How to fix errors on a removable hard drive. Checking the hard drive using the chkdsk utility. Disk Utility on macOS

Every user knows and has definitely found himself in such situations when something on the computer broke, was incorrect or did not work well. There is nothing more annoying than poorly thinking technology that freezes every now and then or, for unknown reasons, controls itself. Of course, all parts can break, but the mechanical parts still preserved in modern computers are especially susceptible to destruction. These include the hard drive.

This review will cover more than just theory. The authors had a faulty disk on hand, the operating system of which took about 20 minutes to load. It was decided to fix this and quite successfully!

What could go wrong

In order to prevent breakdowns and repair your hard drive in time, or at least save the necessary information, you need to regularly monitor its condition. To do this, it is recommended to carefully monitor the “health” of your computer. Here are the points to pay close attention to:

watch for errors. Technology, like humans, tends to make mistakes. There was one incident with the hard drive - nothing to worry about, but if errors appear constantly, you need to urgently contact a technician.
friction or beating. Since reading occurs using the head, there is a chance that it will move and begin to damage the main disk with information. If you hear a suspicious knocking sound in the system unit, this may well mean that there is a problem with the hard drive.
analyze the work. If your computer did not save the file or a recently saved document suddenly disappeared, you need to go to the wizard. If the computer's long-term memory does not work well, the hard drive is to blame.
recognition. The computer didn't see the disk? The bad thing is, most likely, this is a problem with the disk, and not with the software, although this can happen. Try placing the part in another system unit. If it works, everything is fine.
failures. Are you trying to upload a document, but the technology stubbornly refuses to do it? Problems with loading long-term memory files stem from breakdowns of the same part.
long loading time. If you open each photo for half an hour and cannot delete a text document that weighs little, then this is also a problem with the hard drive.

It is not necessary to sit at the system unit all the time the computer is running and listen to how the problematic part is “doing” there. It’s enough just to periodically listen and carefully monitor the state of the entire computer, then everything will be fine.

How to check your hard drive for table of contents errors

In general, if your hard drive is in good condition and does not need emergency help, you can perform a preventative error check. This will speed up your computer and save your nerves. Let's look at the algorithm of this useful procedure under the Windows 7 operating system.

In order for the computer to not only find problems, but also fix them, you need to tick the “Automatically correct system errors” box.
if you want to try to restore the physical structure of the disk itself, you need to select the “Scan and repair bad sectors” function. Please note that this procedure will take a lot of time.
Any doubts? Select both options and perform prevention.

Another little tip. If you decide to “treat” a disk that is a system drive for your computer, do it immediately before shutting it down.

In order for any equipment to work well, and for you to easily operate it, you need to monitor and care for it. Moreover, when it comes to a device that is much more complex than a stove and it is sometimes quite difficult to figure it out on your own. Carry out preventative maintenance, and if necessary, call a technician, and then everything will be fine with your computer, and, therefore, with your data.

HDD Regenerator

This program is best downloaded from the portal (softportal.com). Let's launch the installer.

If you leave a checkmark in the last window, the program will start immediately. Let's not delay and get started.

What is this Full Version menu? It turns out that the program is paid, and our compatriot demands $90 for the key. In addition, when removed, it behaves worse than a virus. Requires a reboot of the operating system and takes a long time to think about.

R.tester

Right-click on any logical drive that needs to be checked.
In the menu that opens, click on the "Properties" line.
At the top of the properties window, click LMB on the "Service" tab.
Click the "Run check" button.
Here, check both checkboxes and click on “Launch”.

If the selected partition is not a system partition, checking the disk for errors will start immediately. If you want to check the C: drive, the OS will display a notification that the operation cannot be performed at this time. Do not consider this behavior of the OS to be a failure. Since the partition contains all system data, it cannot be disabled while Windows is running.

Just click on the "schedule scan" button and restart your computer. After turning on the PC, checking the disk for errors will begin even before loading the operating system.

