home > A computer > Windows has detected hard drive problems - what should I do? Checking the hard drive for errors in Windows How to check the operation of the hard drive in Windows 7.

Windows has detected hard drive problems - what should I do? Checking the hard drive for errors in Windows How to check the operation of the hard drive in Windows 7.

This beginner's guide will show you step by step how to check your hard drive for errors and bad sectors in Windows 7, 8.1 and Windows 10 via command line or in the explorer interface. Also described additional tools checks HDD and SSD present in the OS. Installation of any additional programs is not required.

The easiest way to check HDD in Windows is to use File Explorer. In it, right-click on the desired hard drive, select "Properties", and then open the "Tools" tab and click "Check". In Windows 8.1 and Windows 10, you will most likely see a message that this drive is not currently required to be verified. However, you can force it to run.

Windows 7 has additional opportunity enable checking and fixing bad sectors by checking the appropriate boxes. You can still find the verification report in the Windows Application Event Viewer.

You can check the hard disk for errors not only using the command line, but also in Windows PowerShell.

In order to do this procedure, run PowerShell as an administrator (you can start typing PowerShell in the search on the Windows 10 taskbar or in the Start menu of previous OSes, then right-click on the found item and select "Run as administrator" .

In Windows PowerShell, use the following variations of the Repair-Volume command to check the partition hard drive:

If you see the NoErrorsFound message as a result of running the command, it means that no errors were found on the disk.

Additional options for checking disk in Windows 10

In addition to the options listed above, you can use some additional tools built into the OS. In Windows 10 and 8, disk maintenance, including checking and defragmenting them, occurs automatically according to a schedule, at a time when you are not using your computer or laptop.

To view information about whether any disk problems were found, go to the "Control Panel" (you can do this by right-clicking on Start and selecting the desired context menu item) - "Security and Maintenance Center". Open the "Maintenance" section and in the "Disk Status" item you will see the information received as a result of the last automatic check.

Another feature that appeared in Windows 10 is the Storage Diagnostic Tool. To use the utility, run a command prompt as an administrator, then use the following command:

Stordiag.exe -collectEtw -checkfsconsistency -out path_to_report_save_folder

The command will take some time to complete (it may seem that the process is hung), and all connected drives will be checked.

And when the command completes, the problem report will be saved to the location you specified.

The report includes individual files containing:

chkdsk check information and error information collected by fsutil in text files.
Windows 10 registry files containing all current registry values related to attached drives.
Windows Event Viewer log files (events are collected within 30 seconds when using the collectEtw switch in the disk diagnostics command).

For an ordinary user, the collected data may not be of interest, but in some cases it may be useful for diagnosing problems with drives system administrator or another specialist.

If you have any problems during the verification or need advice, write in the comments, and I, in turn, will try to help you.

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One of the important factors of system performance is the serviceability of such a basic component as hard disks. It is especially important that there are no problems with the drive on which the system is installed. In the opposite case, problems such as the inability to access individual folders or files, regular abnormal exit from the system, the “blue screen of death” (BSOD), up to the inability to start the computer at all, are possible. We will learn how to check the hard drive for errors on Windows 7.

If you have a situation that you can’t even log into the system, then in order to check if the problems on the hard drive are to blame for this, you should connect the disk to another computer or boot the system from Live CD. This is also recommended if you are going to check the drive where the system is installed.

Verification methods are divided into options using exclusively internal Windows tools(utility Check Disk) and on variants using a third-party software. In this case, the errors themselves can also be divided into two groups:

logical errors (file system corruption);
physical (hardware) problems.

In the first case, many programs for studying a hard drive can not only find errors, but also correct them. In the second case, using the application, it will not be possible to completely eliminate the problem, but only mark the bad sector as unreadable so that no more writing is done there. Complete hardware failure hard drive can only be repaired or replaced.

Method 1: CrystalDiskInfo

Let's start with an analysis of options using third party programs. One of the most popular ways checking the HDD for errors is to use the well-known CrystalDiskInfo utility, the main purpose of which is precisely to solve the problem under study.

If several physical HDDs are connected to the computer at once, then to switch between them for information, click in the menu "Disk", and then select the desired media from the list.

