Windows Vista: How to use CHKDSK Command

Anyone who has used Windows for a long time, should have heard of the CHKDSK utility. I think this utility dates back to the Windows 95 days (but I could be wrong).

If you have never heard of the CHKDSK let me give you a brief explanation of what it does. This is a command-line tool that checks the drives attached to your computer for problems and attempts to repair any issues that it finds. This program can repair disk problems ranging from bad sectors, to directory errors, and more.

Disk problems can be a source of difficulty and should be one of the areas that you can check when trying to troubleshoot issues with your computer. Although there are a few caveats to using this program :

• CHKDSK can require exclusive access to the drive, so you might get a notification that the disk scan will start the next time you reboot your computer.
• CHKDSK can take a long time to scan your drive. Generally the larger the drive, the longer the scanning and repairing will take.
  

As I said earlier CHKDSK is a command-line tool, and will require administrator access to run it. To scan your disk for errors and fix any found problems, follow the instructions below:

• From the Start menu, in the search field type "CMD" and then press the Ctrl+Shift+Enter. You will get a User Access Control dialog, then press OK button.
• Then type one of the following command: "CHKDSK C: /F /R" (note: you can replace C: with any drive letter that you want to check).