Command line

To run the chkdsk utility from the command line, follow these steps.

Right-click on the desktop and select “Create shortcut” in the context menu.
A window that appears will ask you to select an executable file, but the easiest way is to simply enter “cmd” in the input line and click “OK.”
Now right-click on the newly created shortcut and select the line “run as Administrator”. A command prompt will open.
Type: chkdsk [partition letter]: /f /r.

As when launched from a graphical shell, checking the disk for errors will notify you that the program cannot be executed if you specify the system partition. At the same time, the question will appear on the screen: “Should I perform the task after restarting the PC?” Press the Y key to answer yes, or N if you do not want to check the HDD.

If the OS does not boot

If, due to problems with the file system, Windows refuses to start, checking the hard drive for errors can be started from the recovery console. Open the BIOS by pressing the DEL key on the computer's initial boot screen. Set the Laser Disc Drive as the First Boot Device. Insert the Windows Installer disc.

After booting from the DVD, a window for selecting language options will open. At the bottom of it there will be a “System Restore” item. Remember that if errors occur on the HDD, it is pointless to roll back to earlier recovery points; overwriting data can lead to even bigger problems.

In the window that offers a choice of recovery options, click on the "Command Prompt" button. The command syntax remains the same - chkdsk [drive letter]: /f /r. In this case, the disk check will begin immediately without rebooting.

Third party software

If the chkdsk utility did not lead to a positive result, and critical errors due to the HDD continue to occur, you should perform a more thorough check using special programs. Hard drive manufacturers themselves produce special tools for testing their equipment. In addition to this software, you can use Victoria and MHDD applications.

Be careful! Checking the disk for errors with a third-party application should be performed only after creating backups of all important data. Moreover, you need to save copies of the data in external storage.

Let's make an explanation. “Bad sectors” are areas of the disk from which data cannot be read. Their very appearance is a bad sign, but acceptable, but a constant increase in their number indicates that the disk is most likely no longer alive. You need to think about replacing it, and not delay the decision for too long.

So, the chkdsk program will check the disk; the scanning time depends on the size of the disk and the number of files on it. The system disk will be checked only after a reboot. You will have to be patient and wait for the work to finish. Upon completion, a report will be displayed.

If you cannot log into the system, you will need to use recovery tools and run the program from there.

Windows Standard Scan

Another way to check the disk is to use the scan built into the OS. To do this you need:

If the selected hard drive is being used by any program, then to check it you need to stop its operation. Click the “Disable” button and the scan will continue. The scan time depends on the disk size and how full it is.

To check the system partition in this way, the system will display a message that testing will continue after a reboot. Agree with this, after restarting the computer, wait until the scan finishes.

With all due respect to Microsoft, only third-party programs can provide detailed information about disk health. If you need laptop repair, in Lyubertsy There is a good workshop where they can check your hard drive. Moreover, they will do this using third-party programs, which we will discuss further.

Ashampoo HDD Control 2

This program is paid, but a free trial period will give you the opportunity to test your drive. The program is multifunctional, with its help you can perform many actions with the disk, including defragmentation, disk cleaning, etc. Now we are interested in the “Test” and surface check modes.

To run the scan you must:

To determine the condition of the disk surface, go to the “Control” tab and click on the “Surface Testing” section.

The progress of testing can be monitored in the window that opens. Color coding is used to indicate the condition of the disk surface:

Blue – the sector has not been verified.
Green – no errors.
Red – bad sector.

If the disk is large, the scan may take a long time.

HDDScan

A popular program for obtaining information about a disk, checking it and correcting errors. To start testing you need:

To view the status of the disk, go to the “Map” tab, where all the information about the disk surface will be located. Sectors are marked with squares of different colors. They mean:

Victoria

Perhaps the most popular utility for determining the health of a hard drive. It can be launched both from Windows and from bootable media, if it is not possible to start the operating system. Let's consider working with the program launched from Windows.

