How to check C: for errors, without running chkdsk?

scottls59901 · 08 Oct 2016

My old Auslogics Disk Defrag had an option to check C: (system) drive for errors without having to run a boot chkdsk before defrag (the Only thing I liked about Aus!)-
It would come back and say Windows reports No errors...

I've uninstalled Aus, gone back to Much Better/faster WDD (One pass only!), and would like to be able to check for errors without running a boot chkdsk first (plays Havoc with my ESS AV...!).

I've Googled, but have Not been able to find a program that does this?
Does anyone know of such a program?

samuria · 08 Oct 2016

If you just run chkdsk c: it will test the drive live but wont fix anything but report so if there is a problem you can then run the fix

Digerati · 09 Oct 2016

(plays Havoc with my ESS AV...!).

The whole point of chkdsk running during a boot is to avoid conflicts with open files, including security programs. So if that is really happening, ESS is misbehaving, not chkdsk.

I would disable ESS and run chkdsk /r again and let it reboot. While maybe an inconvenience, it is the better way.

While you can run chkdsk without any switches (and you don't need the c: if running from C drive), it is a "read only" test. Also running chkdsk can erroneously report errors that are not real because files that may still be open in the OS and file tables may not match what chkdsk finds.