Check Disk - chkdsk

How to Run Check Disk at Startup in Vista or Windows 7​

   Information

This will show you how to use and run Check Disk or chkdsk at startup from within Vista, the command prompt, and the registry to check for corruption and possibly repair errors and bad sectors on the hard drive.

   Note

If you had changed your default boot screen, then you will need to temporarily uncheck the No GUI boot to be able to see what is happening when chkdsk is running at boot up. See: How to Enable the Hidden Aurora Boot Screen in Vista or How to Change the Default Boot Screen in Vista SP1

   Warning

This will take about 20 minutes or so to finish, depending on how big your hard drive is. Do not stop chkdsk once it has started, let it finish. It could cause errors on your hard drive. When you restart to chkdsk, you will only have 10 seconds to press a key to cancel chkdsk. Check for a sticky keyboard key stuck down. It will cancel the chkdsk at startup.

   Tip

CHECK DISK WILL NOT RUN AT STARTUP PROBLEM:


If chkdsk will not run at startup after trying the methods below, then see: How to Fix Chkdsk will Not Run at Startup in Vista

METHOD ONE

Run Check Disk from within the Drive's Properties Page

NOTE: This method may not always run chkdsk when the computer restarts on some computers. I'm not sure why, but if this is your case, then you can do Method Two, Method Three, Method Four, or Method Five below.

1. Open the Start Menu.​

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2. Click on the Computer button.​

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3. Right click on your hard drive and click on Properties.​

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4. Click on the Tools tab.​

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5. Click on Check Now under the Error checking section. (See circled in red below)​

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6. Click on Continue in the UAC prompt.​

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7. Make sure both options are checked. (See screenshot below)​

NOTE: The Automatically fix file system errors box will be checked by default.​

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8. Click on the Start button.​

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9. You will get a pop-up window saying, "Windows can't check this disk while it's use". (See screenshot below)​

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10. Click on the Schedule disk check button for chkdsk to run the next time you restart your computer.​

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METHOD TWO

Using chkdsk in a Command Prompt

1. To Run chkdsk in Safe Mode​

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A) Restart the computer and boot into Safe Mode.​

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B) Go to step 3.​

2. To Run chkdsk in a Command Prompt at Boot​

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A) Place the Vista installation DVD into the DVD drive and restart the computer.​

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B) Boot from the DVD into the System Recovery Options screen.​

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C) Select Command prompt.​

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D) Go to step 4 below.​

3. To Run chkdsk in a Elevated Command Prompt​

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A) Open a elevated command prompt.​

4. In the command prompt, type chkdsk or chkdsk C: followed by one or a combination of switches listed in steps 4A to 4D below and press Enter. See the screenshot below for all switch combinations.​

NOTE: If you want check disk to scan a drive other than the C: drive, then substitute the drive letter C: after chkdsk to the drive letter that you want.​

EX: chkdsk E:​

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Type One of these Commands to Run Chkdsk:​

NOTE: The most common command is chkdsk /f or chkdsk C: /f​

A) /f = The /f switch is the most common of the chkdsk switches. It tells chkdsk to try and fix any errors it finds. EX Type: chkdsk /f or chkdsk C: /f​

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NOTE: Answer Y when chkdsk asks you if you want to check the drive next time Vista boots (restarts).​

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B) /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 cannot hold saved data anymore. (See screenshot below)​

EX Type: chkdsk /r or chkdsk C: /r ​

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NOTE: Answer Y when chkdsk asks you if you want to check the drive next time Windows Vista boots.​

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C) /i = The /i switch tells chkdsk to perform a less detailed but faster disk check. (See screenshot below)​

EX Type: chkdsk /i or chkdsk C: /i​

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NOTE: This will run immediately.​

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D) /c = The /c switch tells chkdsk to skip the checking of cycles within a folder structure which reduces the scan time.​

EX Type: chkdsk /c or chkdsk C: /c​

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NOTE: This will run immediately. ​

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5. Close the command prompt.​

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6. Restart the computer to run chkdsk at startup.​

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METHOD THREE

Using chkntfs and fsutil in a Command Prompt

NOTE: This will reset all drives to be checked at startup and mark a drive as dirty so chkdsk will run at startup for it. Chkdsk will mark the drive clean again after it runs. If chkdsk does not run at startup, then do step 5 only to mark the drive clean again.

