Windows 10: Drive Error Checking in Windows 10

How to: Drive Error Checking in Windows 10

How to Check a Drive for Errors in Windows 10


Information Checking your drives for errors every once in a while can help fix some performance issues. Drive errors can usually be caused by bad sectors, improper shutdowns, bad software, corruption, physical damage, etc...

This tutorial will show you different ways on how to run a scan to check a hard disk drive (HDD or SSD) for errors in Windows 10.

You must be signed in as an administrator to be able to run a scan to check a drive for errors.



Note You do not need to manually check drives using ReFS (Resilient File System) for errors. ReFS includes automatic drive error checking and correction.





CONTENTS:

• Option One: To Check Drive Status in Security and Maintenance
• Option Two: To Check Drive for Errors using Drive Tools in Properties
• Option Three: To Check Drive for Errors using "chkdsk" in Command Prompt
• Option Four: To Check Drive for Errors using "Repair-Volume" in PowerShell

EXAMPLE: Disk Checking at boot if scheduled for offline scan












OPTION ONE [/i] To Check Drive Status in Security and Maintenance
1. Open the Control Panel (icons view), and click/tap on the Security and Maintenance icon.

2. Expand open Maintenance, and look under Drive status to see the current health status of your drives. If any issues were found, they would be listed here with an option to scan the drive. (see screenshot below)









OPTION TWO [/i] To Check Drive for Errors using Drive Tools in Properties
1. Open This PC in File Explorer.

2. Right click or press and hold on a hard disk drive (HDD or SSD) you want to scan, and click/tap on Properties. (see screenshot below)



3. Click/tap on the Tools tab, and click/tap on the Check button under the top Error checking section. (see screenshot below)



4. You can now Scan drive (if wanted) or Repair drive (if errors found). (see screenshots below)






5. The drive will now be scanned to check for errors. (see screenshot below)


Note Depending on the size of your drive, this might take several minutes. For best results, don't use your computer for any other tasks while it is checking for errors.





6. When the scan has finished, you can click tap on the Show Details link to see the Chkdsk log in Event Viewer. Click/tap on Close when finished. (see screenshot below)


Note If errors are found, then you may be prompted to fix them or schedule to scan and fix the drive at boot on the next restart.





7. You can now close the drive Properties window if you like. (see screenshot below step 3)





OPTION THREE [/i] To Check Drive for Errors using "chkdsk" in Command Prompt
1. Open an command prompt at boot.

2. In the command prompt, type the following command below followed by one or more switches that you would like to use with a space between each switch, and press Enter. (see screenshot below)

*Arrow chkdsk <drive letter>: <switches>



Note Substitute <drive letter> with the actual drive letter (ex: C) you want to scan to check for errors. If you don't specify a drive letter (volume), then the command will be performed on the Windows volume by default.

Substitute <switches> with a switch you want to use below. Include a space between each switch you want to use.

For example:

(Scan and fix C: drive for error checking)
chkdsk C: /f

OR

(Perform an offline scan and fix of C: drive for error checking
chkdsk C: /f /offlinescanandfix


*Arrow If you need any help with these commands, then please feel free to post a reply asking what you need help with.













OPTION FOUR [/i] To Check Drive for Errors using "Repair-Volume" in PowerShell
1. Open an elevated PowerShell.

2. Do step 3 (repair), step 4 (offline), step 5 (scan), step 6 (spotfix) below for which Repair-Volume command you want to use.


3. To Scan and Repair Drive


Note This is the most commonly used command to scan and repair the drive (equivalent to chkdsk).


A) Type the command below into PowerShell, press Enter, and go to step 7 below.

*Arrow Repair-Volume -DriveLetter <drive letter>



Note Substitute <drive letter> in the command above with the actual drive letter you want.

For example: Repair-Volume -DriveLetter C






4. To Perform "OfflineScanAndFix" on Drive


Note OfflineScanAndFix takes the volume offline to scan the volume and fix any errors found (equivalent to chkdsk /f).


A) Type the command below into PowerShell, press Enter, and go to step 7 below.

*Arrow Repair-Volume -DriveLetter <drive letter> -OfflineScanAndFix



Note Substitute <drive letter> in the command above with the actual drive letter you want.

For example: Repair-Volume -DriveLetter C -OfflineScanAndFix






5. To Only Perform a Quick "Scan" of Drive


Note Scan scans the volume without attempting to repair it; all detected corruptions are added to the $corrupt system file (equivalent to chkdsk /scan).


A) Type the command below into PowerShell, press Enter, and go to step 7 below.

*Arrow Repair-Volume -DriveLetter <drive letter> -Scan



Note Substitute <drive letter> in the command above with the actual drive letter you want.

For example: Repair-Volume -DriveLetter C -Scan






6. To Perform a "SpotFix" on Drive


Note SpotFix takes the volume briefly offline and then fixes only issues that are logged in the $corrupt file (equivalent to chkdsk /spotfix).


A) Type the command below into PowerShell, press Enter, and go to step 7 below.

*Arrow Repair-Volume -DriveLetter <drive letter> -SpotFix



Note Substitute <drive letter> in the command above with the actual drive letter you want.

