Windows chkdsk is a tool that should be run from time to time. It will scan the disk for errors, fix logical errors, detect and mark bad sectors, so that Windows will no longer try to use them. This way it can prevent your computer from becoming unstable.

There is a slight disadvantage, though – Check Disk may require a lot of time to perform its task. It depends on many things, like overall PC speed, number of files and folders on the disk, amount of RAM, and disk size. So it’s best to run Check Disk only if you don’t need to use the computer for some time. In most cases it will ask for a reboot and will run right after the reboot, so you won’t have access to your PC. Of course, you can always interrupt the process, but it’s not a good idea.

Also see : 3 Simple Ways To Free Up Disk Space In Windows 7

How to Run Check Disk on Your Windows PC

1. Find the My Computer icon on your desktop and double-click it
2. Find the disk you want to check, right-click it and go to Properties
3. In the Properties dialog box go to Tools
4. Click Check now
5. A new dialog box will appear, check both options and click Start
   
6. Most likely you will get a message that Check Disk wants exclusive access to the disk and wants to start right after your reboot. Click OK
7. Restart your computer

You can also run the Check Disk via Command line. To do so open up an administrator mode command prompt, and then type in the following command to do an exhaustive check of your drive. Substitute C: for whatever drive you want to check.

chkdsk /f /r C:

The above command is the recommended way to perform a disk check, but if you want to do a less exhaustive check, you could remove the /R option from the command. For more details check Microsoft’s documentation

Here’s the full list of parameters :

C:\>chkdsk /?
Checks a disk and displays a status report.

CHKDSK [volume[[path]filename]]] [/F] [/V] [/R] [/X] [/I] [/C] [/L[:size]] [/B]

  volume          Specifies the drive letter (followed by a colon),
                  mount point, or volume name.
  filename        FAT/FAT32 only: Specifies the files to check for fragmentation.
  /F              Fixes errors on the disk.
  /V              On FAT/FAT32: Displays the full path and name of every file
                  on the disk.
                  On NTFS: Displays cleanup messages if any.
  /R              Locates bad sectors and recovers readable information
                  (implies /F).
  /L:size         NTFS only:  Changes the log file size to the specified number
                  of kilobytes.  If size is not specified, displays current
                  size.
  /X              Forces the volume to dismount first if necessary.
                  All opened handles to the volume would then be invalid
                  (implies /F).
  /I              NTFS only: Performs a less vigorous check of index entries.
  /C              NTFS only: Skips checking of cycles within the folder
                  structure.
  /B              NTFS only: Re-evaluates bad clusters on the volume
                  (implies /R)

The /I or /C switch reduces the amount of time required to run Chkdsk by
skipping certain checks of the volume.

Image by Nemo