Running ScanDisk Check For Errors

ScanDisk is burried in Vista,
here is the best way to find it,

* Click the Computer icon on the desktop
* Right click the drive you want to scan with Scandisk and select Properties
* Click on the Tools tab. Under the Error-checking sub heading, click the Check Now button
* A window named Check Local Disk will appear. If you want to attempt to correct errors, check the Scan for and attempt recovery of bad sectors checkbox
* Click Start to initiate the disk scan. In Vista, it is required to schedule the Scandisk to make it run at boot time, as Vista has mechanisms which do not allow it to run while the system is operating.

Using the Command Line Interface

Check Disk can also be run using the command line (DOS) prompt.

1. Open the command prompt with administrative privileges by typing cmd in the search box in the Start Menu and right-click cmd.exe in the search results and then select Run as Administrator.
2. Type chkdsk
followed by one or a combination of switches listed below in the command prompt.

If you run the check disk (chkdsk) command from the command prompt by typing just chkdsk check disk will run in read only mode. All it does is check for errors. It will not fix any errors it finds unless told to do so. This is done by adding switches when typing chkdsk in the command prompt.

A switch looks something like chkdsk /F. Notice the switch /F after the chkdsk command.

Below is a list of most of the switches used with the check disk command. You can use one or a combination of switches with the check disk command.

D: If you want check disk to scan a drive other than the C: drive, add the drive letter after chkdsk to tell it to scan that drive. If the drive is called X: on your computer it would look like chkdsk X:.

/F: The /F switch is the most common of the chkdsk switches. It tells chkdsk to fix any errors it finds. Chkdsk can’t fix errors on a disk that has open files. If chkdsk asks you if you want to check the drive next time Windows Vista boots or dismount the drive choose to check the drive next time Windows Vista boots. Never choose to dismount the drive. That option should only be used by a professional.

/R: The /R switch tells chkdsk to attempt to recover any bad sectors of the hard drive if any are found. A bad sector is a spot on the hard drive that can’t hold saved data anymore.

/I: The /I switch tells chkdsk to perform a less detailed but faster disk check.

/C: The /C switch tells chkdsk to skip the checking of cycles within a folder structure which reduces the scan time. Don’t ask me what this means.

An example of an exhaustive disk check using the command line interface is:

chkdsk D: /F /R

The check disk command shown above will fix any errors it finds and also attempt to recover bad sectors of the D: drive if any are found.

Credit: maxum pc guides website