Using Windows 7, how do I run CHKDSK?

Anonymous
2011-02-27T02:35:59+00:00

I've searched throughout the Control Panel and it's submenus and options but can find no means to initiate a scan for disk errors!

I did find chkdsk.exe in the Windows\System32 folder but when I double click it, the only response is a flash of the DOS {black, command prompt} screen! Is that the correct response?!

Is there no way to run [schedule] a scan disk [for errors] as there has been in earlier versions of Windows?!

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Anonymous
2011-02-27T17:52:55+00:00

It's done the same way in Windows 7 as it was in earlier versions of Windows:

  1. Open the "Computer" window
  2. Right-click on the drive in question
  3. Select the "Tools" tab
  4. In the Error-checking area, click <Check Now>.

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  1. Anonymous
    2016-03-24T17:50:12+00:00

    There is a small step missing here.  3a.  Click Properties.  :)

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  2. Anonymous
    2015-11-17T15:18:27+00:00

    Still get same error, the disk is in use.

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  3. LemP 74,970 Reputation points Volunteer Moderator
    2015-10-25T18:41:15+00:00

    that is not what i was looking to do. i was looking to open chkdsk as it was opened in xp and 98, independantly from the my computer tools menu. and also fixdsk as well. these were useful tools in the other systems that should have been allowed to run in 7,8,8.1 and 10 as well.

    Rather than complain about a post that's almost 5 years old, please ask an actual question in a forum for the edition of Windows with which you have a problem.  This thread is in the Windows 7 section of Community Answers.

    The method that Bruce Chambers described in February 2011 is exactlyhow chkdsk "was opened in xp" (as well as in Windows 7, 8, 8.1, and 10). Windows 98 did not have chkdsk -- it had a different program named Scandisk, which could be invoked from Start > All Programs > Accessories > System Tools > Scandisk.

    Most likely, you are attempting to ask a question about how to use the Command Prompt.  You can run chkdsk from the Command Prompt in Windows XP, 7, 8, 8.1, and 10.  For editions newer than XP, you should open an Elevated Command Prompt window (that is, right-click on the shortcut to cmd.exe, select "Run as administrator," and respond to the UAC prompt).  Type the chkdsk command with the appropriate parameters and switches in the Command Prompt window and press Enter.

    If you need assistance in how to open a Command Prompt window, please ask in the appropriate forum; the procedure is different for different editions of Windows.

    There is no such command as "fixdsk" so I can't help you with that one.

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  4. Anonymous
    2015-10-25T17:12:59+00:00

    that is not what i was looking to do. i was looking to open chkdsk as it was opened in xp and 98, independantly from the my computer tools menu. and also fixdsk as well. these were useful tools in the other systems that should have been allowed to run in 7,8,8.1 and 10 as well.

    Was this answer helpful?

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