Manual steps to run Chkdsk

Notes

 Chkdsk requires exclusive access to a volume when it runs. Therefore, if one or more of the files are
open on the disk that you want to check, Chkdsk displays a prompt asking if you want schedule the
disk check for the next time that you restart your computer.
 Chkdsk might take a long time to run, depending on the number of files and folders, the size of the
volume, disk performance, and available system resources, such as processor and memory.
 Chkdsk might not accurately report information in read-only mode.

Manual steps to run Chkdsk at the command prompt

1. Click Start, and then Run.

2. In Open, type cmd, and then press ENTER.
3. Use one of the following procedures:
o To run Chkdsk in read-only mode, at the command prompt, type chkdsk, and then press
ENTER.
o To repair errors without scanning the volume for bad sectors, at the command prompt,
type chkdsk volume:/f, and then press ENTER.

Note If one or more of the files on the hard disk are open, you will receive the following
message:

Chkdsk cannot run because the volume is in use by another process. Would you like to
schedule this volume to be checked the next time the system restarts? (Y/N)

Type Y, and then press ENTER to schedule the disk check, and then restart your computer
to start the disk check.

o To repair errors, locate bad sectors, and recover readable information, at the command
prompt, type chkdsk volume:/r, and then press ENTER. 

Note If one or more of the files on the hard disk are open, you will receive the following
message:

Chkdsk cannot run because the volume is in use by another process. Would you like to
schedule this volume to be checked the next time the system restarts? (Y/N)

Type Y, and then press ENTER to schedule the disk check, and then restart your computer
to start the disk check.

Manual steps to run Chkdsk from My Computer or Windows Explorer

1. Double-click My Computer, and then right-click the hard disk that you want to check.
2. Click Properties, and then click Tools.
3. Under Error-checking, click Check Now. A dialog box that shows the Check disk options is
displayed,
4. Use one of the following procedures:
o To run Chkdsk in read-only mode, click Start.
o To repair errors without scanning the volume for bad sectors, select theAutomatically fix
file system errors check box, and then click Start.
 o To repair errors, locate bad sectors, and recover readable information, select theScan for
and attempt recovery of bad sectors check box, and then clickStart.

Note If one or more of the files on the hard disk are open, you will receive the following message:

The disk check could not be performed because the disk check utility needs exclusive access to
some Windows files on the disk. These files can be accessed by restarting Windows. Do you want to
schedule the disk check to occur the next time you restart the computer?

Click Yes to schedule the disk check, and then restart your computer to start the disk check.

The following table lists the exit codes that Chkdsk reports after it has finished:
Exit code Description

0 No errors were found.

1 Errors were found and fixed.

2 Disk cleanup, such as garbage collection, was performed, or cleanup was not performed because /f was not specified.

3 Could not check the disk, errors could not be fixed, or errors were not fixed because/f was not specified.

There is a registry hack to enable or disable Windows NT TaskManager. The same registry hack applies to Windows
2000 and Windows XP.

Hive: HKEY_CURRENT_USER 
Key: Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\System 
Name: DisableTaskMgr 
Type: REG_DWORD
Value: 1=Enablethis key, that is DISABLE TaskManager
Value: 0=Disablethis key, that is Don't Disable, Enable TaskManager

As part of the enhanced management available in Windows 2000 and Windows XP, rather than risking a registry change, as
an administrator you can enable or disable Windows 2000 Pro or Windows XP Pro's TaskManager using Group Policy
Editor. This can be applied to the local policy. Note: if you are trying to override your organizations group policy, you can't.
As soon as you re-authenticate to the domain, the domain or OU Group Policy will rewrite the registry setting. But if the
TaskManager was accidently disabled or you need to control this item for a set of standalone boxes this is for you:

 Click Start
 Click Run
 Enter gpedit.msc in the Open box and click OK
 In the Group Policy settings window
o Select User Configuration
o Select Administrative Templates
o Select System
o Select Ctrl+Alt+Delete options
o Select Remove Task Manager
o Double-click the Remove Task Manager option
And as I mentioned above, since the policy is Remove Task Manager, by disabling the policy, you are enabling the Task
Manager.

Got XP Home - use the registry edit.

Remarks
A volume must have at least 15% free space for defrag to completely and adequately defragment
• it. Defrag uses this space as a sorting area for file fragments. If a volume has less than 15% free
space, defrag will only partially defragment it. To increase the free space on a volume, delete unneeded
files or move them to another disk.
You cannot defragment volumes that the file system has marked as dirty, which indicates possible
• corruption. You must runchkdsk on a dirty volume before you can defragment it. You can determine if a
volume is dirty by using the fsutil dirty query command. For more information about chkdsk and fsutil
dirty, see Related Topics.
While defrag is analyzing and defragmenting a volume, it displays a blinking cursor. When defrag is
• finished analyzing and defragmenting the volume, it displays the analysis report, the defragmentation
report, or both reports, and then exits to the command prompt.
• By default, defrag displays a summary of both the analysis and defragmentation reports if you do not
specify the /a or /vparameters.
You can send the reports to a text file by typing >filename.txt, where filename.txt is a file name you
• specify. For example:
defrag volume /v >filename.txt
• To interrupt the defragmentation process, at the command line, press CTRL+C.

Running the defrag command and Disk Defragmenter are mutually exclusive. If you are using Disk
• Defragmenter to defragment a volume and you run the defrag command at a command-line,
the defrag command fails. Conversely, if you run the defrag command and open Disk Defragmenter,
the defragmentation options in Disk Defragmenter are unavailable.