How to fix hard drive problems on Windows 10

On Windows 10, every hard drive will eventually start experiencing errors and other problems, whether it’s a traditional mechanical hard drive (HDD) or Solid-State Drive (SSD). And the issues will always vary. For instance, Windows 10 may stop recognizing the drive. You may notice strange behaviors like a particular app locking up. You may encounter problems upgrading to a new version of the operating system and other issues.

Whatever the problem might be, even if you are not sure it is a drive-related issue, you can use the built-in “Check Disk” tool to resolve many common problems.

Check Disk (chkdsk) is a tool that has been around for years that can scan the integrity of the file system on a partition and repair any logical errors. The utility can also fix bad sectors if data does not write correctly or if a physical problem with the drive exists.

This guide will teach you the steps to check and repair hard drive errors using the Windows 10 Check Disk (chkdsk) tool.

• Fix hard drive errors on Windows 10 from Control Panel
• Fix hard drive errors on Windows 10 from Command Prompt

Fix hard drive errors on Windows 10 from Control Panel

If the hard drive is experiencing problems, you can use the Check Disk tool on Windows 10 to fix the most common errors.

To fix drive errors from Control Panel on Windows 10, use these steps:

1. Open File Explorer on Windows 10.

2. Click on This PC from the left pane.

3. Under the “Devices and drives” section, right-click the hard drive to repair and choose the Properties option.

   

4. Click on the Tools tab.

5. Under the “Error checking” section, click the Check button.

   

6. Click the Scan drive option.

   

7. If the utility did not find any errors, click the Close button, but if errors cannot be repaired, you will be prompted to schedule another scan during the next restart.

Once you complete the steps, the device’s hard drive should start working normally.

Fix hard drive errors on Windows 10 from Command Prompt

Alternatively, it is also possible to check and fix hard drive errors using the Check Disk (chkdsk) tool from Command Prompt.

To repair hard drive errors from Command Prompt on Windows 10, use these steps:

1. Open Start.

2. Search for Command Prompt, right-click the top result, and select the Run as administrator option.

3. Type the following command to run the Check Disk tool and press Enter:

   chkdsk /f c:

   

4. (Optional) Type the following command if you want to fix bad sectors on the hard drive and press Enter:

   chkdsk /r c:

You should always start with the /f switch to correct errors, but if you are still having problems, then you should use the check disk tool with the /r option, which also runs the command with the /f option turned on.

After the scan, if errors were found, but there are open files, you will be prompted to schedule a scan during the next restart (something recommended).

Once you complete the steps, the hard drive should now be free of errors and bad sectors, and it should start working correctly again. If you want to learn more about the available options using “chkdsk,” then use the chkdsk /? command.

This guide is focused on devices running Windows 10, but Check Disk has been available for a long time, and the steps outlined here should also work on Windows 8.1 and Windows 7.