After launching, you will see several tabs in the main program window, the most important of which are:

In order to start the test, you need to click the “Start” button and wait until the work is completed. First of all, you need to pay attention to the column of multi-colored rectangles with numbers next to them. Using color coding, information about the speed of reading from disk sectors is displayed. Ideally, the values should be near rectangles with different shades of gray.

The numbers next to the green or orange rectangles indicate the number of sectors that require more time to read. The red rectangle shows that there are sectors on the disk, information from which can be read, but this requires a lot of time.

Most likely, these “red” sectors are candidates for failure. You should remember their number and re-scan after some time. An increase in their number indicates degradation of the disk surface. Moreover, areas that are marked in blue may soon appear.

You can try to restore these “broken” sectors. To do this, you need to set the “Remap” mode and start the scan again. If possible, the program will restore these areas of the disk. If the “blue” blocks remain, you should think about replacing the hard drive.

Windows malfunctions, emergency shutdown of the computer, experiments with disk space management software, the consequences of viruses - these and other problems can lead to the automatic launch of the standard Windows Chkdsk utility, designed to correct errors in the file system of hard drives. Incorrectly completed operation of the operating system with files leads to file system errors, and sometimes even damage to the file system. In emergency cases, the Chkdsk utility turns on itself before Windows starts, scans disk partitions and corrects errors. However, the fact that there are problems with the file system may not make itself felt during normal use of the computer and only become apparent when trying to manage disk space. So, for example, when trying to shrink a disk partition using standard Windows tools, we may receive the following notification: “It is possible that the volume selected for compression is damaged. Use Chkdsk to troubleshoot the problem, and then try shrinking the volume again."

In this case, disk check will not start automatically. How to run Chkdsk manually in Windows 7, 8.1 and 10? How can I use Chkdsk to fix disk errors if this problem is the reason the operating system is unable to boot?

Inside Windows, the Chkdsk utility can be launched in several ways.

1. Run Chkdsk using Windows GUI

To run Chkdsk, in the system explorer on drive C, right-click and open “Properties”.

In the disk partition properties window that opens, go to the “Services” tab, and in it click the “Check” button (or “Run check” for Windows 7).

In versions of Windows 8.1 and 10, if everything is in order with the disk file system, in the window that appears next, we will see a notification that checking is not required. But if you wish, you can start checking the disk with the Chkdsk utility by clicking “Check disk”.

If the system suspects file system errors, this window will contain a button to start scanning and repairing the disk.

For Chkdsk to work relative to drive C, you must restart the computer. You can do this immediately or delay running the scan until the next reboot.

After restarting the computer, we will be able to observe the operation of Chkdsk.

In Windows 7, launching Chkdsk is slightly different: to the preinstalled option of automatic error correction, you can add another possible option - checking and repairing bad sectors of the hard drive. When activating this option, it is worth considering that in this case Chkdsk may take longer to run.

As with Windows 8.1 and 10, in version 7 the system drive C cannot be scanned within a running operating system. To start the scan, the computer must be restarted. Click “Schedule disk check”.

When checking a non-system partition of a disk, if it is used by some programs, the situation is simpler than with the system partition. In the window with a notification that the disk is currently in use, you just need to click the “Disconnect” button to, accordingly, disable this partition for the duration of the scan.

2. Run Chkdsk using the command line

To run Chkdsk using the command line, first, accordingly, launch the latter.

In the command line enter a command like this:

In this command, instead of drive C, we each time substitute the letter of the desired partition on which the scan is required. If Chkdsk needs to check the system partition C, as when working with the graphical interface, you will need to restart the computer. When a message appears in the command line about the impossibility of locking the specified drive, you need to enter “Y”, then restart the computer.

