Check disk for errors does not start. CHKDSK How to Check and Fix Hard Drive Errors

Computer using standard program"Check disk (chkdsk)" included in operating systems from "Microsoft".

I don’t know how it’s at work or at home, but for our IT department, work is added immediately after a sudden blackout on one of the floors of our organization. I remember once an electrician changed the outlet and, not at all embarrassing, turned off all the automation in the stairwell, and this is about fifty computers in one wing of the floor, two 50-port switches and a wireless Wi-Fi hotspot access in the wiring closet :)

And closer to winter, such things, alas, happen more and more often (people begin to abuse heaters of all kinds and power). Operating systems do not like such manipulations with power supply very much, and not all users' computers are equipped.

The following usually happens. After the next such massive blackout, there are always one or two computers on which, after the resumption of power supply. At an arbitrary boot stage, the operating system goes into a cyclic "reboot" (reboots) and our intervention is urgently required :)

In such cases, as a rule, you need to scan HDD computer program "checkdisk" (check disk), which checks the integrity file system OS and tries to eliminate found errors and inconsistencies.

Let's first see how you can check hard disk using the Windows GUI?

To do this, right-click on the icon desired disk and in the menu that opens, select the "properties" item. In the window that appears, go to the "Service" tab.

And there we press the button "Perform check".

We have two checkboxes under the heading "Disk check options":

1. automatically correct system errors
2. check and repair bad sectors

We can select any of them (or both) and press the "Start" button.

The graphical interface runs the standard "check disk" utility to checking hard disk using the "chkdsk" command. Moreover, if there is only the first checked checkbox, the program checks the hard disk in three stages, and if there is a second, it adds two more check levels to these.

After completing all (three or five) stages of the verification, the program will inform us about the successful completion of the procedure and (for Windows 7) will offer to familiarize ourselves with its results. By clicking the arrow next to "Show details", we can see a list of all the checks that the utility has made.

Graphics, windows, buttons ... all of this is great, but let's dive a little deeper with you and see how you can check your hard drive using command line « cmd»?

Note: we discussed working with the command interpreter cmd in one of the.

There is a task - to check the hard disk of the computer, which has stopped loading (as a rule, after a sudden power outage) and restore the operating system to work.

What do I do in such cases? I remove the drive from the "victim" and connect it, as an additional one, to my computer. I press the "Start" button (for Windows XP - run) and in the appeared field I enter cmd.

Note: a similar procedure can be carried out on the same (damaged) computer, booting from some kind of recovery disk like a "Live CD", but for me personally, it is more convenient. I, to the heap, carry out general prophylaxis of the "patient" and test the drive for availability. They also like to appear after such "surprises".

Now I propose to type the following in the command line: chkdsk /?

Construction " /? "Will allow us to view all available arguments (keys) that we can apply along with the main command chkdsk.

As you can see, the explanation for each "key" is given in Russian, so it will not be difficult to figure it out. Additional arguments are entered through the sign " / "(Right slash). But now let's try to check the hard drive with the chkdsk command.

Take a close look at the screenshot below:

The construction “ chkdsk d: / f / r"What does it mean? Check (chkdsk) drive d (d :) by applying to the command sequentially keys " f" and " r"(You can see what they do in the previous screenshot). Below you can see the completed stages of this check and the number of the remaining ones (stage 1 of 5, stage 2 of 5, etc.), as well as the percentage of completion of the current one.

Interestingly, executing the chkdsk command with the attribute / f launches a check in three stages, completely similar to the one that occurs after selecting the first checkbox in the graphical interface:

Adding the same "key" / r identical to setting the second checkbox in the screenshot above (check and repair bad sectors). In fact, the same utility is launched to check the hard drive. It's just that it is more convenient for someone to use graphical windows and a mouse, while others use the command line.

The check window at boot and before starting the operating system is slightly different, but the essence remains the same:

The above indicates which logical drive now it is checking what type of file system contains and below - the verification steps we are already familiar with. For Windows 7, this information is shown against a black background.