1. Open a elevated command prompt.​

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2. To Reset and Check All Drives and Run CHKDSK if a Drive is Dirty​

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A) In the command prompt, type chkntfs /d and press Enter. (See screenshot below)​

NOTE: Restores the computer to the default behavior; all drives are checked at boot time and chkdsk is run on those that are marked dirty.​

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B) Go to step 4.​

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3. To Check a Specific Drive and Run CHKDSK if the Drive is Dirty​

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A) In the command prompt, type chkntfs /c C: and press Enter. (See screenshot below)​

NOTE: This will schedule the C: drive to be checked at boot time. If the drive is marked dirty, then chkdsk will run. If you want to schedule another drive letter to be checked, then substitute C: with the drive letter you want checked instead.​

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4. To Mark a Drive Dirty​

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A) In the command prompt, type fsutil dirty set c: and press Enter. (See screenshot below)​

NOTE: This marks the c: drive as dirty so chkdsk will run at startup. If you want to run chkdsk on another drive letter, then substitute c: for the drive letter you want instead.​

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B) You will now get a Volume - c: is now marked dirty message.​

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5. Close the elevated command prompt.​

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6. Restart the computer.​

NOTE: Chkdsk will now run at startup. If chkdsk does not run at startup, then run chkntfs /d in step 5A again and see: How to Fix Chkdsk will Not Run at Startup in Vista​

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METHOD FOUR

Run Check Disk Using a REG File Download

1. Click on the download button below to download the Run_chkdsk.reg file.​

NOTE: If the hard drive you want to run chkdsk on has a different driver letter than C: , then do the Manual Way below to substitute C: with your drive letter instead.​

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2. Click on Save, and save the .reg file to the Desktop.​

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3. Right click the .reg (On Desktop) file and click Merge.​

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4. Click on the Run button in the Security Warning pop-up.​

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5. Click on Continue (UAC), Yes, and then OK when prompted.​

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6. When done, you can delete the .reg file (On Desktop).​

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METHOD FIVE

Run Check Disk from the Registry Editor

1. Open the Start Menu.​

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2. In the white line (Start Search) area, type regedit and press Enter.​

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3. Click on the Continue button in the UAC prompt.​

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4. In regedit, go to: (See screenshot below step 5)​

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HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager ​

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5. In the right pane, right click on BootExecute and click on Modify.​

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6. Highlight the code below, then right click on it and click on Copy.​

NOTE: If the hard drive you want to run chkdsk on has a different driver letter than C: , then substitute C: with your drive letter instead.​

[/INDENT][/INDENT]
[INDENT][INDENT]autocheck autochk /p \??\C:[/INDENT][/INDENT]
[INDENT][INDENT]autocheck autochk *[/INDENT][/INDENT]
[INDENT][INDENT]

7. Clear the box, then right click on a empty area in the box and click on Paste to copy the code above into it. (See screenshot below)​

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8. Click on OK. ​

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9. The registry will now look like this. (See screenshot below)​

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10. Close regedit.​

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11. Restart the computer to run chkdsk at startup.​

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That's it,
Shawn

Related Tutorials

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• How to Repair and Verify the Integrity of Vista System Files with System File Checker
• How to Extract Files from the Vista Installation DVD
• How To Perform a Repair Installation For Vista
• How to Do a Clean Install of Vista From a Upgrade Version
• How to Use the Memory Diagnostics Tool in Vista
• How to Generate a System Health Report in Vista
• How to Troubleshoot the Computer with Reliability Monitor in Vista
• How to Do a Startup Repair in Vista
• How to Do a System Restore in Vista
• How to Use the DirectX Diagnostic Tool in Vista
• How to Use the Resource Monitor in Vista
• How to Fix a Crashing Internet Explorer in Vista
• How to Start Vista in Safe Mode
• How to Fix Chkdsk will Not Run at Startup in Vista
• How to Change Vista Disk Check Press Any Key Timeout Value at Startup
• How to Read the Event Viewer Log for Check Disk (chkdsk) in Windows

 

[Brink]

Lastride,

It sounds like it may be beyond normal repair. Other than doing a clean reinstall, you might try doing a repair (upgrade) install to see if it can fix the problem for you. This tutorial will show you how to. Be sure to backup anything you do not want to lose to be safe.

http://www.vistax64.com/tutorials/88236-repair-install-vista.html

Hope this helps,
Shawn

 

[himcals]

i hate windows vista, it is the same case for me, everytime i start the computer a new corrupted file is detected from a new program, i have tried the three methods like both of you and the same result (67% for sfc/scannow and an error message). Now i have a new problem, my computer restarts alone every 15 mn, i don't understand why. Does anyone have any idea ????

