Check the Windows 7 boot disk. Testing bootable flash drives using virtualization tools

To install Windows, you need a boot disk or bootable USB flash drive. In this article, I will talk about the simplest and most reliable ways to create bootable media that works with any version of Windows (XP, 7, 8, 10).

If you are reinstalling Windows on an old computer, I recommend running. Prepare in advance.

If you purchased Windows on a DVD and your computer or laptop has a DVD drive, then you do not need this article, go to the next article “”.

2. Selecting boot media

If you have a Windows installation disk, but your computer or laptop does not have a DVD drive, then you will need a computer with a DVD drive to create a bootable USB flash drive from the installation disk. Go to the "" section.
Sandisk Cruzer

If you received Windows as an image file, you need to create a boot disk or flash drive. If your computer or laptop has a DVD drive, it is easier and more reliable to use a DVD. Prepare 2-3 blank DVD-R 16x discs and proceed to the "" section.

If your computer or laptop does not have a DVD drive or you are too lazy to go to the store to buy discs, then take a flash drive with a capacity of 4 GB or more and go to the “” section.

3. Create a disk image

We use the Daemon Tools program to create an image file from the Windows installation disk, which will later be needed to create a bootable USB flash drive. You can download it at the end of the article in the “” section.

3.1. Installing Daemon Tools

3.2. Creating an image in Daemon Tools

Insert the Windows installation disc into your DVD drive and close the AutoPlay window if it appears. Find the “DAEMON Tools Lite” shortcut on your desktop or START menu and launch the program. Click on the floppy disk icon “Create a disk image.”

Make sure that the drive you inserted the Windows installation disc into is selected. The drive letter in Windows Explorer and in the program window must match.

Uncheck the “Add to Image Catalog” option and click on the button with three dots “…” to select a folder to save the image file. Please note that it can take up to 3.5 GB.

I recommend saving the image file on a separate disk partition (for example, “D”). In the “File name” column, enter, for example, “Windows_7” so that you can later understand what kind of file it is. I recommend not using Russian letters and spaces in the title. In the “File type” column, be sure to select “Standard ISO images (*.iso)” and click “Save”.

Check that everything is correct and click “Start”.

The image creation process takes only 3-5 minutes. At the end the message “Image creation completed” should appear. Click the “Close” button and exit the main program by clicking on the cross.

If an error message appears or the process is stuck in place, either the installation disc or the DVD drive is damaged. Try wiping the drive with a dry, soft cloth and try again, or use another computer.

4. Create a boot disk

We need the Astroburn program to burn an image file to a DVD. You can download it below in the “” section. If you plan to use a USB flash drive to install Windows, skip this section.

4.1. Installing Astroburn

Installing the program is quite simple. Run the installation file and click Next several times.

4.2. Burning a disc in Astroburn

Insert a blank disc into your DVD drive and close the AutoPlay window if it appears. Find the Astroburn Lite shortcut on your desktop or START menu and launch the program. Switch to the “Image” tab and click on the icon to the right of the “Path to image file” field.

Find where the Windows image file is located on your disk, select it with the left mouse button and click “Open”. For example, all my disk images are located on drive “D” in the “ISO” folder.

Double-check that you have selected the correct file and that the “Check” checkbox next to the DVD drive name is selected. This will ensure that the disc was recorded without errors and that the Windows installation process will not be interrupted unexpectedly. I also recommend setting the recording speed to 8.0x, this is optimal for 16x DVD-R discs. Click "Start Recording".

The process of burning a disc along with checking takes up to 10 minutes. When you finish recording, close the program. If an error message appears or the process is frozen, it means either you got a bad disk or the DVD drive is worn out.

Try recording again on a new disc, if it doesn’t work, then use another computer.

5. Creating a bootable USB flash drive

5.1. Methods for creating bootable flash drives

There are many ways and programs for creating bootable flash drives, from manually writing commands on the command line to using Linux boot loaders. The disadvantage of the command line is that it is difficult for beginners and prone to errors. The disadvantage of Linux bootloaders is that such flash drives do not boot on all computers.

There is also an official program from Microsoft for creating bootable flash drives “Windows USB/DVD Download Tool”. It is very easy to use and flash drives recorded with it can be loaded on most computers. But this program has a number of limitations. For example, to use it in Windows XP, you must additionally install several more cumbersome add-ons (.NET Framework 2.0 and Image Mastering API v2), and in order to create a bootable USB flash drive for installing Windows 7 x64 in Windows 7 x32, you need to copy it to the folder with the program additional file or fiddling with the command line. There are other problems with the program.

Therefore, I decided to give you just one, but simple and reliable way to create bootable flash drives that are suitable for any operating systems and computers, using the Rufus program.

5.2. Using Rufus

The Rufus program is designed to create bootable flash drives for installing various operating systems, including Windows XP, 7, 8, 8.1, 10. It does not require installation and can be run on any operating system from Windows XP to Windows 10, regardless of bitness .

