Running chkdsk

[WarmCurb]

I ran chkdsk on an external hard drive, but it didn't give me a report after it was finished. How can I run it so it gives me a report with what's wrong?

 

[Elvandil]

Only basic reports from chkdsk. How would any report be of any use, anyway? It tells you if it found anything and if it fixed it, so that's really all you need to know.

 

[Rollin' Rog]

For what it's worth, if you run the chkdsk command from a command window you will see the report:

http://www.microsoft.com/resources/documentation/windows/xp/all/proddocs/en-us/chkdsk.mspx?mfr=true

For example:

Microsoft Windows XP [Version 5.1.2600]
(C) Copyright 1985-2001 Microsoft Corp.

c:\windows\system32>chkdsk g:\ /f
The type of the file system is FAT.
Volume UDISK 2.0 created 8/17/2007 4:44 PM
Volume Serial Number is 69DE-A4D5
Windows is verifying files and folders...
File and folder verification is complete.
Windows has checked the file system and found no proble

1,007,124,480 bytes total disk space.
65,536 bytes in 4 hidden files.
16,384 bytes in 1 folders.
268,451,840 bytes in 2 files.
738,590,720 bytes available on disk.

16,384 bytes in each allocation unit.
61,470 total allocation units on disk.
45,080 allocation units available on disk.

c:\windows\system32>

 

[WarmCurb]

Only basic reports from chkdsk. How would any report be of any use, anyway? It tells you if it found anything and if it fixed it, so that's really all you need to know.

To indicate if my drive is about to crash

 

[Elvandil]

Chkdsk won't tell you much about the drive's health. It only addresses the file system. There are many other apps that will give you the SMART status of the drive and perform other tests.

Free Hard Drive Testing Applications:
HD Tune
HDAT2 (Diagnostics and bad sector recovery)
MHDD Low-level Diagnostics
Bootable Hitachi Drive Fitness Test Floppy or CD Image (works on most drives)

Hard Drive Manufacturers' Diagnostic Utilities Links:
TachTech
BleepingComputer

 

[WarmCurb]

Ran HD Tune and it said everything was OK. Still, my external HD folders are taking up to 20 seconds to open. Shouldn't I be concerned?

 

[Elvandil]

That is a long time. Do you have USB 2.0 or 1.1?

 

[WarmCurb]

2.0

 

[Rollin' Rog]

Is this drive directly connected to the computer from which you are opening folders and getting delays -- or is it networked?

Do folders open faster once the first one has been opened?

 

[Elvandil]

Check the properties of the drive in Device Manager. See if the optimize option is there and turned on.

It will take quite a while, but a good chkdsk /r on that drive would be a good idea. Sometimes the only symptom of file system errors is slow speed. NTFS is resilient and finds a way around minor errors so they don't stop access, but things get slow.

If that drive was pre-partitioned and pre-formatted, I'd remove the partitions and create new ones with the operating system.

 

[WarmCurb]

It is connected to the computer giving me delays and yes, once opened everything runs smoothly. It's just the process of getting there that's slow.

How do I get to the Device Manager? I've ran chkdsk twice and it says everything is OK.

 

[Elvandil]

Start > Run > devmgmt.msc

How is that drive powered?

 

[WarmCurb]

Start > Run > devmgmt.msc

How is that drive powered?

Not sure. What am I looking for?

 

[Elvandil]

Does it have its own adapter to plug into the wall, or does it get its power through the USB connection?

 

[WarmCurb]

Plugs into the wall