For example: Repair-Volume -DriveLetter C -SpotFix






7. When finished, you can close PowerShell if you like.


That's it,
Shawn


Related Tutorials

• How to Optimize and Defragment Drives in Windows 10
• How to Read Event Viewer Log for Chkdsk (Check Disk) in Windows 10
• How to Change Chkdsk AUTOCHK Initiation Countdown Time at Boot in Windows 10
• How to Cancel a Scheduled Chkdsk at Boot in Windows 10
• How to Use Storage Diagnostic Tool in Windows 10

:)

 

C Drive Error using Drive Error Checking Tool

Hi Nyima,

Thank you for your prompt response.

Error Message: This error is alerted by the action centre notifications icon in the task bar advising me to “restart to repair drive errors – click to restart your P C”.

Programs installed since W10 upgrade: Uniblue Powersuite, Adblock Plus, and Avast antivirus basic.

I checked the drive as follows: File > C: > Properties > Properties panel > Tools > Error Checking > Check. Result; “Repair this Drive” and > Properties panel > Hardware > C drive > Events > information “device could not be migrated”.

My machine is a Toshiba Satellite L750 64 bit o.s. W10 (previously W7 SP2)

I have been deactivating various programs and using windows tools in an attempt to isolate this issue. The following information I can give you now:

The first problem was prior to w10 installation when I noticed that my on-board wired Ethernet (LAN) had “vanished” from the Device Manager and Network lists. Because of this issue and some other performance issues I decided to do a “clean install” for
the W10 upgrade. This and the W10 upgrade improved my machine performance quite noticeably, except the LAN was not restored, until now, when the above drive error appeared.

The screen also turns off after 60 seconds of no mouse or keyboard activity regardless of the power saving screen time out settings.


I had already performed method one as you suggested. Method two, System File Checker, returned the following result: "Windows Resource Protection found corrupt files but was unable to fix some of them".

In the CBS log file the following line appears frequently: "Failed to internally open package. [HRESULT = 0x800f0805 - CBS_E_INVALID_PACKAGE]" and "Failed to OpenPackage using worker session [HRESULT = 0x800f0805]"


I will advise you of the outcome and anything else I find.

Thanks again.

 

C Drive Error using Drive Error Checking Tool

Hi,

We understand your situation and will assist you to solve your issue.

Since SFC couldn't fix issue, we would suggest you to run the System update readiness command. It detects incorrect manifests, cabinets or registry data, it may replace the incorrect data with corrected version available. Please follow the
below steps to troubleshoot:

1. Press Windows key + X.

2. Click command prompt (Run as administrator).

3. In the Administrator: Command Prompt window, type the following commands. Press Enter key after each command:

DISM.exe /Online /Cleanup-image /Scanhealth



DISM.exe /Online /Cleanup-image /Restorehealth



4. To close the Administrator: Command prompt window,
type Exit, and then press Enter.

For more information refer the link below:
https://www.support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/947821



Note: The above information provided in the link holds good for Windows 10 also.

Please let us know if the fix worked or you need any further assistance.

 

You're most welcome David. *Smile

 

Windows told me one of my secondary 1 TB HDDs is about to fail. I backed up the one of the 2 partitions that's most important.
What would be the easiest command line syntax to check and fix the entire 2 partitions? In this case E: & Z: (Each 500 GB)
Thanks
/jdU

 

I think you will need to run them one at a time. From an elevated command prompt (right click the start falg and select command prompt (Admin)) run chkdsk E: /f when that is complete run chkdsk Z: /f

 

Easy enough!
Thanks essenbe!
/jdU

 

Further question: Here's the actual possible error report:
==
"Windows Disk Diagnostic detected a S.M.A.R.T. fault on disk Hitachi HDS721010DLE630 (volumes E:\;Z:\). This disk might fail; back up your computer now. All data on the hard disk, including files, documents, pictures, programs, and settings might be lost if your hard disk fails. To determine if the hard disk needs to be repaired or replaced, contact the manufacturer of your computer. If you can't back up (for example, you have no CDs or other backup media), you should shut down your computer and restart when you have backup media available. In the meantime, do not save any critical files to this disk."
==
This is a 4 year old 1TB HDD; I replaced the other identical one ~2 years ago out of an abundance of caution when I received the same error. It was my Primary drive. My local IT guy told me the use P/N: (?) Manufacturer->WD saying it was better quality than Hitachi.

Question: I ran the backup as suggest by the warning, a Checkdisk came back negative (i.e. All OK); all seems OK with the drive 2 days later and ... I'm leaning toward waiting to see if I get another warning.
-
Any comments?

Appreciation!
/jdU

 

Hello jdU, *Smile

You might also run the HGST Windows Drive Fitness Test (WinDFT) on your Hitachi hard drive to see if it passes without any errors.

Downloads | HGST

 

Great!
Thanks very much Brink!
/jdU

 

It looks like NBD - all is good.
Wondering what got under Window's skin to make it warn of a likely disk failure?

 

Hopefully, it was just a false positive, but it does look promising with it passing the test from the manufacturer.

 

Brink
Sounds like you viewed the screen capture, but I don't see it anywhere - though on my cellphone I saw mention of attached thumbnail.
Did it attach; if so where will this newbie see it?
Thx
/jdU

 

It looks like you uploaded the image, but just didn't attach it.

 

Trying again ... ah, there we go.
Thx
--
Edit, though now I don't see it (?)
Might the filename be too long? <SMART Extened Test Hitachi HDS721010DLE630 (E&Z drives).JPG>