Microsoft Windows Operating System : How to Check and Fix Corrupt Files

This article describes the steps needed to run CHKDSK utility to find and fix corrupt files and folders.

How to Check for Corrupt Files and Folder in Windows Operating Systems

To run the CHKDSK utility from within windows follow the few short steps described below:

1. Open a command box (Black – Command Line Interface)
2. If you want CHKDSK to run in:
   1. read-only mode,
      1. type: CHKDSK c:
   2. If you want CHKDSK to fix errors and not to check bad sectors
      1. type: CHKDSK c:/f
         and press Enter in the Command Prompt
   3. If you want CHKDSK to run thoroughly; that is, fix errors, find bad sectors in your hard drive and recover still readable data
      1. type: CHKDSK c:/r or
         CHKDSK c:/p and press Enter in the Command Prompt.

Note: if you are running CHKDSK on the C: Drive, Windows will ask you to reboot to perform a full scan and
recovery. On other drives other than C: where the operating system sits, you
will be able to perform a full scan without ever exiting the windows desktop
environment.

To run the CHKDSK utility from within windows Xp follow the few short steps described below:

1. Open My Computer
2. Right click on the drive you wish to run the CHKDSK utility
3. Click the properties button
4. Click Tools tab
5. In the Error checking box, Click the check now button
6. Setup the error checking options
   1. Check the box labeled  “automatically fix file system errors” to
      fix file system errors and problems
   2. Check the “Scan for and attempt recovery of Bad Sectors” to
      automatically try to recover corrupt files and folders
   3. If you only want to run CHKDSK in read only mode do not check any of the
      above options
7. Click the Start button.

Note:  Performing a CHKDSK can take a considerable amount of time and should only be done if absolutely necessary or during idle times like late at night.