Advantages this method using CrystalDiskInfo lies in the simplicity and speed of research. But at the same time, with its help, unfortunately, it will not be possible to eliminate problems if they are detected. In addition, it must be recognized that the search for problems in this way is rather superficial.

Method 2: HDDlife Pro

The next program that will help evaluate the condition of the drive used under Windows 7 is HDDlife Pro.

To update the data, in the main window of HDDlife Pro, click "File" and then choose "Check disks now!".

The main disadvantage of this method is that the full functionality of HDDlife Pro is paid.

Method 3: HDDScan

The next program with which you can check the HDD is free utility HDDScan.

Activate HDDScan. In field "Select Drive" the name of the HDD to be manipulated is displayed. If you have multiple HDDs connected to your computer, you can select between them by clicking this field.

Click the button to start scanning. "New Task", which is located to the right of the drive selection area. Select from the dropdown list Surface Test.

This will open the test type selection window. There are four options to choose from. Swapping a radio button between them:
- read(default);
- Verify;
- Butterfly Read;
- Erase.
The latter option also involves the complete cleaning of all sectors of the scanned disk from information. Therefore, it should be used only if you consciously want to clear the drive, otherwise the necessary information will simply be lost. So this feature should be handled very carefully. The first three items on the list are testing using various reading methods. But there is no fundamental difference between them. Therefore, you can use any option, although it is still preferable to use the one that is installed by default, that is, Read.

In the fields Start LBA and "End LBA" you can specify the sector to start and end the scan. In field block size indicates the size of the cluster. In most cases, these settings do not need to be changed. In this way, you will scan the entire drive, and not some part of it.

Once the settings are set, click "Add test".

At the bottom of the program test manager, according to the previously entered parameters, a testing task will be generated. To run the test, simply double-click on its name.

The testing procedure starts, the progress of which can be observed using the graph.

After the test is completed, in the tab map you can view the results. On a healthy HDD, there should be no bad clusters marked in blue and clusters with a response exceeding 50 ms marked in red. In addition, it is desirable that the number of clusters marked in yellow (response range from 150 to 500 ms) be relatively small. Thus, the more clusters with a minimum response time, the better the HDD condition is considered.

Method 4: Checking with the Check Disk utility through the properties of the drive

But you can check the HDD for errors, as well as fix some of them, using the built-in Windows 7 utility called Check Disk. It can be launched in various ways. One of these methods involves launching through the properties window of the drive.

Click "Start". Next select from the menu "A computer".

A window will open with a list of connected drives. Right-click ( PKM) by the name of the drive you want to check for errors. From the context menu select "Properties".

In the properties window that appears, move to the tab "Service".

In the block "Check disk" click "Perform check".

The HDD check window is launched. In addition to, in fact, the study by checking and unchecking the corresponding items, you can turn on or off two additional functions:
- Scan and repair bad sectors(off by default);
- auto-correct system errors (enabled by default).
To activate the scan, after setting the above parameters, press "Launch".

If the settings option was selected with the restoration of bad sectors, then a new window will appear Announcement, indicating that Windows cannot start checking the HDD that is in use. To run it, you will be prompted to disable the volume. To do this, click on the button "Disable".

After that, the scan should start. If you want to check the system drive on which Windows is installed with the fix, then in this case you will not be able to disable it. A window will appear where you should click "Disk Check Schedule". In this case, the scan will be scheduled the next time you restart your computer.

If you unchecked the checkbox "Check and repair bad sectors", then scanning will start immediately after step 5 of this instruction is completed. The procedure for examining the selected drive is performed.

After the procedure is completed, a message will appear indicating that the HDD has been successfully tested. If problems are found and corrected, this will also be reported in this window. To exit it, press "Close".

Method 5: "Command line"

You can also run the Check Disk utility from "Command line".

If the user wants not only to carry out research, but also to automatically correct the errors found in the process, then in this case the following command should be entered:

Press to activate Enter.

If you want to check the drive for not only logical, but also physical errors (damage), as well as try to fix bad sectors, then the following command is used in this case:

When checking not the entire hard drive, but a specific logical drive, you need to enter its name. For example, in order to scan only a partition D, such an expression should be entered in "Command line":

Accordingly, if you need to scan another disk, then you need to enter exactly its name.

