How to Change Chkdsk AutoChk Initiation Countdown Time at Boot in Windows 10

information   Information
Checking your drives for errors every once in a while can help fix some performance issues. Drive errors can usually be caused by bad sectors, improper shutdowns, bad software, corruption, physical damage, etc...

If you schedule a disk check at boot (ex: "chkdsk /F"), you will have 8 seconds by default to press a key within to be able to skip disk checking the next time you restart the computer.

This tutorial will show you how to change the AutoChk timeout value in seconds you have to press any key within to skip disk checking (chkdsk) at boot in Windows 10.

You must be signed in as an administrator to be able to change the AutoChk initiation countdown time.


CONTENTS:
  • Option One: To Change AutoChk Timeout Value in Command Prompt
  • Option Two: To Change AutoChk Timeout Value in Registry Editor


EXAMPLE: AUTOCHK initiation countdown time at boot for scheduled disk check
Change Chkdsk AutoChk Countdown Time at Boot in Windows 10-offline_chkdsk-2.png




OPTION ONE

To Change AutoChk Timeout Value in Command Prompt


1. Open an elevated command prompt.

2. Copy and paste the command below in the command prompt, and press Enter. This will show you what the current AutoChkTimeout value is set to. (see screenshot below)

chkntfs /T

Change Chkdsk AutoChk Countdown Time at Boot in Windows 10-autochktimeout_command-1.png

3. Type command below in the command prompt, and press Enter. (see screenshot below)

chkntfs /T:<seconds>

Note   Note
Substitute <seconds> in the command above with how many seconds, between 1 to 259200, you want for the AutoChkTimeout value.

(60 seconds = 1 minute | 3600 seconds = 1 hour)

For example: chkntfs /T:8


Change Chkdsk AutoChk Countdown Time at Boot in Windows 10-autochktimeout_command-2.png






OPTION TWO

To Change AutoChk Timeout Value in Registry Editor


1. Press the Win+R keys to open Run, type regedit, and click/tap on OK to open Registry Editor.

2. If prompted by UAC, click/tap on Yes.

3. In the left pane of Registry Editor, browse to the key location below. (see screenshot below)

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager

Change Chkdsk AutoChk Countdown Time at Boot in Windows 10-autochktimeout_registry-1.png

4. In the right pane of the Session Manager key, double click/tap on the AutoChkTimeOut DWORD to modify it. (see screenshot above)

5. Select (dot) Decimal, type how many seconds, between 1 to 259200, you want for the AutoChkTimeout value, and click/tap on OK. (see screenshot below)

Change Chkdsk AutoChk Countdown Time at Boot in Windows 10-autochktimeout_registry-2.png

6. When finished, you can close Registry Editor if you like.



That's it,
Shawn


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