Unfortunately, the hard drive, which is one of the most important components of a computer system, is more often than other equipment subject to software failures or even physical damage, which leads to the loss of important information or causes dysfunction of the operating system and programs installed in it. Timely detection of problems with their subsequent elimination helps to avoid the occurrence of critical failures. That is why it is very often necessary to check the disk for errors.
We will consider Windows 10 as an example only for the reason that, unlike its predecessors, this operating system has acquired many additional tools, the use of which was previously not provided at all. Applicationsuch methods will allow the system to keep working, and not to lose important data that can be stored on the HDD.
Possible problems with hard drives
If we talk about possible problems, usually the following situations are included in the list of the most common situations:
- file system errors;
- appearance of bad sectors and blocks;
- physical damage, including equipment failure due to the natural obsolescence of the hard drive when the drive began to "crumble".
Despite even the possible damage to the HDD by physical means, it is generally accepted that most known failures are fixed by software methods. And then we will look at how to check the hard drive for errors and damage in Windows 10, focusing on the tools of the operating system itself. Additionally, of course, the most powerful utilities from third-party developers will be presented, but without a detailed description of the principles of their work and use, since at the right time you may not have such programs at hand.
How to check your hard drive for errors and bad sectors in Windows 10: a standard system tool
Apparently, there is no need to remind you that in any modification of Windows, regardless of the year of its release, there are several built-in tools for checking the hard drive. The standard Windows 10 tool allows you to check the disk for errors by calling it through the graphical interface (however, as in any other OS of the entire family).
To do this, you need to use the "Explorer": through RMB on the selected section, call the property item, then go to the service tab, press the check button and wait for it to complete.
Note: Unlike legacy systems, you do not need to set advanced auto-troubleshooting options.
The easiest method to check from the command console
It must be said that the use of the means just described very often does not give the desired result. Sometimes the system may even report that verification is not required at the moment, but in fact there are still errors on the disk.
To perform deep testing in full, you need to use other methods that allow you to use the command console and the CHKDSK toolkit in different variations. It is believed that it is the command line to check the disk for errors in Windows 10 or similar versions of the OS that makes it much more efficient.
Usually, to activate a check with automatic correction of found errors, it is recommended to run the console as an administrator, for which you can use the RMB menu on the start button, and then run the command chkdsk c: /f/r.
It should be noted right away that this will not give an instant result, since it will be reported that the disk is currently in use, but it will prompt you to perform a check at the next system start. To agree, you need to press the Y key and restart the stationarycomputer terminal or laptop.
If you want to check not one partition, but the entire HDD, while disabling the partitions used by the system, you can use the start from removable media, call the command line and execute the above command. True, to optimize scanning and disconnecting the volume, it is better to set the combination /x/f/r as attributes, and after entering the main command, do not specify the drive letter.
View scan results
As you can see, the Windows 10 command line makes it quite easy to check the disk for errors. But after all, sometimes it is necessary to review the results of the check in order to find out exactly what problems were fixed, which to some extent will allow you to get rid of their appearance in the future. To do this, you can use special report files that open when you call the event viewer tool (eventvwr.msc).
Here you need to expand the Windows logs section, and through RMB on the application item, search by the name of the verification tool (Chkdsk). After that, in a detailed report, you can see exactly which problems were identified and fixed (or not fixed).
Offline scan with volume offline
As already mentioned, it may be impossible to disable the system partition with a standard command. That is why, without using the start from removable media in the Windows 10 command console (cmd), you can check the disk for errors by entering a slightly modified command, whichused for so-called offline testing.
Invoke a command prompt with administrator level access and enter the combination shown in the image above, then wait for the results to appear. If the message about the impossibility of performing the operation appears again, agree to perform a scan on restart.
Checking the disk in the PowerShell console
In Windows 10, you can also check the disk for errors through the PowerShell console, which is similar to the command line, but with more features.
Run it as an admin by either searching for the applet via the RMB menu on the start button, or by creating a new task in the Task Manager, and then run the combination shown in the picture above.
Note: the example is given to check the system partition (drive "C"), so if you need to scan and fix errors on logical drives, enter the corresponding letters.
How to Check Your Hard Drive for Errors and Damage in Windows 10: Storage Diagnostic Toolkit
In the tenth modification of Windows, one most interesting tool appeared, which was not available at all in previous versions. This is a special storage diagnostic applet that also works through the command console.
You can make sure that the verification is really needed through the security and maintenance section in the "Panelmanagement". Expand the facility.
If at the very bottom of the disk status it says that all disks are working properly, and the check is not required, naturally, it can be omitted.
Otherwise, launch the command console as an administrator, and then execute the combination shown in the image above, where instead of PATH specify the full path to the directory where you want to save the report files. Upon completion of the scan, you can open the created objects in the specified folder and look at the information you are interested in.
Note: The scanning process can take a very long time, and sometimes it will seem that the system is completely frozen, so please be patient.
Third party verification programs
Finally, if you are not satisfied with the means of the system itself, you can check the disk for errors in Windows 10, as well as in any other modification, using third-party software products specially designed for this. Among the countless variety of such applications, the following universal utilities can be recommended as the most powerful:
- HDD Victoria;
- HDDScan;
- Crystal Disk Info (or similar CrystalDiskMark applet);
- DiskCheckup;
- HD Tune etc.
In most of these applications, you can perform S. M. A. R. T. testing, and based on some of them you can even create bootable media that allows you to check the hard drive withoutbooting the installed OS.
Is it possible to recover a "crashed" hard drive?
Finally, if the hard drive, due to objective reasons or due to physical damage, began to become unusable, you can use the unique HDD Regenerator program, which not only checks the disk with error correction, but also allows (according to the assurances of the developers) even remagnetize hard drives in order to return the drive to a he althy state and not lose important information present on it. Of course, the issue of using this application seems rather controversial to many, however, if no other methods allow you to bring a fallen disk back to life, you can try to perform resuscitation using this program. At least it won't hurt anything.