Attributes "/f" and "/r" are basic when running the command chkdsk through "Command line", but there are a number of additional attributes:

/x– disables the specified drive for a more detailed check (most often used simultaneously with the attribute "/f");
/v- indicates the cause of the problem (the ability to apply only in the file NTFS system);
/c– Skip scanning in structural folders (this reduces the quality of the scan, but increases its speed);
/i– quick check without detailing;
/b– re-evaluation of damaged elements after attempting to repair them (used exclusively in conjunction with the attribute "/r");
/spotfix– point error correction (only works with NTFS);
/freeorphanedchains– instead of restoring content, clears clusters (only works with FAT/FAT32/exFAT file systems);
/l:size– indicates the size of the log file in case of an emergency exit (without specifying the size, the current value remains);
/offlinescanandfix– offline scanning with disconnection of the specified HDD;
/scan– proactive scanning;
/perf– increase the priority of scanning over other processes running in the system (applies only together with the attribute "/scan");
/? – list call and attribute functions displayed through a window "Command line".

Most of the above attributes can be used not only individually, but also together. For example, entering the following command:

chkdsk C: /f /r /i

will make quick check section C without detailing with the correction of logical errors and bad sectors.

If you are trying to perform a repair check on the drive where Windows is located, then you will not be able to perform this procedure right away. This is due to the fact that this process requires an exclusive right, and the operation of the OS will prevent this condition from being met. In that case, in "Command line" a message appears that the operation cannot be performed immediately, but it is suggested to do this on a subsequent reboot operating system. If you agree with this proposal, then you should press on the keyboard "Y", which symbolizes "Yes" ("Yes"). If you change your mind about the procedure, then press "N", which symbolizes "No" ("No"). After entering the command, press Enter.

Method 6: Windows PowerShell

Another option to run the media error scan procedure is to use the built-in Windows PowerShell tool.

Click to access this tool. "Start". Then "Control Panel".

Next select "Administration".

A list of various system tools appears. Find Windows PowerShell Modules and click on it PKM. In the list, select "Run as administrator".

A PowerShell window appears. To start a partition scan D enter the expression:
Repair-Volume -DriveLetter D

At the end of this expression "D"- this is the name of the partition to be checked, if you want to check another logical drive, then enter its name in this case. Unlike "Command line", the media name is entered without a colon.

After entering the command, press Enter.

If the results show a value "NoErrors Found", it means that no errors were found.

If you want to perform an offline media check D with the disk disconnected, then in this case the command will be:

Repair-Volume -DriveLetter D –OfflineScanAndFix

Again, if necessary, you can replace the section letter in this expression with any other. After entering, press Enter.

As you can see, you can check the hard drive for errors in Windows 7, both with the help of a number of third-party programs, and using the built-in utility Check Disk by launching it in various ways. Error checking involves not only scanning media, but also the possibility of subsequent correction of problems. True, it should be noted that it is better not to use such utilities too often. They can be applied when one of the problems that were described at the beginning of the article appears. For the purposes of prevention, it is recommended to run programs for checking the drive no more than once every six months.

Sooner or later, many of us noticed a gradual deterioration in the performance of our computer and a drop in the speed of copying / moving files. This happens for several reasons, the most common of which is a malfunction of the system hard drive. From our new article you will learn how to independently check the disk for errors, and what this may require.

Unlike modern solid state SSD drives, HDD hard drives were developed long before the first personal computer. An interesting fact is that the basic principles of its work have not changed for 50 years. Only the speed of work, the amount of memory increased, the connection interface changed, and the dimensions decreased.

The main nodes of this data drive are magnetized disks driven by an electric motor. Information from the disk surface is read by a movable head, which transmits it to the device controller for further processing. If everything is clear with damage to moving parts (they are easy to notice by the characteristic noise or even a complete failure of the HDD), then problems with sectors of the magnetized area can only be detected using special programs. An indirect sign of "broken" sectors is a slowdown in data transfer, frequent crashes and errors, the appearance of a BSOD, and partial loss of recorded information.

