CHKDSK - Windows NT-based CHKDSK

Windows NT-based CHKDSK

CHKDSK can be run from the Windows Shell, the Windows Command Prompt or the Windows Recovery Console.

Conducting a CHKDSK can take some time, especially if using the /R parameter, which causes CHKDSK to attempt to recover data, and the results are often not visible, for various reasons. The results of a CHKDSK conducted on restart using Windows 2000 or later operating systems are written to the Application Log, with a "Source" name of Wininit or Winlogon, except on the Windows 7 operating system, where the events have a "Source" name of "Chkdsk".

The standard version of CHKDSK supports the following switches:

filename	FAT only. Specifies the file or set of files to check for fragmentation. Wildcard characters (* and ?) are allowed.
path	FAT only. Specifies the location of a file or set of files within the folder structure of the volume.
size	NTFS only. Changes the log file size to the specified number of kilobytes. Must be used with the /l switch.
volume	FAT and NTFS (NTFS support is unofficially supported but works normally). Specifies the drive letter (followed by a colon), mount point, or volume name.
/c	NTFS only. Skips checking of cycles within the folder structure.
/f	Fixes errors on the volume. The volume must be locked. If CHKDSK cannot lock the volume, it offers to check it the next time the computer starts.
/i	NTFS only. Performs a less vigorous check of index entries.
/l	NTFS only. Displays current size of the log file. If size is specified, changes the log file to that size (in kilobytes).
/p	Checks disk even if it is not flagged as "dirty" (only available in the Recovery Console).
/r	Locates bad sectors and recovers readable information (implies /f and /p). Unreadable data is lost. If CHKDSK cannot lock the volume, it offers to check it the next time the computer starts.
/v	On FAT: Displays the full path and name of every file on the volume. On NTFS: Displays cleanup messages, if any.
/x	NTFS only. Forces the volume to dismount first, if necessary. All opened handles to the volume are then invalid (implies /f ).
/b	NTFS only, since Windows Vista. Clears the list of bad clusters on the volume and rescans all clusters for errors (implies /r).
/?	Displays the list of available CHKDSK switches.

When running CHKDSK from the Recovery Console the options are different. The /p is not read-only as in the standard version but corrects errors :

/p	Fixes errors on the volume. Same as the /f option in standard CHKDSK.
/r	Locates bad sectors and recovers readable information (implies /f and /p). Takes much longer to run than /p by itself.

CHKDSK requires the drive not to be locked. Therefore, after a command prompt with the syntax

chkdsk : / / ... /

if the drive cannot be locked, CHKDSK prints:

Chkdsk cannot run because the volume is in use by another process. Would you like to schedule this volume to be checked the next time the system restarts? (Y/N)

If "y" is selected, CHKDSK will run on restart. If it does so, it prints that a disk check has been scheduled, i.e.

A disk check has been scheduled. Checking file system on C: The type of the file system is NTFS. Windows will now check the disk. Cleaning up minor inconsistencies on the drive. Cleaning up 318 unused index entries from index $SII of file 0x9. Cleaning up 318 unused index entries from index $SDH of file 0x9. Cleaning up 318 unused security descriptors. CHKDSK is verifying file data (stage 4 of 5)... File data verification completed. CHKDSK is verifying free space (stage 5 of 5)... Free space verification is complete. 14996645 KB total disk space. 10187752 KB in 88054 files. 30784 KB in 5774 indexes. 0 KB in bad sectors. 164341 KB in use by the system. 65536 KB occupied by the log file. 4613768 KB available on disk. 4096 bytes in each allocation unit. 3749161 total allocation units on disk. 1153442 allocation units available on disk.

In Windows Vista or Windows 7, CHKDSK's output will be piped to the App Event Log found in "bootex.log" in the root folder of the drive.