In addition to the /f parameter, which is responsible for correcting disk errors, Chkdsk can be run with the /r parameter, designed to search for bad sectors and restore data. As a result of Chkdsk running with this parameter, hard disk clusters with unreadable sectors will be listed as damaged (bad blocks) and their functions will be transferred to a new cluster. Therefore, it is recommended to run Chkdsk with the /r parameter only when the usual error correction - running the utility with the /f parameter - does not bring the necessary results. Using the same drive C as an example, the command would look like this:

3. Running Chkdsk on a non-booting Windows

If Windows freezes at a certain point in the boot process, one of the possible causes of this problem is file system errors. In this case, you need to run Chkdsk by booting from the rescue media. As such, you can use regular installation media with versions of Windows 7, 8.1 or 10. With its help, we will launch the Chkdsk utility inside the command line. At the first stage of starting the system installation process, press the command line launch keys – Shift+F10.

In the command line that opens, before running the Chkdsk command, you need to clarify which letters define the disk partitions. This is easy to do using a notepad. We launch it with the command:

Click the notepad menu “File”, then “Open”.

In the explorer that opens, remember the new drive designations. As a rule, in Windows 8.1 and 10, the C drive partition (as it exists inside the running operating system) is listed as D, since the letter C is assigned to the first technical partition of the system. And all other sections are shifted by one letter of the alphabet.

Having decided on the letters of the disk partitions, close Notepad, then, returning to the command line, enter a command like this:

As with Chkdsk inside Windows, you must first try to fix disk errors by running the utility with the /f parameter. And only if the problem is not solved, only then run the command with the /r parameter, as indicated in the previous paragraph of the article.

If Windows is unable to boot, you can pre-burn an emergency Live disk with a selection of various tools to restore the operating system. Among these, for example, is AdminPE based on WinPE. Its image for recording on a disk or flash drive can be downloaded from the official website of the project Adminpe.Ru. Using AdminPE, you can launch a command prompt and enter the Chkdsk launch commands discussed above. But in this Live disk, the Chkdsk utility has its own interface and is launched using a script. The shortcut to launch the utility is placed directly on the desktop.

In the drop-down list to check the disk, select the desired disk partition. Next, activate the checkboxes for restoring damaged sectors and forcibly disabling a partition (volume). Let's check the launches.

aass, didn't use it. But I note that Victoria and MHDD are proven tools for serious diagnostics.

And Windows 7 can track SMART information. It will warn you if anything happens.

aass

Vadim Sterkin, Thanks for the answer and for the topic!
I agree with the assessment of the Victoria and MHDD programs, I myself use Victoria for serious diagnostics, but I try to test other programs, everything is learned by comparison.)

Dmitriy

When checking the hard drive with a standard program on Windows 7, it says that bad clusters were detected in null.sys... what kind of driver is this?

Dmitriy

Vadim Sterkin,

thanks...can the system slow down because of it?

Sanyok

Hello.
I ran (hypothetically) checking drive C: from the graphical interface with parameters similar to your screenshot. Clicked the "Schedule disk check" button. Changed my mind. How can I cancel this one-time system disk check before rebooting the system?
I myself assume that it may be entered into the Task Scheduler.” But I want to know for sure. I see no point in experimenting. Since, after such a check was completed successfully once (in practical reality), it would be entered into the “Scheduler” even as a one-time check, and should, in theory, be saved. After all, tasks from the “Scheduler” do not have the ability to self-delete (I think so). But I didn’t find any traces in the “Planner”. As you probably know, I didn’t receive an answer on the Internet or on the forum.

Simply put, I want to know where this mythical “Check Schedule” is located and what methods and methods Windows 7 offers for adjusting it. And then it turns out like this - click, and ala-ulu...

Sanyok

Yeah…
There were graphics, but they all came out. This is some kind of graffiti, black and white, with a register. Just like Battleship Potemkin.
(Yes, I Googled, but really for a slightly different request). Thank you.
You can plan this by checking two boxes in the chart, and canceling by going to the register. They got smart here. Well, okay, there’s nothing to do - I’ll post in the forum.