Themselves with a mustache - run the Chkdsk command

When the first suspicions arise that the disk has begun to “crumble”, it is not necessary to immediately look for the most powerful utility for analyzing the HDD. For starters, the built-in ones will suffice. Windows tools, namely: the Check disk program. If the hard drive fails, it can start automatically when you restart the computer, but this time we use it forcibly.

To check the status of a hard drive:

Put a tick next to "Check and repair bad sectors" and click "Launch".

The duration of the scan depends on the condition and performance of the device, as well as the volume local disk. At the end of the process, the program will mark bad sectors as unused and correct errors in accessing the contents of the drive.

Note! When executing "chkdsk" for the system partition "C:", a system reboot will be required, after which the search will start automatically.

As stated above, scanning the system partition « C:" will not start without restarting the PC, so you will see a prompt to start the action the next time you start it. Enter "Y" to confirm.

In most cases, the regular utility does an excellent job of checking and restoring the hard drive. Its main disadvantages are the minimum information content and the lack of additional functions for a complete analysis of the HDD state. To determine the degree of wear of the device, the temperature regime, the speed of performing individual operations, specialized utilities are needed, which will be discussed below.

Western Digital Data Lifeguard Diagnostic

Our review opens with a miniature healing utility Western Digital Data Lifeguard Diagnostic from the manufacturer of the same name hard drives. The developers did not show "corporate egoism", and optimized their product for devices from all well-known brands, which makes DLGDIAG universal, simple and accessible tool for any system.

To check the HDD for "broken" sectors Western program Digital Data Lifeguard Diagnostic:

To check the status of the hard drive and get acquainted with the data of the SMART system, click on the icon under the number 1. The utility will provide comprehensive information about the health and technical resource ("health") of the device. If you have all the values marked with green checkmarks - your HDD is in good condition.

To eliminate possible hidden problems, we recommend using a thorough check, in which each cell of the marked area will be polled. During the search process, DLGDIAG will fix errors, block access to slow sectors, and thus extend the life of the device. However, if the report looks like the screenshot below, then an urgent replacement of the hard drive will be required to avoid losing information on it.

Western Digital Data Lifeguard Diagnostic provides the following benefits:

Quick installation and a small amount of occupied memory;
Recognizes many models from other manufacturers;
High verification accuracy;
Automatically “heals” damaged sectors;
Does not require a paid license and has no user restrictions;
Laconic interface.

Also, we could not help but mention the shortcomings:

The official version is not Russified;
The "Format" action is incorrectly listed as "Erase", which can lead to accidental data loss beyond recovery. Pay attention to this!

HDD Regenerator

Multifunctional harvester HDD Regenerator is one of the most advanced automatic systems diagnosing hard drives on a PC. The program supports all existing HDD and SSD devices, modern interfaces and file systems. It can perform SMART analysis of devices, check and fix bad clusters, and restore the health of a badly worn hard drive.

The main feature of this software is real-time operation. HDD Regenerator informs the user about the hard drive temperature exceeding, read and write errors, the need for recovery work, and other important information.

Important! We will warn you right away that fixing damaged areas is possible only after purchasing a license worth $99.99. Only diagnostics is free.

To check the hard drive with HDD Regenerator:

We download and install the distribution kit for free on the developer's website http://www.dposoft.net;

The process of searching and fixing looks like this:

Advantages of HDD Regenerator:

A large number of functions;
Works in real time;
Outputs SMART data;
Restores access to information on the drive;
Efficiently finds and marks bad sectors;
Runs under Windows and MS-DOS.

Main disadvantages:

Paid license with not quite adequate price (subjective opinion);
AT official version no Russian language;
Sometimes SMART evaluates the latest hard drives incorrectly.

Victoria HDD

The last participant in our review is Victoria HDD. The professional-class utility that has long declared itself uses its own search algorithms and hard recovery disk. The software differs from competitors in the abundance of settings and diagnostic parameters, as well as excellent information content. For troubleshooting, Victoria HDD polls only the hard drive controller without interacting with the BIOS, which has a good effect on the compatibility of the utility and the system.

