During the work on the hard disk of the computer, various errors may appear. To fix them, you need to regularly check the disk using a special utility included with Windows.
File system
If your hard drive is formatted with the FAT32 file system, it should be checked at least once a week. If you use NTFS, there is no need for such a check, it is performed automatically every time you start your computer. To find out the file system of the C drive, open its properties window and go to the "General" tab. Here you will see the corresponding entry, for example "File system: FAT32".
Running the utility
The utility for checking disks for errors requires exclusive access to them. This means that no other programs should be running while it is running. If necessary, the utility will warn you about running programs and, perhaps, you will need to restart your computer. Close all programs running on the computer, open the properties window for drive C, to do this, right-click on it and select "Properties" from the menu that opens. Go to the "Service" tab, in the "Check disk" section, click the "Run check …" button.
Verification options
This utility has two options for checking the disk. The first one implies automatic search and correction of system errors; it is recommended for most users. does not require additional actions. To start this mode, check the "Automatically fix system errors" checkbox. If you are an experienced user and want to see what errors were found, do not check this box. The second check option is to search for bad sectors on the disk and repair damage. To start this mode, check the "Check and repair bad sectors" box. Physical damage to sectors, of course, is not eliminated, but the utility can help transfer information from them to other sectors.
Verification process
After making the necessary settings, click the "Start" button. If the utility is unable to obtain exclusive rights to the disk, it will offer to restart the computer and check the next time it is started. If you agree to such verification, click the "Yes" button. Please note that the verification process can take quite a long time. Its duration depends on the state of the hard disk, as well as the options that were selected when configuring the utility. While the utility is running, a blue screen will be displayed on the monitor screen; you can also forcibly terminate this process. The utility ends with a normal computer boot.