Yes, by the way, does it make sense to check the second (bottom) checkbox if the system is on an SSD? After all, as far as my knowledge is concerned, the SSD controller itself periodically (when idle) scans the memory for faulty cells.
And this second checkbox, by definition, is intended to check for broken cells on the surface of the HDD.

Sanyok

Sanyok,

You turn on your TV with the remote control and set the wake-up timer. The next morning you wake up to the music of your favorite music channel. And life flows smoothly and measuredly. But at one fine moment it dawns on you - after all, tomorrow is Sunday. No problem, you tell yourself. With a slight movement of your hand and a screwdriver, without disconnecting the TV from the network, you remove the back cover, quickly replace a couple of resistors on the board and you're done. Tomorrow you can sleep peacefully until lunchtime.
Do you feel what I mean?

Vadim Sterkin: Sanya, what do you mean, wise? You don’t have to split hairs by pressing all sorts of strange buttons, and everything will be fine :)

It's really funny, but also of course, of course Truth.
Yes, but it’s not quite out of place. I don’t see anything unpredictable or completely incomprehensible in checking the disk. And the conversation was about the fact that if you have already provided a graphical opportunity to schedule such a task, then be kind enough to provide the same opportunity to disable it, and not through one place (the registry). Either remove graphics when planning (do planning only through CMD), or provide the ability to disable this task using the graphical interface. As an engineer, in my technical practice and in the practice of interfaces of various industrial programs and IT, this is the first time I have come across something like this. Yes, and in Windows OS too.
That’s what I wanted to convey when I said, “We’ve been clever.”
When faced with a question, I noticed that this function causes complaints from the user in terms of frequent independent launches. But let's not talk about that. As unrelated to the topic.
And of course, thanks for the comments. Everything is clear to me here.

Regarding the bottom daw:

To perform a thorough disk scan, select the Scan and repair bad sectors option. In this mode, the scanning program attempts to find and correct physical errors on the hard drive itself, which may take much longer.

It doesn't say anything about the file system. More about physical disabilities. Some of us are wrong. Or I didn't understand something.
And further in the text:

To check for both file and physical errors, select both options: Automatically fix system errors and Scan for and repair bad sectors.

Please comment. I would like clarity on the issue.
So as not to press “all sorts of strange buttons”, and everything was fine. :-)

Vyacheslav

I am very surprised by the capabilities of checking and restoring a disk under Windows 8. Changing the partition size upward using Acronis Disk Director 11 ended with errors. I wanted to increase the size of the system disk using the empty space on the adjacent partition by 200 GB. As a result, this program reports that everything is OK, and the disk size in Explorer has not changed. I checked the disk using the OS - it said that there were errors and needed to be rebooted. After the reboot, nothing changed and a request appeared to reboot to fix it. As you can already guess, this also did not help. As a result, we have lost 200 GB, despite the fact that Acronis says everything is ok, but the system is not able to correct the errors found. Sadness. Do I need to format it?

Vyacheslav

Vadim Sterkin,

In fact, under Windows 7, a similar operation was always performed without problems. I always perform the task of expanding/narrowing a partition in 2 stages: first, we cut off a piece of space from the partition being compressed and transfer it to the “unallocated space” status from the required end of the partition, and then we expand another partition using this space (I do everything manually in 2 reboots in case of “jambs”, because Acronis performs a group of operations very strangely. There is a sad experience under Windows XP). So, if under Windows 7, after checking the disk, everything returned to normal and the free space did not disappear so easily, then under Windows 8 Acronis completed the first stage successfully, and when performing the second it broke down with errors, although then it reports that “everything is fine.” The problem was eventually resolved by booting from a Live CD from Acronis. It's a pity that this cannot be done under Windows 8. And I was counting so much on the “improved checking and correction of file system errors” promoted in the media. Of course, it is very difficult to trust that checking and background diagnostics of FS problems is working correctly. It is very confusing that the time to scan one partition under Windows 7 and under Windows 8 differs by orders of magnitude, for the better for the latter. Are all problems really so easily and quickly fixed? Maybe Windows 8 simply doesn’t notice most of them, or even worse, ignores them?