To start using Victoria:

Download and unpack the archive with files on the developer's website https://victoria4.ru.

The utility found two bad cells.

The advantages of Victoria HDD are:

A large number of customizable search options;
Effective correction of the marking area of worn discs;
Support for outdated and modern hard drives;
It is possible to work from under MS-DOS;
The maximum degree of information content among competitors;
Basic version free.

Disadvantages of the utility:

Too complicated interface for an unprepared user;
There is no Russian language.

Summing up

The situation when a hard drive suddenly starts to “crumble” is very common, since the quality of most modern magnetic drives leaves much to be desired. At risk are devices with many years of experience, in which wear is indecently high. However, you should not immediately go to the store and choose a new hard drive - there is a chance to restore the existing disk to working capacity using one of the methods we have mentioned above.

Standard Tools Windows are universal, and will fit in all cases. We advise you to always start the check by running Check disk with any of the two options.

If a positive effect has not been achieved, use one of the three utilities from our review. For those who do not want to bother with the settings, Western Digital Data Lifeguard Diagnostic is perfect. Those who want to check their drive to the maximum can use Victoria HDD (free) or HDD Regenerator (if you have extra $100).

Do not be afraid to experiment, and you will definitely learn how to check your computer's disk for errors.

CHKDSK- standard application to check the hard disk for errors, detect bad sectors on the hard disk, fix file system errors. The CHKDSK application (short for Check Disk - "Check Disk") is built into the operating Windows system.

The Chkdsk.exe program finds file system errors, bad sectors on the hard drive, and fixes the detected problems. If the disk file system error check finds problems, the CHKDSK check runs when the computer is turned on.

When using Chkdsk.exe in different versions Windows, there are some differences:

In Windows XP, the chkdsk utility finds file system errors and repairs bad sectors on a disk.
On Windows 10, Windows 8.1, Windows 8, Windows 7, Windows Vista, at default settings, CHKDSK finds file system errors but does not fix them. To fix file system errors and check disk sectors, you must manually set certain parameters.

Problems in the Windows operating system affect its performance. File system errors occur in the following situations:

Due to a power outage - if the computer is suddenly turned off, an unexpected system failure may occur (to prevent such situations, use UPS - uninterruptible power supplies).
If the system is infected with malware.
Due to computer hardware failure.

Bad sectors may appear on the surface of the hard drive. When checking the disk with chkdsk, failed bad sectors hard disk are marked as damaged, the system no longer reads or writes information from the bad sectors of the disk. The system will try to recover data from bad sectors (clusters, directories), if possible.

Check disk chkdsk runs in two modes:

in the graphical interface by means of the system;
using the command line.

If the computer does not boot due to problems, you can check the hard drive using the Windows installation DVD. After booting from removable media, in the system recovery options, select the command line to start checking the disk for errors.

In this tutorial, I will show you how to use the CHKDSK application using the Windows 10 operating system as an example.

CHKDSK check for file system troubleshooting in GUI

The easiest option for checking the file system for errors is to run the CHKDSK program in the graphical interface using the system tools.

Do the following:

Launch File Explorer.
Right-click on the local drive you want to scan.
In the "Properties: Local Disk (X:)" window, go to the "Service" tab.
In the "Check for errors" section, click on the "Check" button.

In the Error Checker (Local Disk (X :)) window that opens, select "Check Disk", despite the fact that the operating system says that no errors were found during the disk check.

In Windows 7, additional verification options are available; to run them, you must check the boxes in front of the items:

Automatically fix system errors.
Scan and repair bad sectors.

The scanning process starts and will take some time. The scan time depends on the size of the local disk and on the amount of data on the disk.

During file system error checking, the status is scanned:

The basic structure of the file system is checked.
Filename associations are checked.
The security descriptors are checked.
The USN log is checked.

After the verification process is completed, information about its result will open. In this case, the disk was successfully checked, no errors were found. If errors are found, you will be prompted to fix them.

For details, click on the "Show Details" link.

In the Event Viewer snap-in window, click Details.

In the "Event Properties" window, in the "General" and "Details" tabs, detailed information about the result of the disk check.

