Windows 10: Question about windows checkdisk

I need some clarification about windows checkdisk.

I have been googling it a bit and it says that it scans and repairs logical file system errors.

Does that mean physical errors on the drive, or does it mean file errors in the windows installation?

P.S I see there are many commands you can use with checkdisk, what's the best one to use if i want to do a complete scan and repair of my system?

:)

 

Checkdisk problem

Hello, thank you for reply.

It is good to hear that i didn't lose any data. then i wonder, if chkdsk finds error/corrupted/any kind of problem while running, it

strictly + immediately shows messages on prompt? because i didn't see any messages about problems before stop chkdsk. i think this is one thing to be sure.

 

N73 Impressions

Yes, I do. That bit about running checkdisk was your tip and very helpful.

 

Check disk can cure disk file system errors and can mark bad sectors nothing can cure bad sectors the disk is physical damaged.

 

For a complete scan and repair, I would recommend "chkdsk d: /scan /offlinescanandfix /r". Its worked for me for a long time.

 

Could you explain in detail what these commands means?

Do you mean windows system files?

 

No check disk effects all the folders /paritions etc on the drive

 

Check disc checks the Disc filing system, and disc sectors for damage and may try to recover and move files to avoid bad sectors that's all.The moved files are usually damaged.That may affect anything on your hard drive, Windows, Programs, User data like documents, photos etc. Absolutely anything.It will do nothing to repair Windows or indeed anything else.The point of doing this is to ensure your HDD is in a reasonable condition to use and install Windows and other stuff on reliably.

 

You can get file problems due to things like power cuts. Otherwise you might have a failing disk if these problems persist. Check the SMART disk data also. I generally use chkdsk /f and sometimes the /spotfix option.

 

There are a number of switches that can be run with the chkdsk command:
chkdsk | Microsoft Docs
Chkdsk is used most commonly to check the drive file system.
Using the /f fixes the problem drive files found.
Using the /r attempts to recover readable information.
The chkdsk commands can be run to scan the whole disk on a storage drive.
To fix problems with the operating system you can run: sfc /scannow; dism commands, or perform an in place upgrade repair. If there are deeper problems you may need to perform a reset with save files or reset with remove files or clean install.

A chkdsk /x /r will scan most of the drive with a Windows operating system.
If you want to scan more parts of the disk that will require additional chkdsk scans.

 

Do you mean windows system files, e.g the ones found in the system folders?

@zbook seems like sfc and chkdsk does two different things, so that only makes it more confusing.

 

There is an operating system and there is a drive file system.
Each one has methods to test and fix.

Ubuntu/Linux can be installed on a drive.
A method is needed to fix each operating system installed on a drive.

 

So basically it scans the windows installation files, and if it finds they are corrupt, it will try to fix them?

 

These are examples of chkdsk scans that can be done on line without locking the drive.
There are different depths to find problems and fix them.
The scan when the drive is locked is a deeper scan and is a deeper fix.




Both of these were on line scans.
The first scan is normal. The second scan is abnormal.
The problems found by the second scan require an offline fix with spotfix.
To make a deeper fix a chdsk /r scan can be performed.
The spotfix is likely to take < 5 - 10 minutes whereas the chkdsk /r is likely to take 4 or more hours.

The duration of time to run chkdsk /r depends on these factors and probably more factors:
a) the size of the drive
b) the problems found on the drive
c) the amount of free space on the drive


When you view the chkdsk report you can see that the term that it uses in file structure.
The operating system can be impacted by a file that is on a problematic section of the drive.
Alternatively the operating system can become corrupt and have a normal drive file structure.
And you can see that fixing the drive file system can cause operating system failure if a critical file is damaged by a fix without restoring the file.
To get all of the details as to what is found and what is fixed you can add the v switch.
To view the chkdsk report you can view the report in the event viewer:
Read Chkdsk Log in Event Viewer in Windows 10 Windows 10 Tutorials