Vyacheslav

Vadim Sterkin,

Well, what option is there in Windows 8 to expand the partition size? I saw the Disk Management snap-in. Well, I didn’t see how it’s possible to cut the size of a logical volume from the desired end using “standard means”. There's also no way to move a partition within the unallocated space. If there is an analogue that I missed, tell me. Along the way, you did not quite correctly understand what I meant by the phrase “I had a bad experience under Windows XP.” And it was like this: after a reboot, this operation was performed and at that moment the electricity went out. Thus, I lost 2 partitions, although, in theory, there could have been 3 options: the second partition would have been lost, from which space was taken due to the incompleteness of the operation of moving NTFS service zones, or only the system partition would have been lost (although this is unlikely), or both partitions would be fine, and between them there would be some area of unmarked space. But I was very “lucky”. Let’s skip the topic of uninterruptible power supplies and it turns out that Acronis is a reputable company, and their products are sometimes dangerous to use in any way in the absence of alternatives from the OS. And then another “surprise” emerged. And even here everything is fine with the power supply. But as I already noted, the last problem was solved by booting from a Live CD from Acronis and a classic disk check, and not the over-optimized one from Windows 8, the benefits of which I have not yet felt. It seems to be there, but there seems to be no point. Or maybe I was using the disk check tool wrong. Unfortunately, this “optimization” still raises more questions and mistrust in me than answers.

Vyacheslav

Vadim Sterkin,

Irina

Conducted Windows hard drive diagnostics (chkdsk). There were no messages, but later it turned out that there was no free space. Although before the check, less than 50% of the disk was full. And now it shows 931 GB occupied. Was all the free space wasted? The disk is six months old.

I forgot to say, after that I checked with Victoria and reported that there weren’t even any errors.

Irina

This is not the case for me. We are not talking about the system disk. And about the external drive. I’ve already found out that the system marked all the free space as bad blocks. Now I’m trying to figure out whether it’s a failure or whether the screw has died.

Sergey

Vadim, I have the following problem: After running the chkdsk disk check utility, if both “daws” are checked, it asks to reboot and the check is performed, I don’t know what to call it, but it looks like MS-DOS - lines run quickly on a black background. After the next reboot, I look at the information in the Windows Logs - Application, text in English, “there are many letters,” but the meaning can be understood from a single sentence: “Windows has checked the file system and found no problems.” At the same time, a few lines above I was kindly informed that, they say, “Cleaning up 31 unused security descriptors.” Sometimes it is not “31 unused security descriptors” that are cleared, but more or, conversely, less. That is, something is still not quite right, and the program corrects it a little. Like, overall everything is fine, but the Bug died. So, no matter how many times I run this chkdsk, it requires a reboot to correct these errors, nothing else is detected. Previously, on another machine in Windows XP this happened rarely, but now it happens time after time.
The SSD drive is about a quarter occupied. The system is legal Windows 7 x64 Professional and is automatically updated. If you do not run a disk check, then there is no reason to worry, everything works fine, does not glitch, does not crash. So, in connection with this, the question is - maybe there is no need to spoil your mood. I didn’t find a solution to the problem of these file system errors on the Microsoft website, and are they really errors?

far_town2 Kulyasov

Are there any methods to check if the power supply is sufficient? And due to its insufficient power, can freezes/errors occur in games?

Often, unstable computer operation is associated with errors in the HDD file system. To deal with this problem, error checking on the hard drive is necessary. Among other things, it would be nice to know about the condition of the hard drive if it makes strange sounds, such as clicking or grinding, while the PC is running. If information about hard drive damage is received in advance, you can save all user data before the device fails.

