How to check your HDD with chkdsk command in command Prompt

The chkdsk command is a Recovery Console command used to check a specified disk and repair or recover data on the drive if necessary.

Chkdsk also marks any damaged or malfunctioning sectors on the hard drive or disk as "bad" and recovers any information still intact.

A chkdsk command is also available from the Command Prompt.

Chkdsk Command Syntax:

chkdsk [drive:] [/p] [/r]

drive: = This is the drive letter of the partition you want check for errors.

/p = This option instructs chkdsk to perform an extensive check of the drive and correct any errors.

/r = This option instructs chkdsk to locate bad sectors and recover any readable information from them.

Note: When using this option, the /p option is implied so it's not necessary to use it in addition to /r.



Chkdsk Command Examples:

chkdsk

In the above example, since no drive or additional options were entered, chkdsk simply displays the status of the current drive.

chkdsk c: /r

In this example, the chkdsk command is used to perform an extensive check of the drive to correct any errors and to locate any recover information from bad sectors.

CHKDSK C: /F 

That is assuming that the drive you are needing to check is your C: (system) drive. The CHKDSK utility checks your hard drive for errors and the /F tells it that if it finds errors, you want it to go ahead and fix them. 

You can't check your C: (system) drive for errors while the computer is running Windows, so you will be asked if you want to schedule a disk check. Choose yes. Then reboot your computer. Before Windows starts up, CHKDSK will automatically check your drive for errors and fix any problems it finds. 

Chkdsk Command Availability:
The chkdsk command is available from within the Recovery Console in Windows 2000 and Windows XP.