The resulting information about checking the disk for file system errors can be copied to Notepad or to another text editor for further study.

How to Run CHKDSK (Check Disk) on Command Prompt

The chkdsk command to check the hard drive with the given parameters is executed from the command line:

Run command prompt as administrator. Read How to Find the Command Prompt in Windows
To check the system partition (system disk) in the command line interpreter window, enter the command:

Press the "Enter" key.
A message will appear in the command prompt window stating that the CHKDSK command cannot be executed because the specified volume is in use system process. To start checking the system disk after rebooting the system, press the "Y" key, and then press the "Enter" key.
During reboot system will pass checking and restoring the system disk.

An example command template looks like this: ["chkdsk" (application name)], space, [drive letter followed by a colon ("c:", "d:", "f:", etc.), path, or filename], space, [command options].

Command parameters have the following meanings:

/F - checking the file system and automatically fixing the errors found.
/ R - searching for bad sectors on the disk, restoring the contents (the command requires the mandatory key / F, example: "chkdsk C: / F / R").
/V - display full paths of files, display file names on the disk, in the NTFS file system - display messages about cleaning.
/X - disconnect disk before checking, handles this disk will not be checked (the mandatory key /F must be set, command example: "chkdsk C: /F /X").
/I - performs a less strict check of the index entries, CHKDSK performs a faster but less thorough check.
/C - Skip checking cycles inside the folder structure.
/L: size - change the size of the log to the value specified in kilobytes.
/B - reset scan results, re-scan previously found damaged hard disk (required key / R, command example: "chkdsk C: / F / R / B").

In most cases, to check the file system and eliminate bad sectors on the hard drive, it is enough to use the "F" and "R" flags.

How to Disable Check Disk in CHKDSK on Windows Boot

In some cases, disk check starts when you turn on the computer, before loading the Windows operating system. In most cases, you need to wait until the end of the check, a restart will not follow.

A constant check of the disk every time the system starts, signals the presence of problems and the need to fix them. Perhaps you should consider replacing the hard drive. There are programs, for example, that constantly monitor the status of computer disks.

To disable Chkdsk from starting when Windows boots, you can use 2 methods: change the values in the registry of the operating system, or use the command line.

Disable check disk on the command line:

Run command prompt as administrator.
In the command line interpreter window, enter the command ("C:" is the name of the drive on which you want to disable the launch of the disk check at system boot), and then press the "Enter" key:

If you need to disable checking on multiple drives, add the corresponding drive letters to the command separated by spaces, for example, "chkntfs /x c: d:".
Using the "chkntfs / d" command, you can return the original settings.

You can turn off automatic disk check when the operating system boots in the following way:

Launch the Registry Editor (type "regedit" in the search field, run the command).
Follow the path:

Click on the "Session Manager" option.
Find the parameter "BootExecute", click on it with the left mouse button.
The Edit MultiString window displays the default value.

To disable the disk check during Windows startup, add a parameter before the asterisk:

To disable scanning on multiple partitions, add drive letters separated by a space. Example for drives "C:" and "D:":

Article Conclusions

The CHKDSK system application, built into the Windows operating system, is used to check the file system for errors and to detect bad sectors on the computer's hard drive. Using the utility, you can fix system errors and eliminate the negative impact (disable reading and writing) on the system due to the presence of bad sectors of the hard disk.

Crashes in Windows, emergency power off of the computer, experiments with software for managing disk space, the consequences of virus penetration - these and other problems can lead to the automatic launch of the regular Windows Chkdsk utility, designed to fix errors in the hard disk file system. Incorrectly completed work of the operating system with files leads to file system errors, and sometimes even to its damage.

In emergency cases, the Chkdsk utility turns itself on before Windows startup, scans disk partitions and fixes errors. However, the fact that there are problems with the file system may not make itself felt during normal use of the computer and only be detected when trying to manage disk space. So, for example, trying to reduce a disk partition with regular Windows tools, we may receive such a notification: “It is possible that the volume selected for compression is damaged. Use Chkdsk to troubleshoot, and then try shrinking the volume again."