Victoria

First of all, you will need a specialized program. Victoria is considered one of the best and most reliable. With its help, a hard drive can be checked for errors on any operating system. Whether you have Windows 7, XP or 8 installed, Victoria will work stably under each.

The application is absolutely free and can be downloaded from the developer's website. However, it is distributed in two versions. The first is standard binary packages to run on the OS. The second is an ISO image to run without having to boot the operating system. This is convenient when Windows refuses to work due to HDD errors.

If the HDD has a capacity of about 700 GB, errors will take at least one or two hours. Windows 7 will perform this procedure much faster using built-in tools. However, the quality of testing and the amount of data obtained using Victoria will be disproportionately higher.

Testing

First download the app. It comes in an archive. Extract it to any empty directory and double-click the executable file. If the work is carried out in Windows 7 or 8, you need to right-click on the exe file, and then select “run with administrator rights”.

Checking for errors should begin with several preparatory steps. After starting the program, go to the "Standard" tab. On the right side you can see all the drives located in the computer. Select the HDD you want to test. Then click on the "Passport" button. If nothing goes wrong, the name and model of the hard drive will be displayed at the bottom of the window.

After this, go to the tab called “SMART” and click on the inscription “GetSMART”. If the status next to the button changes, it means everything was done correctly. This area usually displays the word "GOOD", but "BAD" may also appear. In both the first and second cases, the sensor data was read correctly.

Possible mistakes

It happens that the HDD controller operates in AHCI mode. In this case, it will not be possible to read the SMART attributes, therefore the hard drive cannot be checked for errors. The program will send the message "Error reading SMART" to the log. Also, next to the button that is responsible for reading data from sensors, “Non ATA” will be displayed, and the area under the text itself will be highlighted in red.

To allow Victoria to work with the hard drive, you need to change the BIOS settings. To enter them, you should press the “DEL” button several times while the very first messages appear on the screen when the computer boots. The method for launching the BIOS settings utility may differ for different motherboard models. If the "DEL" key does not lead to a positive result, you should familiarize yourself with the information that is easily found on the developer's website.

After entering the BIOS, go to Config (may be Advanced) - Serial ATA - Controller Mode, and then change the setting to Compatibility. Remember that after completing the hard drive check, the settings should be returned to their original state.

Continue checking

After correctly reading the SMART information, go to the “Test” tab and click on the “Start” sign. After this, error checking on the hard drive will begin. In the main area of the program, rectangles that were previously monochromatic will now be painted in different colors. On the right will be written the total number of sectors, sorted by access time.

The main attention should be paid to the numbers near the blue and red marks. They mark dead or broken sectors. That is, those that are impossible to access or require a lot of time to read. Thus, when accessing them, the computer seems to freeze.

Recovery

To try to recover bad sectors, error checking on the hard drive must be run again, but now set the switch located at the bottom right to the "remap" position. The program will mark "bads" as non-working, entering their addresses into a special area on the HDD.

Be carefull! If bad sectors begin to appear on your hard drive, most likely the drive will continue to fail after recovery. It is advisable to replace it or at least make a backup copy of all important data by copying it outside the HDD.

Built-in tools

The built-in OS tools can also check the hard drive for errors. Windows 8 allows you to launch it in a few clicks.

First, open File Explorer by clicking on the My Computer icon.
Then right-click on any section and select "Properties".
Go to the tab called “Service”, and in it click on the inscription “Run check”.

Checking the hard drive for errors via the command line

The Command Line is a powerful tool that is used by many system administrators when solving various system problems. Its main advantage is that testing can be started even when the graphical shell refuses to start. It is worth using command line support by pressing the F8 key while Windows is loading, but before the logo appears on the screen.

