Chkdsk

What is the Chkdsk Command?

The chkdsk command is a Recovery Console command used to check a specified disk and repair or recover data on the drive if necessary.

Chkdsk also marks any damaged or malfunctioning sectors on the hard drive or disk as "bad" and recovers any information still intact.
Chkdsk Command Syntax

chkdsk [drive:] [/p] [/r]

drive: = This is the drive letter of the partition you want check for errors.

/p = This option instructs chkdsk to perform an extensive check of the drive and correct any errors.

/r = This option instructs chkdsk to locate bad sectors and recover any readable information from them.

Note: When using this option, the /p option is implied so it's not necessary to use it in addition to /r.
Chkdsk Command Examples

chkdsk

In the above example, since no drive or additional options were entered, chkdsk simply displays the status of the current drive.

chkdsk c: /r

In this example, the chkdsk command is used to perform an extensive check of the drive to correct any errors and to locate any recover information from bad sectors.
Chkdsk Command Availability

The chkdsk command is available from within the Recovery Console in Windows 2000 and Windows XP.

The chkdsk command is also accessible from the Command Prompt in any version of Windows but with different options and restrictions.
Chkdsk Related Commands

The chkdsk command is often used with many other Recovery Console commands.