For that reason, you should make sure you always have a backup routine in place and back up your computer before running chkdsk. If chkdsk detects problems, especially hard bad sectors that cannot be repaired, the data may not be available. Fortunately, chkdsk was able to recover sectors in this case, and everything returned to normal afterwards. After many troubleshooting issues, scanning with chkdsk reveals that there are bad sectors where the Outlook data file is stored. Even if you encounter problems such as not loading the application or being unable to resolve it in another way, users may consider checking the drive.įor example, Outlook suddenly starts having trouble right after loading. Sometimes Windows will automatically run scans during the boot process, but often users will have to do it themselves. Also consider running it at any time when Windows unexpectedly shuts down, such as after a power failure or system crash. Users should run chkdsk periodically every few months with the use of a SMART tool for drives that support it. Chkdsk tries to fix these problems by fixing 'soft' bad sectors, and marking 'hard' bad sectors cannot be reused. Bad sectors have two types: bad sectors 'soft', which occur when data is overwritten, and 'hard' bad sectors occur due to physical damage on the hard drive. Chkdsk can also scan every sector on a hard drive searching for bad sectors.Such errors may include broken entries in the original file table (Master file table - MFT), security descriptor not related to the file, or even timestamp, file size information for individual files. Chkdsk's basic function is to scan the entire file system, file system metadata on the hard drive and fix the logical file system errors it finds.Chkdsk performs several functions, depending on how it runs: It is not an interesting tool because running it can take some time, but it can really help prevent major problems and data loss in the long run. So what can Chkdsk do and when to use it ?Ĭheck Disk, also known as chkdsk (which is the command used to run it) scans the entire hard drive to find and fix the problem. 25 interesting things about hard drives you may not know.Signs that you should replace the hard drive.This article will show you how to use the Check Disk tool that comes with all versions of Windows. Whenever there is a hard drive error or even strange behavior, users can rarely think of Check Disk as 'savior'.

How to run chkdsk r