Windows operating systems provide the chkdsk command in order to scan hard disks to fine file system errors and fix them accordingly. The file system is used by the operating systems in order to store data like files and folders in storage like a hard disk drive. The chkdsk command is generally used via the command line interface but there are tools that use the chkdsk command via the GUI.
Run chkdsk via File Explorer
File Explorer is used to managing files and folders in windows. the File Explorer is also used to navigate inside the hard drives. The File Explorer can be used to run the chkdsk command via GUI. All hard drives are listed in File Explorer’s Computer menu.
In the drive properties click to the Tools and there is a section named Error checking like below. The Check button simply starts the chkdsk command under the hood.
The following screen is displayed which provides information about the disk check. If there is an file system error occured previously the You need to scan this drive information is displayed. Simply click to the Scan drive button to start disk check.
During the error check the following screen is diplayed to provide information about the progress.
Run chkdsk via Command Line Interface (MS-DOS or PowerShell)
The chkdsk command can be also run via the command line interface. As the chkdsk command is an administrative command which scans and makes changes in the file system the chkdsk command should be executed with the Administrator privileges. So we open the command line interface which is MS-DOS in this case with the Administrator privileges. Click to the Start Menu and then type cmd like below. The Run as administrator is istedin the left pane to start MS-DOS as administrator.
We can use the chkdsk command directly like below. As we do not provide any parameter or option it runs in the read-only mode. The scan consist of 3 phases.
- Stage1 examines the basic file system structure.
- Stage2 examines file name linkage.
- Stage3 Examines security descriptors.
