September 15, 2006

Running a hard disk check in Windows XP.  This is what used to be called Scandisk in previous versions of Windows.  Even though Microsoft failed to call attention to this disk utility, it is a very important and useful program.  Hard disks all have some imperfections in them.  When new, the computer overlooks these bad areas, but as time goes on, questionable regions on the disks may start to cause problems.  This utility will identify bad areas and move data to safe areas so it won't get corrupted or lost.  One bad spot can ruin a whole file, so you should get used to running this utility to protect your data.

Begin by starting up Windows Explorer.  Right click on the C drive in the left pane, then left click on Properties.  On the Tools tab, click on the Check Now button in the Error checking section.

Check both items, then click on the Start button.

A message will pop up telling you it will have to check the disk the next time you start up the computer.  NOTE:  This check will take one to two hours, so do this when you can let the computer do the check.  You can't stop it once it starts.  When the computer restarts, there will be a blue screen which  will give you a few seconds to hit a key in order to start the computer without the check.  Once the check starts, there will be a series of five checks performed and it will give you the status of the progress.  Steps  four and five go very slowly.

This error checking and repairing is much improved over the old scandisk program and should be done once every four to six months.

If you have any questions or comments, click