Drive Error Checking in Windows 10  

zbook said:

When using the properties menu what is the equivalent command line switch when Windows runs chkdsk?

I believe it's the /f switch for "scan", and /r switch for "repair".

zbook said:

And when using fsutil dirty set C: what is the equivalent command line switch when Windows runs chkdsk?

This would be the /markclean switch, but not available for NTFS. For NTFS, you will need to schedule an offline scan and repair at boot using the /r switch to hopefully clear it.

Manually Reset or Clear Dirty Bit in Windows without using CHKDSK • Raymond.CC

How to Manually Clear or Set Dirty Bit on Windows Volume | Password Recovery

Hello @Brink,

Just to add to the above.

I have a program that I wrote that performs all sorts of operations. One of them is to check if the OS drive is configured to run on the next reboot, and another is to cancel the run if it is. The below is taken from my program which I thought I would share.

The below assumes that the OS Drive is C:.

[1] Check if chkdsk has been configured [ scheduled ] to run on the next reboot.

If chkdsk IS configured to run on the next reboot, you will see a message saying that it has been scheduled manually to run on the next reboot. This basically means that it has been flagged as DIRTY.

If chkdsk is NOT configured to run on the next reboot, you will see a message saying that OS Drive is NOT dirty.

Code:

C:\Users\System-Admin>chkntfs C:

The type of the file system is NTFS.
C: is not dirty.

[2] Cancel configured [ scheduled ] chkdsk to run on the next reboot.

Code:

C:\Users\System-Admin>chkntfs /x C:

The type of the file system is NTFS.

I don't know if this will be a useful addition to the Tutorial?

Hello @Paul Black,

This may cover it: Cancel a Scheduled Chkdsk at Boot in Windows 10

Brink said:

Hello @Paul Black,

This may cover it: Cancel a Scheduled Chkdsk at Boot in Windows 10

Ah, OK @Brink.
My fault, I should have looked before I posted.

UPDATE 12/20:

KB4592438 CU Windows 10 v2004 build 19041.685 and v20H2 19042.685

A small number of devices that have installed this update have reported that when running chkdsk /f, their file system might get damaged and the device might not boot.

This issue is resolved and should now be prevented automatically on non-managed devices. Please note that it can take up to 24 hours for the resolution to propagate to non-managed devices. Restarting your device might help the resolution apply to your device faster. For enterprise-managed devices that have installed this update and encountered this issue, it can be resolved by installing and configuring a special Group Policy. To find out more about using Group Policies, see Group Policy Overview.

To mitigate this issue on devices which have already encountered this issue and are unable to start up, use the following steps:

1. The device should automatically start up into the Recovery Console after failing to start up a few times.
2. Select Advanced options.
3. Select Command Prompt from the list of actions.
4. Once Command Prompt opens, type: chkdsk /f
5. Allow chkdsk to complete the scan, this can take a little while. Once it has completed, type: exit
6. The device should now start up as expected. If it restarts into Recovery Console, select Exit and continue to Windows 10.

Note After completing these steps, the device might automatically run chkdsk again on restart. It should start up as expected once it has completed.