04/26/2017
Notice: These are written for average users using plain English. They are not meant to be a technical manual describing all the technical details.
Legal Stuff:
Tech Support, Inc. will not be held responsible for loss or damage to equipment in case of fire, theft, accident or any other cause beyond our control. I understand that I am responsible for backing up any data before my computer is worked on. Tech Support, Inc. is not responsible for any loss of data that may occur during his work.
BACKUP IS IMPORTANT Click here for free 5GB backup. (The free is probably not large enough)
Check Disk or CHKDSK
This is the first utility we run when the client computer is having performance issues.
CHKDSK looks for and tries to repair lost or damaged files.
Windows keeps track of all the files, locations and sizes. Occasionally a file is “lost” or damaged. If it’s a startup file Windows will take a long time to complete the boot process. If it’s a user file, Windows or the application that created it, may show it as damaged. The damage is usually caused by improper shut down of the computer. You should always use “Shutdown” rather than just turning off the computer.
To use CHKDSK I prefer using the “command prompt”. On Windows 10 you can use Cortana or right click on the start button.
Using Cortana, simply type “command” and right click on the command prompt desktop application and select run as administrator. Say yes to the popup. You will see a black window with white or gray letters Next type “chkdsk” (no quotations) and hit enter. This will start the utility. The important part is when the utility is finished you should get:
“Windows has scanned the file system and found no problems.
No further action is required.”
If it shows a list of errors call us before you do anything else. BACKUP IS KEY AT THIS POINT.
If it shows errors then the next step is to run the repairs. To do this type “chkdsk /f” (no quotations). You need a space between chkdsk and the /f. If the command is correct you will see:
“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)”
Press y and then enter. Reboot the system.
CHKDSK will automatically run. PATIENCE is KEY. Don’t stop this process. It may run several times with reboots in between.
That’s it. You can rerun the chkdsk to check if it was repaired.
I hope this was easy to read and follow. If not, let me know. If it was informative and helpful, please let me know.
If you would like to see more of these send me your email address at [email protected] or go to www.techsupportmo.com. These will be posted under helpful hints.
