:
- Read-only mode for main partition (C:/)
To do this, the following steps must be followed:
- Write
«chkdsk»and press the Enter key to start the command in error-check-only mode. - Wait the results report.
- Read and write mode for main partition (C:/)
To do this, the following steps must be followed:
- Write
«chkdsk /f»and press the Enter key to start the command in error repair mode. - Wait the confirmation message: CHKDSK cannot be executed because another process is already using the
volume. Do you want this volume to be prepared to be checked the next time the system is rebooted? (Y/N) - Press The key
«S»to program the process, or the key«N»to abort programming.
Note: In case you want to apply the CHKDSK command on another disk partition, or another connected Hard Disk or USB storage unit, such as «D:», the command order to be written must be as follows:
- First option:
«chkdsk D:»to just start the verification, - Second option:
«chkdsk /f D:»to start checking and correcting file errors, - Third option:
«chkdsk /r D:»to start the verification and correction of file errors plus the fix of possible bad disk sectors detected in order to save (make readable) the data stored in them.
Via graphical interface
To use the CHKDSK command graphically, you should initially launch a File Explorer window and perform the following steps:
- Right-click on a disk, hard drive, or USB drive partition (drive) and select the context menu item called “Properties".
- In the pop-up window “Properties” the tab must be pressed “Tools”, where we will find the section called “Error Check”.
- There you have to press the buttonCheck” and in the new popup called “Error Check” we click on “Examine Unit”.
- We wait for the exploration to finish and to return whether or not there are errors to continue.
“It is not recommended to kill chkdsk. However, canceling or stopping chkdsk should not leave the volume more damaged than it was before running chkdsk. Running chkdsk checks again and should repair any remaining corruption on the volume." About CHKDSK
Summary
In short, knowing about windows commandswhether we are or not specialized IT staff, can become very useful, to face and resolve various technological events or failures related to our computers or third parties. And especially knowing how to "run CHKDSK" and what is it for in Windows, it will save us not only time, but maybe money on repairs and technical services unnecessary.
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