So, back to our console. A complete report on the program's operation may look like this:

The point marked in red is paramount here: the number of kilobytes in the damaged sectors. If there is "0" here, then everything is fine :)

Let's take a quick look at what exactly does each of the hard drive test steps do?

The first pass checks the files. During this phase, CHKDSK checks the record information for each file in the main table MFT.

Note: MFT - Master File Table (main file table), which contains information about all files and their attributes located on the volume with the file NTFS system... About 12% of the disk space is reserved for it.

The first stage is to check each file for internal consistency (ex: the same data sector is marked as belonging simultaneously to two different files)

During the second phase, the indexes are checked. What it is? These are the directories of the file system, check whether the record segment for each directory and file is contained in the main file table, and also - the date of the file modification time and their size. The CHKDSK command checks to see if there are any lost (empty) files or have an incorrect record of their location in the MFT.

Further (at the third stage) of the hard disk check, the security descriptors are analyzed. They contain information about the owner of files (directories), about access rights to them at the file system level. Audit information for user datasets is verified.

If the fourth stage of checking the hard disk is involved, then it includes the search for bad sectors (bad blocks). If one is found, then the program automatically adds information about it to the MFT table and no longer writes to it and the sector is excluded from the file table.

The fifth step is to check the free disk space. There is nothing special to comment on :)

This way we can check our hard drive for the correctness of all the metadata it contains.

The term "metadata" in this case means "information about data." Metadata ensures the integrity of the file system, and also contains information about all its files and directories. It contains information about the clusters that make up each file, which clusters are free and which are occupied, contain bad sectors, etc.

And now - the harsh reality! :) Unfortunately, it happens that the metadata structure is so corrupted that using the command chkdsk not only does not help, but can further complicate the situation of restoring the operating system to operability.

On the other hand, there were times when my inner instinct prompted me to check the hard drive using this tool and I got the result I needed. So try it and decide for yourself whether to use this recovery tool or not?

The screenshot below is a photo of one of the longest validation cycles in my practice. The utility worked for more than two hours, while the following picture was constantly displayed on the monitor:

But by the blinking of the LED indicator of the hard drive on the front, it was clear that there was an active exchange of data with the drive, so I stubbornly waited and still waited for the complete completion of this process. After reboot Windows work has been restored!

The CHKDSK command actually does a lot of checks and can fix a wide variety of errors found in the file system and separate files... For example, you can have such "scary" inscriptions during a disk scan:

Another example from practice:

And now the team makes corrections to the file itself system of hard disk.

In all cases, the final scan result is positive. Do not neglect this "repair" option provided by the developer himself! Sometimes disks with a damaged file system (when the disk cannot even be accessed and its file system is displayed as RAW in its properties) "miraculously" come back to life only after using this command.

Hello friends! Well, it's time to publish another useful lesson. Right here and now I will tell you about checking the disk, more precisely, about how to disable automatic check disk that starts when the operating system boots.

Perhaps the question arises, why do this, it also takes several minutes, and they are rarely checked. If you look at all this from one side, then everything is so, but on the other, this is not always the case. I recently came across two computers in which, for some unknown reason, a disk check (chkdsk) appeared every time the PC was booted.

No matter how many times I waited for the end of the test, after the next restart of the PC, the image with the start of the test, one of the sections, reappeared on the screen. After several hours of searching for the problem, nothing brought the desired result, I even did, but the test showed that everything is in order with the tough one. Therefore, after that I decided to just turn off automatic disk check so that she does not bother the user who contacted me.

I want to note that sometimes the constant launch of a disk check is associated with a USB flash drive inserted into the computer. Therefore, first of all, make sure that you do not have any external drive inserted into your computer.

If it's not a USB flash drive, then let's figure out how to disable automatic disk check (chkdsk) and get rid of wasting time when the system boots.

