Quincy Center for Technical Education
Computer Technology Department

Chkdsk

Creates and displays a status report for a disk, based on the file system used. Chkdsk also lists and corrects errors on the disk. If chkdsk cannot lock the drive it will offer to check it the next time the computer restarts.

Issuing the chkdsk command on a fixed disk requires you be a member of the Administrators group.

chkdsk [drive:][[path] filename] [/f] [/v] [/r] [/l[:size]] [/x]

Parameters

none

Used without parameters, chkdsk displays the status of the disk in the current drive.

drive:

Specifies the drive that contains the disk that you want chkdsk to check.

[path] filename

Specifies the location and name of a file or set of files that you want chkdsk to check for fragmentation. You can use wildcard characters (* and ?) to specify multiple files.

/f

Fixes errors on the disk. The disk must be locked. If chkdsk cannot lock the drive it will offer to check it the next time the computer restarts.

/v

Displays the name of each file in every directory as the disk is checked.

/r

Locates bad sectors and recovers readable information. The disk must be locked.

/l[:size]

NTFS only. Changes the log file size to the size you enter. Displays the current size if you don't enter a new one.

/x

NTFS only. Forces the volume to dismount first, if necessary. All open handles to the volume are then invalid. This switch also includes the functionality of the /f switch.

/i

NTFS only. Performs a less vigorous check of index entries, reducing the amount of time needed to run chkdsk.

/c

NTFS only. Skips the checking of cycles within the folder structure, reducing the amount of time needed to run chkdsk.