Code: C:\Windows\system32>chkdsk /scan The type of the file system is NTFS. Stage 1: Examining basic file system structure ... 513280 file records processed. File verification completed. 12736 large file records processed. 0 bad file records processed. Stage 2: Examining file name linkage ... 637032 index entries processed. Index verification completed. 0 unindexed files scanned. 0 unindexed files recovered to lost and found. Stage 3: Examining security descriptors ... Security descriptor verification completed. 61877 data files processed. CHKDSK is verifying Usn Journal... 35579568 USN bytes processed. Usn Journal verification completed. Windows has scanned the file system and found no problems. No further action is required. 731992063 KB total disk space. 445468612 KB in 315509 files. 197260 KB in 61878 indexes. 0 KB in bad sectors. 640623 KB in use by the system. 65536 KB occupied by the log file. 285685568 KB available on disk. 4096 bytes in each allocation unit. 182998015 total allocation units on disk. 71421392 allocation units available on disk. C:\Windows\system32>[/quote]
Code: C:\Windows\system32>chkdsk /scan The type of the file system is NTFS. Stage 1: Examining basic file system structure ... Found corrupt basic file structure for "\Windows\WinSxS\amd64_microsoft-windows-c..sktop.appxmain.root_31bf3856ad364e35_10.0.15063.909_none_7056d5c014a9e7ca\Cortana.Internal.Search .winmd <0x1,0x1402c>" ... queued for offline repair. Found corrupt basic file structure for "\Windows\WinSxS\amd64_microsoft-windows-c..sktop.appxmain.root_31bf3856ad364e35_10.0.15063.909_none_7056d5c014a9e7ca\Cortana.SPA.winmd <0x1,0x14035>" ... queued for offline repair. Found corrupt basic file structure for "\Windows\WinSxS\amd64_microsoft-windows-c..sktop.appxmain.root_31bf3856ad364e35_10.0.15063.909_none_7056d5c014a9e7ca\Cortana.Tips.winmd <0x1,0x14038>" ... queued for offline repair. 513280 file records processed. File verification completed. 12793 large file records processed. 0 bad file records processed. Stage 2: Examining file name linkage ... Found an unneeded link ($FILE_NAME: "Cortana.Internal.Search.winmd") in index "$I30" of directory "\Windows\WinSxS\amd64_microsoft-windows-c..sktop.appxmain.root_31bf3856ad364e35_10.0.15063.966_none_7012f55a14dd436b <0x29,0x50091>" ... queued for offline repair. Found an unneeded link ($FILE_NAME: "Cortana.SPA.winmd") in index "$I30" of directory "\Windows\WinSxS\amd64_microsoft-windows-c..sktop.appxmain.root_31bf3856ad364e35_10.0.15063.966_none_7012f55a14dd436b <0x29,0x50091>" ... queued for offline repair. Found an unneeded link ($FILE_NAME: "Cortana.Tips.winmd") in index "$I30" of directory "\Windows\WinSxS\amd64_microsoft-windows-c..sktop.appxmain.root_31bf3856ad364e35_10.0.15063.966_none_7012f55a14dd436b <0x29,0x50091>" ... queued for offline repair. 637180 index entries processed. Index verification completed. 0 unindexed files scanned. 0 unindexed files recovered to lost and found. Stage 3: Examining security descriptors ... Security descriptor verification completed. 61951 data files processed. CHKDSK is verifying Usn Journal... Usn Journal verification completed. Windows has found problems that must be fixed offline. Please run "chkdsk /spotfix" to fix the issues. 731992063 KB total disk space. 459915268 KB in 309150 files. 193244 KB in 61952 indexes. 0 KB in bad sectors. 605819 KB in use by the system. 65536 KB occupied by the log file. 271277732 KB available on disk. 4096 bytes in each allocation unit. 182998015 total allocation units on disk. 67819433 allocation units available on disk.[/quote]

 

It scans the file system, meaning the hard drive's formatting. If your C drive is formatted to NTFS, it checks the indexing, etc to make sure the file system is good. It can detect physical errors on the drive, but no software can fix those.

The file system is what the operating system gets installed on top of. The command SFC will go through Windows' system files and determine if any are missing or corrupt, then can repair them.