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How to Fix Hard Drive Problems with Chkdsk in Windows 7, 8, and 10 |
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Any time you have hard drive errorsor even strange behavior you might not at first associate with a hard driveCheck Disk can be a lifesaver. Heres a full guide to using the Check Disk tool that comes with every version of Windows. What Chkdsk Does (and When to Use It)The Check Disk utility, also known as chkdsk (since thats the command you use to run it) scans through your entire hard drive to find and fix problems. Its not a terribly exciting tooland running it can take some timebut it can really help prevent bigger problems and loss of data in the long run. Chkdsk performs a couple of functions, depending on how its run:
That may all sound very technical, but dont worry: you dont need to understand the ins and outs of how it works to know when you should run it. We recommend running chkdsk every few months as part of routine maintenance along with using a S.M.A.R.T. tool for drives that support it. You should also consider running it any time Windows has shut down abnormallysuch as after a power loss or system crash. Sometimes Windows will automatically run a scan during startup, but most often youll have to do it yourself. Even if youre just having strange problems with apps not loading or crashing that you havent been able to resolve another way, you might consider checking the disk. For example: I once had a problem where Outlook suddenly started crashing on me shortly after loading. After a lot of troubleshooting, a chkdsk scan revealed I had bad sectors where my Outlook data file was stored. Fortunately, chkdsk was able to recover the sectors in my case, and everything went back to normal afterward. |