Scandisk is a utility for locating, reporting and correcting file system errors (such as lost file fragments and cross-linked files) on disks (hard drives). Scandisk was originally included in version 6.2 of the MS-DOS operating system, but there are also versions for Microsoft Windows 95 and Windows 98. Scandisk is generally preferable to chkdsk because it has better error recovery features and can perform a more exhaustive surface scan if needed.

Scandisk utility can’t check NTFS volumes, so it’s not included with versions of Windows that could be running on NTFS-formatted disks – basically Windows XP and later.

SCANDISK MS-DOS COMMAND

Microsoft ScanDisk was first introduced with MS-DOS 6.2. It is a software utility capable of checking the hard drive and floppy disk for any disk errors.

Scandisk Command Syntax

SCANDISK

SCANDISK [d: [d: . . .]|/all][/checkonly|/autofix[/nosave]|/custom][/surface]
[/mono][/nosummary]

SCANDISK volume-name[/checkonly|/autofix[/nosave]|/custom][/mono]
[/nosummary]

SCANDISK /fragment [d:][path]filename

SCANDISK /undo [undo-d:][/mono]

The ScanDisk utility checks and fixes the problems in the following areas:

• File allocation table (FAT)
• File system structure (lost clusters, crosslinked files)
• Directory tree structure
• Physical surface of the drive (bad clusters)
• DoubleSpace volume header (MDBPB)
• DoubleSpace volume file structure (MDFAT)
• DoubleSpace compression structure
• DoubleSpace volume signatures
• MS-DOS boot sector

How to use Scandisk on Windows 10?

1. Press Windows key + E on your keyboard to open File Explorer.
2. In the File Explorer window, click on This PC in the left navigation pane.
3. A list of drives is displayed on the right side of the window. Right-click on the drive you want to run Scandisk on and select Properties.
4. In the Properties window, click on the Tools tab.
5. Click the Check button in the Error Checking section.
6. The computer needs to restart to run Scandisk without any interruptions.