Disable automatic disk check or chkdsk

As I mentioned in most of the previous articles, a lot of system-related settings can be changed in system registry, which we will have to use now.

As usual for getting started.

We proceed along this path:

Now we turn to the right window where we find a key with the name “ BootExecute". Immediately you can see that the opposite is set to " autocheck autochk *", Where the first two words start a disk check, and" * "Means that all disks installed in the computer will be checked.

By changing this value, we get what we want. To do this, simply double click click on " BootExecute"And there in the line that appears, before the asterisk, write in the following letters:" / K: C". Just " / K"And is responsible for disabling automatic disk check at the time Windows startup... Well, as you understand, the second half of the value is the drive letter that will be ignored. For an illustrative example, I will show the value of "BootExecute" how it should look:

autocheck autochk / K: C *

To unmount other drives, such as D, simply change the drive letter only. If you need to disable automatic checking on both disks, then the required value should look like this:

autocheck autochk / K: C / K: D *

If you suddenly decide to return to the previous settings, then just change the value to the standard one that was originally set:

autocheck autochk *

After that, my problems were solved, the disk was no longer checked, and the users were satisfied. Therefore, by disabling automatic disk check when booting Windows, thus, perhaps even without fully understanding the essence of the problem, you can get rid of the lengthy boot of your system.

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I wrote an article about checking hard drives for errors, it also mentioned that it is impossible to check the disk that is used by the system. The system disk check is performed according to the schedule at the next reboot.

However, sometimes the system disk check does not start after a reboot. If you encounter such a problem, do the following:

1) The autochk.exe file is responsible for the check that should have happened after the reboot, which is located in the following path: C: \ Windows \ System32 (C: \ is the drive on which Windows is installed, you may have a different drive letter). You need to check if this file exists in the given directory.

2) Press “Win ​​+ R” write “regedit” and press Ok, the registry editor will start, go to the following path:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ SYSTEM \ CurrentControlSet \ Control \ Session Manager

In the right column, find the BootExecute parameter, double-click on it with the left mouse button. The value should be “autocheck autochk *”, if there is another value, change it to autocheck autochk *.

Incorrectly editing the registry can harm the OS. Before you start working with the registry, I advise you to read.

After you schedule a system disk check, the value of the BootExecute parameter will change, the entry will look like this:

autocheck autochk / p \ ?? \ C:

After checking the disk (after rebooting), the entry “autocheck autochk / p \ ?? \ C:” will disappear and only autocheck autochk * will remain.

Sound does not work

If, after you have restarted your computer and the system disk has been checked, you have lost sound, then you need to restart windows service Audio. To do this, go to the following path:

Control Panel \ All Control Panel Items \ Administrative Tools \ Services.

Find a service called Windows Audio, right-click on it and select “Restart”.

Scenario: You have system errors and need to be fixed.

The Microsoft hard disk check and fix utility CHKDSK (“check disk”) was introduced over 30 years ago but is still in use today. Even users latest versions operating room Microsoft systems can use this command to check their hard drives for errors and their correction if necessary. Below is the instruction to run CHKDSK on Windows 10.

If you still get errors after using CHKDSK, try it.

First select “Search Windows” and search for Command Prompt by entering “cmd”. Right-click on the shortcut and select “Run as administrator” from the context menu.

After logging in as an administrator, you will find yourself in the Command Windows string familiar to users of operating systems prior to Windows NT. Enter the command “chkdsk”, press the spacebar followed by the letter of the drive you wish to check or fix. In our case, it is external drive“L”.

Executing the CHKDSK command without arguments will only show the state of the disk and will not correct any errors present on the partition. To ask CHKDSK to fix disk errors, you need to specify parameters. After entering the drive letter, enter the following parameters, each of which is separated by a space: “/ f / r / x”.