 

[Brink]

Hi Himcals,

Like the others with the same problem as you, it sounds like it may be beyond normal repair.

Other than doing a clean reinstall, you might try doing a repair (upgrade) install to see if it can fix the problem for you. This tutorial will show you how to. Be sure to backup anything you do not want to lose to be safe.

Repair Install For Vista

Hope this helps,
Shawn

 

[lastride]

Be careful of the clean install though, I did it and it doesnt reinstall the drivers. I had to contact Gateway to send me the disk and now I am sitting waiting for the disk so I can have my cpu back to normal. How can Windows go to a successful OS like XP, and have so many problems with Vista??

 

[chillo]

i wrote down chkdsk /i and i got at the bottom of the message:

Errors found Chkdsk cannot continue in a read only mode

 

[Brink]

Hi Chillo, and welcome to Vista Forums.

To run a full chkdsk, you should use the command chkdsk /f instead. The chkdsk /i will only check the Search Index files.

Hope this helps,
Shawn

 

[Respongen]

when I try to run chkdsk from the recovery console (drive X, in my case), it tells me i need to dismount C: before it can run. Is that a good idea? what does it mean when it says it will disable all handles or something like that?
Also, even when i run cmd using administrator privileges, it tells me there's an Access Denied error when i try to set the C: drive as dirty. any idea why?
Thanks in advance.

 

[Brink]

Hello Respongen, and welcome to Vista Forums.

You are getting the error because the drive is mounted. It depends on how you are using your C: drive if it is safe or not. Read this from Microsoft about mounted drives. If you are not using your drive for this type of purpose, then it is perfectly fine to dismount the C: drive and run to run chkdsk. If you are, then it will tell you how to mount the drive again afterwards if you still wanted it to be.

Windows Vista Help: Mount or dismount a drive

Hope this helps,
Shawn

 

[sherri vakey]

I have gone through all the steps from downloads to permission issues in effort to get check disk to run, and it MAY actually be running now but the screen is black. Has anyone else had this issue? I restarted it once and it will restart, so I suspect it is the check disk running, but why the black screen???

 

[Brink]

Hello Sherri,

If you have changed your default boot screen to something else, then you would see a blank black screen when you are trying to run something like chkdsk at startup. If you did, then you can just change the boot screen back to the default one temporarily until your done with chkdsk.

http://www.vistax64.com/tutorials/60405-boot-screen.html

Hope this helps,
Shawn

 

[petroez]

Dear Brink or George,

I have the same problem with my vista.

Already downloaded the file 6.0.6001.18000 and replaced Autochk.exe and tried to get chkdsk to run at startup - no luck ( the file on my computer was a originally a different size (627K and the date was 1/20/2008 as opposed to the file I downloaded 716K and 1/19/2008)

and ran sfc /scannow and got the message that Windows found a corrupt file (CBS.log). But how could I repaired it?

It says,
"Verification 100% complete.
Windows Ressource Protection found corrupt files but was unable to fix some of them.
Details are included in the CBS.Log windir\Logs\CBS\CBS.log."

Thanks for your advice.

 

[amphibia]

If you wish to try and repair it, you can try doing a Repair (upgrade) install. This tutorial will show you how to.

Repair Install For Vista

However, from what you described, it may be best to do a clean reinstall. Either way, be sure to back up what you do not want to lose.

Hope this helps,
Shawn

Thank you, Shawn.
But i'm afraid to do that... it works now (somehow). Tsh! don't touch

I'd prefer to make a complete backup every few days, and let the system die - i have no time to kill it myself It'll happen anyway, as far as i know this software.

I'm NOT a system administrator, i bought a software with no choice (Dell sell it with Vista only), and i don't know how to repair all that sofisticated things, i just want to USE it..

BTW, great thanks to Microsoft and Dell Helpdesks for their care - i have a software that i paid for, and it does not work propertly, and they can't do anything; i have installed GSM card slot and no drivers anywhere (and no answer about that, just words "we're so happy to help you"); my Bluetooth is turning off sometimes... No help at all, though i paid for a full service. They suggest me to pay for one more year, i just received the letter. They are kidding? NO.