In this case, the disk check does not start automatically. How to run Chkdsk manually in Windows 7, 8.1 and 10? How can I fix disk errors using Chkdsk if this particular problem caused the operating system to be unable to boot?

Inside Windows utility Chkdsk can be started in several ways.

1. Run Chkdsk using the Windows GUI

To run Chkdsk, in system explorer On the C drive, right-click and open "Properties".

In the window that opens the properties of the disk partition, go to the "Service" tab, and in it click the "Check" button (or "Run a check" for Windows 7).

In versions of Windows 8.1 and 10, if everything is in order with the file system of the disk, in the window that appears next we will see a notification that verification is not required. But if you wish, you can start checking the disk with the Chkdsk utility by clicking "Check disk".

If the system suspects file system errors, this window will contain a button to start checking and repairing the disk.

For Chkdsk to work on drive C, you must restart your computer. You can do this immediately or postpone the start of the scan until the next reboot.

After restarting the computer, we will be able to observe the work of Chkdsk.

In Windows 7, running Chkdsk is slightly different: in addition to the pre-installed automatic error correction option, you can add another possible option - checking and repairing bad sectors of the hard disk. When activating this option, it is worth considering that in this case, Chkdsk may take longer to complete.

As with Windows 8.1 and 10, in version 7 system disk C cannot be tested within a running operating system. To start the scan, you need to restart your computer. Click "Schedule disk check".

When checking a non-system disk partition, if it is used by some programs, the situation is simpler than with the system partition. In the window with a notification that the disk is currently in use, you just need to click the "Disable" button to, accordingly, disable this partition for the duration of the scan.

2. Run Chkdsk using the command line

To run Chkdsk using the command line, first, respectively, run the latter.

In the command line, enter the command by type:

In this command, instead of drive C, each time we substitute the letter of the desired partition on which verification is required. If Chkdsk needs to check the C system partition, as it does with GUI, you will need to restart your computer. After a message appears in the command line about the impossibility of locking the specified drive, you need to enter "Y", then restart the computer.

In addition to the /f option, which is responsible for fixing disk errors, Chkdsk can be run with the /r option, which is designed to search for bad sectors and restore data. As a result of Chkdsk's work with this parameter, hard disk clusters with unreadable sectors will be listed as damaged (bad blocks) with the transfer of their functions to the new cluster. Therefore, it is recommended to run Chkdsk with the /r option only when the usual error correction - running the utility with the /f option - did not bring the desired results. On the example of the same drive C, the command will look like this:

3. Run Chkdsk on unbootable Windows

If Windows freezes at a particular boot stage, one of the possible causes of this problem are file system errors. In this case, you need to run Chkdsk by booting from the rescue media. As such, you can use a regular installation media with Windows versions 7, 8.1 or 10. With it, we will run the Chkdsk utility inside the command line. At the first stage of starting the system installation process, press the command line launch keys - Shift + F10.

In the command line that opens, before running the Chkdsk command, you need to clarify which letters define the disk partitions. This is easy to do with notepad. I run it with the command:

Click the File menu, then Open.

In the explorer that opens, remember the new disk designations. As a rule, in Windows 8.1 and 10, the C partition (as it is inside the running operating system) is listed as D, since the letter C is given to the first technical partition of the system. And all other sections are offset by one letter of the alphabet.

Having decided on the letters of the disk partitions, close notepad, then, returning to the command line, enter a command of this type:

As with Chkdsk inside Windows, you must first try to fix disk errors by running the utility with the /f option. And only if the problem is not solved, only then we run the command with the / r parameter, as indicated in previous paragraph articles.

For cases of Windows inability to boot, you can pre-burn an emergency Live-disk with a selection of various tools to restore the operating system. Among these, for example, AdminPE based on WinPE. Its image for recording to a disk or flash drive can be downloaded from the official website of the project Adminpe.Ru. Using the AdminPE, you can launch a command line and enter the Chkdsk startup commands discussed above. But in this Live disk, the Chkdsk utility has its own interface and is launched using a script. The utility launch shortcut is placed directly on the desktop.

In the drop-down list for checking the disk, select the desired disk partition. Next, activate the checkboxes for recovering bad sectors and forced shutdown section (volume). I'm running a check.