The “/ f” option tells CHKDSK to fix any errors found; “/ R” tells the program to detect bad sectors on the disk and recover information that can be read; “/ X” forces the disk to be unmounted before starting the process. Extra options are available for more specialized assignments, and are detailed on the Microsoft website.

As a result, the complete command that is required by entering the Command Line looks like this:

chkdsk [Drive:] [options]

In our case:

chkdsk L: / f / r / x

It is worth noting that CHKDSK must lock the drive, so the system check will fail. boot disk if the computer is working. In our case, the target disk is external, so the process will start immediately after entering the command. If the target disk is bootable, the system will ask you if you want to run the command before the next boot. Enter “yes”, restart your computer, and the command will run before the operating system boots, getting full access to disk.

The CHKDSK command may take long time especially on large disks. On completion, the program will summarize the results such as total disk space, byte allocation, and, most importantly, information about errors found and fixed.

The CHKDSK command is available in all versions of Windows, so both Windows 7 and Windows XP users can follow the steps above to initiate a hard drive check. If you are using older versions of Windows, you can do the following:

1. Click "Start - Run ..."
2. Enter cmd
3. Enter chkdsk [Drive:] [options]

Stages "CHKDSK"

The 5 main stages are described below:

Stage 1. Checking the basic structure of the file system ...

At the first stage, the files with records in the MFT (Master File Table) are compared and verified.

Step 2. Checking file name associations ...

On this stage directories and structure are checked. They are checked against the file size and information timestamp.

Stage 3. Checking security descriptors ...

At the last stage of verification (3), files and folders are checked for the presence of security descriptors, including information about the owner of NTFS rights.

The fourth and fifth steps are performed only with the / r argument!

Stage 4. Searching for damaged clusters in the data of user files ...

Cluster sectors, including data, are validated for usability.

Stage 5. Search for damaged and free clusters ...

In the fifth step, the sectors of the cluster are checked for lack of data.

If it is not possible to solve the problem with the hard disk using “CHKDSK”, it is recommended to use the corresponding manufacturer.

Also on Windows you can access the CHKDSK GUI

To perform a check using the graphical interface, do the following:

Right click on the drive you want to check. Select Properties - Tools - Run Check.

This is the graphical interface “CHKDSK”. The two options correspond to the “/ f” and “/ r” parameters.

CHKDSK is short for check disk, which can be roughly translated as check disk. it standard application for the operating room Windows systems which checks the hard drive for file system errors. Moreover, the application can fix file system errors.

Built-in utility operating system, so you won't have to look for it for a long time. So attention.

We open "Computer" and select the hard drive that interests us. Click on it with the right mouse button, after which a menu appears. In the menu, select the "Properties" item.

You will see the disk properties window. Select the Tools Tab and click Check Now.

A small window will appear. In it, you need to put a checkmark (or put them at your request) next to the items "Automatically fix system errors" and "Check and repair bad sectors". Then we press the "Start" button.

If it is not system disk, the check will be launched, which you, in fact, will see.

If the disk is a system disk, that is, it is used in this moment, you will be prompted to check it the next time you start your computer. Click OK or, in my case, "Schedule disk check". In this case, the check will be performed the next time the computer is restarted.

How do I run CHKDSK from the command line?

There is nothing difficult here. Click "Start", in the line "Find programs and files" write the word cmd. A shortcut appears at the top of the window. Right-click on it and select "Run as administrator".

After you have launched the command line as administrator, enter the command chkdsk c: / f where c is the letter of the drive you want to check, and / f is an option to fix errors on the drive. Press Enter.

If the disk is a system disk, you will receive an error that the disk cannot be locked and the CHKDSK command cannot be executed. You will be prompted to perform a volume check on reboot. Type Y and press Enter if you agree, or N and press Enter if you don't want to check on reboot.

If the disk is not a system disk, the application will perform a check and all check results will be displayed on the command line. By the way, the process of finding errors and fixing them can take from several minutes to several hours, depending on the disk and system configuration.