CHKDSK has been Windows’ disk error detection and repair tool since MS-DOS, and despite its age, it remains the correct first step when Windows reports filesystem corruption or a drive is behaving unpredictably.
# Read-only check, no repairs, safe to run anytime chkdsk C: # Full check with repairs - requires exclusive access, # so it schedules for the next reboot on the system drive chkdsk C: /f /r # /f fixes filesystem errors # /r locates bad sectors and recovers readable information (implies /f)
Reading the Output
CHKDSK reports filesystem errors (fixable, usually caused by an unclean shutdown) separately from bad sectors (a physical hardware issue, not something software can truly “fix,” only work around by marking the sector unusable). Repeated bad sector findings across multiple runs is a strong signal the drive itself is failing and needs replacement, not further CHKDSK runs.
# Check overall drive health status (SMART data) Get-PhysicalDisk | Select-Object FriendlyName, HealthStatus, OperationalStatus
If HealthStatus shows anything other than “Healthy,” back up the drive’s data immediately — CHKDSK repairs the filesystem, not the underlying hardware, and a failing drive will keep generating new errors regardless of how many times you run it.