 

[Brink]

Amphibia,

I'm happy to hear that it is working for you now.

I would attach a copy of their so called help responses and send that in as payment instead.

Shawn

 

[amphibia]

Amphibia,

I'm happy to hear that it is working for you now.

I would attach a copy of their so called help responses and send that in as payment instead.

Shawn

No, it does not work. It's still alive, that's pretty good for me...

 

[Brink]

Amphibia,

Well, it looks like the only thing that will fix the problem will be a clean reinstall when your ready to. In the mean time, I would be sure to keep backups of anything you do not want to lose to be safe.

 

[amphibia]

well, it's the only way...
if my backup disk partition is better than actual windows.

 

[Brink]

I hope it is better. :eek:

 

[drtorque]

dear brink,
thank you, thank you, thank you!!!
i have a dell laptop and and for ages i wasnt able to run a checkdisk.
i have called tch support, and they were insufficient, telling me to take out battery, oush 10 secs to start, before startup blah blah..

i have tried all of the 4 methods you have listed none worked. the problem is, when pc startups, it cannot initiate thej ob that is secheduled. i have checked the scheduler, and made sure when we download that registry file and merge, everything is ok. but for some reason when you start up it doesn't initiate the job before windows setup.. no way..

anyways, last resort, as you have said and gave the above link, how to run at startup, i used the vista cd, started with dos prompt,
then check disk /f then checkdisk /r
ye-haaa..

my pc is significantly faster. however, itried to schedule the job again using wondows, nothing... it still doesnt pick up that way.. is that a problem? you tell me..
i have 2 questions for you now:
1- when i run checkdsk via vista cd at startup, is it the same thing compared to ordering to run it via the normal way from windows?..

2- i am getting some blue screens, out of the blue. i cant read all of it, but before i had those, they were due to a bad sector. and receiving such blue screens became more frequent then i couldnt run my pc anymore and had to buy a new harddrive.
i changed my harddrive oem, last year.
im fed up with this procedure. so i may have to do it again??..
whywould this be happening this much to me?
i never do gaming, i dont think im testing the limits of the laptop. and its pretty strong, 2.16 ghz, 4 gb, 180 gb with 7200 rpm..
so what's the deal?

and

3- is there a way to copy the hardrive to a something new, with all programs installed and all. b/c i have an older version of vista, even donloading sp1 and all updates takes over an hour.. it's very cumbersome and costly..

thanks again!
you are the best!

 

[Brink]

Hello Dr. Torque, and welcome to Vista Forums.

Have you also ran a sfc /scannow command to see if that can help fix chkdsk?


Q1) Yes, it is the exact same chkdsk being ran either way.

Q2) It would unusual to have hard drives failing on you like that all the time. If chkdsk /f /r cannot fix the bad sectors, then you might try formatting the drive to see if that may help any.

Q3) If you have Vista Ultimate, then it comes with a Complete PC Backup feature that will backup (clone) your entire hard drive. If not, then you can use a 3rd party program like Acronis True Image to create a clone of your hard drive. Both of these will allow you to restore your computer back to the same way it was when the complete PC backup was made on any hard drive.

Hope this helps,
Shawn

 

[drtorque]

hey. i appreciate the prompt response.

to respond your question,
when i say i followd the 4 methods you listed, yes i also did the sfc thing. it ran as it should. it said it fiexed some stuff.. but nothing changed and it didnt run checkdisk afterwards at start up.

i think vista cd method is the shortest cut, and a time saver. it's a sure thing.
as i said i dont know if its a problem not being able to run it via windows though.

i think i will buy one of those 1 TB drives for $100 and clone the pc. and if the blue screens go crazy, and kill my hardrive. i'll just buy a new hardrive (sure would tryin formatting first) and (i also hope 10,000 rpm is hopefully cheaper and bigger compared to last year) i would copy to the internal hard drive from external TB...

otjerwise installing all these stuff one by one, even installing the video, audio, blah blah drives is a pain and dead time, stolen from your life.. it makes me crazy.. and you can;t get it done by paing someone else, as they may do a losu y job but you cant trust anybody else with these stuff...

as for bad sectors, according to the checkdisk records, none were found..
but you never know these things right, they come out of nowhere and just hit you in the guts... a $100 insurance is very reasonable : )
if the engineers made something calle cloning the harddisk, I would use it allright : )

thanks again brink!
youare themost dependable moderator/computer guy i have come across.