There are some situations where your PC needs to run a check disk at startup or reboot. For instance, if you run the chkdsk command on a system drive that is being used to run the Windows OS, it will schedule a disk check to run at the next reboot. Windows might also force an automatic disk check when your computer shuts down unexpectedly.

This post introduces 4 ways to allow you to run CHKDSK on startup in Windows 10 to check and fix computer hard drive errors. It also explains how to stop CHKDSK from running at startup if you find that CHKDSK runs at every startup in Windows 10.

If you’d like to run CHKDSK on startup in Windows 10 to scan and repair hard disk errors, you can check the solutions below. This post also includes ways to run Windows 10 disk check on startup when your PC or laptop won’t turn on.

Besides, if you feel troublesome that CHKDSK runs at every startup in Windows 10, you can also easily stop CHKDSK on startup in Windows 10 by following the operation below.

Hard disk errors often cause some data loss, a feasible data recovery method is also covered in this tutorial to help you restore lost data from Windows 10 computer, etc.

How to Run CHKDSK on Startup Windows 10

If your computer can boot and you want to scan the Windows system C drive (where the OS is installed) or other system related drives, you need to run CHKDSK in Windows 10 before boot since CHKDSK can’t run if the drive is in use. Check how to run CHKDSK before booting into Windows below.

Solution 1. How to Run CHKDSK on Startup with Recovery Disk/USB

If your Windows 10 computer can’t boot, but if you know how to create a Windows 10 recovery USB drive or disk, you can then use the recovery USB or disk drive to boot your Windows 10 computer into Windows Recovery Environment (Windows RE). Then you can click Troubleshoot -> Advanced options, click Command Prompt in the blue Advanced options screen and use it to run chkdsk /f /r command.

Solution 2. How to Run CHKDSK on Startup from Command Prompt

Press Windows + R, type cmd, press Ctrl + Shift + Enter to open elevated Command Prompt in Windows 10.
In command Prompt, type this command: chkdsk C: /f /r /x, and press Enter. Replace “C” with the drive letter of the target drive. Please do not miss the spaces in this command.


If you are trying to scan the system C drive, CHKDSK will pop up a message saying that cannot lock current drive, the volume is in use by another process, and asking you if you want to schedule this volume to be checked the next time the system restarts. You can type Y and press Enter.
Restart your computer and Windows will automatically run CHKDSK on reboot to scan and fix hard drive errors.
Solution 3. How to Run Windows 10 Disk Check on Startup from Advanced Options Screen

If you know how to access advanced startup options in Windows 10, you can select Command Prompt in Advanced options screen to boot your computer into Command Prompt window. And then you can run CHKDSK command in Command Prompt window to check and fix computer hard drive errors before booting into Windows.

4. How to Run CHKDSK on Startup with Installation Media

If you don’t have a Windows 10 installation media at hand, you can check how to create an installation media with Windows 10 media creation tool. After you get the installation USB or disc, you can use it to boot your computer into WinRE and get into Advanced options screen to choose Command Prompt option. Then you can run CHKDSK command in Command Prompt to scan and fix disk errors.

Best Free CHKDSK Alternative

MiniTool Partition Wizard is an all-in-one disk partition manager for Windows. Aside from scanning and fixing disk errors and checking disk bad sectors, you can also use it to easily create/www.minitool.com/help-pw…ition.html/format/delete/www.partitionwizard.com/partiti…e-009.htmlpartitions, copy disk, migrate OS, convert partition format, analyze disk space usage, test hard drive speed, etc.

Step 1. Launch MiniTool Partition Wizard and click Yes if it pops up the User Account Control window to enter into the main interface of the software. Locate the target hard drive and the target partition which you want to check disk errors.

Step 2. Right-click the target partition and select Check File System option. In the new window, you can click check & fix file system error option, and click Start button. MiniTool Partition Wizard will automatically scan and fix detected file system errors on the disk.

Step 3. To diagnose if the hard drive has bad sectors, you can go back to the main interface, and right-click the target partition to choose Surface Test option. Click Start Now button to begin checking bad sectors on the disk.

How to Stop CHKDSK on Startup Windows 10

Solution 1. Press Any Key to Cancel the Disk Check

Solution 2. Stop CHKDSK on Startup via Command Prompt

Solution 3. Disable CHKDSK on Startup with Registry Editor

How to Recover Lost/Deleted Files from Windows 10

In case you lost some important data after CHKDSK scan or lost some important files due to hard drive failures or other reasons, here we introduce an easy and fast way to help you recover any lost or deleted files from Windows 10 computer and other storage devices.

MiniTool Power Data Recovery is a professional data recovery software for Windows. You can use this tool to easily recover lost/deleted files from Windows PC or laptop, external hard drive, SSD, USB flash drive, SD memory card, etc. in simple steps. Various data loss situations are covered.

It delivers fast scan speed, high recovery result, and keeps original file. Extremely easy-to-use and 100% safe. Download and install MiniTool Power Data Recovery in your Windows 10 computer, and check how to recover data from Windows 10 computer.

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