If the standard mode works normally, follow these steps to run the test:

Press "Windows+R" on your computer keyboard.
In the input line of the window that opens, type “cmd.exe” and click on the “OK” button.
The command line will appear on the screen. To run the scan, write “chkdskX: /f /r” into it. Instead of the letter "X", click the one that the operating system uses to indicate the partition that requires testing.
After entering the OS, it may indicate that it is not possible to complete the procedure without necessarily rebooting the PC. When the message appears, simply press the "Y" key and restart your computer. After this, error checking on the hard drive will begin automatically.

Remember: when checking the HDD, you should wait until it is completely finished. Disabling this process should only be done using tools built into the program. If there is no way to stop the procedure, do not try to interrupt it by turning off the computer or pressing “RESET”. These actions can lead to additional errors and data corruption on the hard drive. The most dangerous thing is the impossibility of restoring information after an incorrect shutdown.

In emergency cases, the Chkdsk utility turns on itself before Windows starts, scans disk partitions and corrects errors. However, the fact that there are problems with the file system may not make itself felt during normal use of the computer and only become apparent when trying to manage disk space. So, for example, when trying to shrink a disk partition using standard Windows tools, we may receive the following notification: “It is possible that the volume selected for compression is damaged. Use Chkdsk to troubleshoot the problem, and then try shrinking the volume again."

Inside Windows, the Chkdsk utility can be launched in several ways.

1. Run Chkdsk using Windows GUI

To run Chkdsk, in the system explorer on drive C, right-click and open “Properties”.

In the disk partition properties window that opens, go to the “Services” tab, and in it click the “Check” button (or “Run check” for Windows 7).

If the system suspects file system errors, this window will contain a button to start scanning and repairing the disk.

For Chkdsk to work relative to drive C, you must restart the computer. You can do this immediately or delay running the scan until the next reboot.

After restarting the computer, we will be able to observe the operation of Chkdsk.

As with Windows 8.1 and 10, in version 7 the system drive C cannot be scanned within a running operating system. To start the scan, the computer must be restarted. Click “Schedule disk check”.

2. Run Chkdsk using the command line

To run Chkdsk using the command line, first, accordingly, launch the latter.

In the command line enter a command like this:

In this command, instead of drive C, we each time substitute the letter of the desired partition on which the scan is required. If Chkdsk needs to check the system partition C, as with the GUI, you will need to restart the computer. When a message appears in the command line about the impossibility of locking the specified drive, you need to enter “Y”, then restart the computer.

3. Running Chkdsk on a non-booting Windows

In the command line that opens, before running the Chkdsk command, you need to clarify which letters define the disk partitions. This is easy to do using a notepad. We launch it with the command:

Click the notepad menu “File”, then “Open”.

Having decided on the letters of the disk partitions, close Notepad, then, returning to the command line, enter a command like this:

AdminPE's tools include a number of other utilities for working with hard drives, as well as the well-known programs Hard Disk Sentinel and Victoria.

Inside Windows, the Chkdsk utility can be launched in several ways.

1. Run Chkdsk using Windows GUI

To run Chkdsk, in the system explorer on drive C, right-click and open “Properties”.

In the disk partition properties window that opens, go to the “Services” tab, and in it click the “Check” button (or “Run check” for Windows 7).

If the system suspects file system errors, this window will contain a button to start scanning and repairing the disk.

For Chkdsk to work relative to drive C, you must restart the computer. You can do this immediately or delay running the scan until the next reboot.

After restarting the computer, we will be able to observe the operation of Chkdsk.

As with Windows 8.1 and 10, in version 7 the system drive C cannot be scanned within a running operating system. To start the scan, the computer must be restarted. Click “Schedule disk check”.

2. Run Chkdsk using the command line

To run Chkdsk using the command line, first, accordingly, launch the latter.

In the command line enter a command like this:

3. Running Chkdsk on a non-booting Windows

In the command line that opens, before running the Chkdsk command, you need to clarify which letters define the disk partitions. This is easy to do using a notepad. We launch it with the command:

Click the notepad menu “File”, then “Open”.