Use Disk Check in Windows XP
Windows XP provides a rudimentary tool called Disk Check that checks the hard disk for defects and looks for lost clusters that are sometimes created when a program aborts.
If the check discovers a few file errors, that's OK. But if it comes up with hundreds of errors, the drive may be failing.
Note: A disk check will take anywhere from 30 minutes to 2 hours depending on the size and speed of the hard-drive and number of errors (if any).
Note: These steps are written for College Enterprise (EN) Computers with Windows XP.
How to run a Disk Check at start-up
- Close all programs.
- Open My Computer. Right-Click on Local Disk (C:) and choose Properties .
- Click the Tools tab. Click Check Now .
- Place a check in the Automatically fix file system errors and Scan for and attempt recovery of bad sectors boxes.
- Click Start .
- You will see a window saying that the disk check must be done when you restart your computer. Click Yes . Click OK .
- Restart the computer.
Note : CHKDSK will proceed through 5 checks (stages). It will check (verify) files, indexes, security descriptors, file data (this may take 30 - 60 minutes) and free space (this may take 15 - 30 minutes). Wait for the process to complete.
- Windows should start normally. After the computer is re-booted, you're done.
How to Validate the Disk Check
Optionally, to view the results you can look in the Application log of the Computer Management event viewer.
- To see the Application log, Right-Click on My Computer and choose Manage.
- In the left column, click the Plus Sign ( + ) to expand Event Viewer. Then click on Application.
- On the right side, look for a recent Information - Winlogon entry. Double-click to open the log. You will see the description of the Disk Check here.
- Click OK to close the Event Properties window. Close the Computer Management event viewer.
Also see our How to Use Disk Cleanup and How to Use Disk Defragmenter How To's that are shown as Related Articles.
