HD Checking -- How to test yours

ZigZag3143 (MS -MVP) created on

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HD Checking -- How to test yours

Technical Level : Basic

Summary
If an HD is suspect you need to test two things. First to check the file system on the HD you need to run CHKDSK. Second, you need to check the actual HD itself as chkdsk does not
Details

CHKDSK /R
Chkdsk disclaimer: While performing chkdsk on the hard drive if any bad sectors are found any data available on that sector might be lost so as usual backup your data.

Run CHKDSK /R from an elevated (Run as administrator) Command Prompt.
Do this for each hard drive on your system.
When it tells you it can't do it right now - and asks you if you'd like to do it at the next reboot - answer Y (for Yes) and press Enter.

Then reboot and let the test run.
It may take a while for it to run, but keep an occasional eye on it to see if it generates any errors.
http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/windows-vista/guide-to-using-check-disk-in-windows-vista/ (applies to win 7, 8, & 10 as well)

See "CHKDSK LogFile" below in order to check the results of the test.

CHKDSK LogFile:
Go to Start and type in "eventvwr.msc" (without the quotes) and press Enter
Expand the Windows logs heading, then select the Application log file entry.
Double click on the Source column header.
Scroll down the list until you find the Chkdsk entry (wininit for Win7) (winlogon for XP).
Copy/paste the results into your next post.