You can download this program in the "" section. Next, you will need any computer with Windows installed and a flash drive with a capacity of at least 4 GB.
Transcend JetFlash 790 8Gb

Insert the flash drive into your computer and if there are valuable files on it, copy them to your hard drive. Immediately after creating a bootable USB flash drive or when you have finished installing Windows, you can return them back.

It is not necessary to clean and format the flash drive, just run the Rufus program and make sure that the flash drive is selected in the “Device” field.

Find where the Windows image file is located on your disk, select it with the left mouse button and click “Open”. For example, my previously created image is located on drive “D”.

Now you need to select the type of boot partition (MBR or GPT) and computer motherboard firmware (BIOS or UEFI) on which Windows will be installed. It's not as difficult as it sounds

MBR is a simpler and more reliable type of boot partition, but does not support hard drives larger than 2 TB. If you don't have a 3TB or larger drive, I recommend using this type of partition to avoid some possible problems in the future.

GPT is a more advanced type of boot partition that supports very large disks. If you have a hard drive with a capacity of 3 TB or more, then use this type of partition, otherwise the computer will only see about 2.3 TB. In other cases, I do not recommend GPT markup, as there are various problems with it.

The motherboard firmware can be BIOS or UEFI. This can be found in the manual or on the website of the motherboard or laptop manufacturer, as well as visually when entering the Setup boot program. To do this, you need to hold down the “Delete”, “F2”, “F10” or “Esc” button immediately after turning on the computer. You can read which button to press in the messages that appear immediately after turning on the computer.

In text form.

In graphical form.

If the Setup program looks like the picture below, then this is a classic BIOS.

If it’s like in the next picture, then it’s UEFI.

So, if you have a classic BIOS, then select “MBR for computers with BIOS or UEFI” in the “Partition scheme and system interface type” field. This is the most universal option and the flash drive can be used for installation on different computers, both with BIOS and UEFI.

If you have determined for sure that you have UEFI and the disk size does not exceed 2 TB, then select “MBR for computers with a UEFI interface.” If you have UEFI and a disk of 3 TB or more, then select “GPT for computers with a UEFI interface.”

Next you need to select “File system”. If in the previous step you selected “MBR for computers with BIOS or UEFI,” then select NTFS. If the second or third item is with UEFI, then select FAT32, since UEFI does not work with NTFS.

We leave the cluster size at default, and in the “Volume Label” field you can write, for example, “Windows7 x32” (or x64) so that you can later determine what’s on this flash drive.

Double-check all settings and the correct image selection. The selected disk image is displayed at the very bottom of the program. Instead of the name of the flash drive, it may be written “CD_ROM”; the drive letter must match the flash drive.

Click on the “Start” button and confirm the destruction of your flash drive along with your computer

Wait for the recording to finish, this can take from 3 to 20 minutes depending on the size of the image and the speed of the flash drive and should end with the green bar completely filling and the word “Ready” at the bottom of the program.

After that, you can add any files to the bootable flash drive and use it like a regular flash drive. If it is working properly, this will not affect its operation as an installation disk. But perform a safe removal of the flash drive using the system tray icon.

5.3. Possible problems and solutions

Problems can arise due to a bad flash drive, a bad USB extension cable, a damaged or incompletely downloaded image file from the Internet, or the computer itself on which the recording takes place.

Possible solutions:

formatting and checking the flash drive for bad blocks
(there is a checkmark in the Rufus program)
inserting a flash drive into the rear USB port of the computer
Windows image checksum verification
(for example, the Hash Calculator program)
burning a flash drive on another computer
replacing a flash drive with another one

As for checking the checksum of an image, usually the site where you download the image has its checksum (or hash). The checksum also needs to be calculated for the downloaded file using a special Hash Calculator program, which you can download below in the “” section. If the calculated checksum matches the one indicated on the website, then the file was downloaded without damage. If the hashes do not match, then the file is damaged and must be downloaded again. Otherwise, errors may occur during the disc burning or Windows installation process.

6. Links

That's all, in the next article we will talk about booting from an installation disk or flash drive.

Sandisk Cruzer
Transcend JetFlash 790 8Gb
Sandisk Cruzer

MobaLiveCD is a free program for checking bootable flash drives and bootable CD/DVD disks. The MobaLiveCD program allows you to test the bootability of a bootable disk (flash drive, disk image) with an operating system, a bootable LiveCD, LiveDVD, or LiveUSB disk, or a bootable image in ISO format.

Many inexperienced users have difficulty checking bootable media, because to do this they need to enter the BIOS and then correctly set the computer boot priority.

How to check a bootable USB flash drive without restarting the computer? There are ways to check the functionality of a flash drive (bootloader operation, boot menu) without entering the BIOS and without using a virtual machine. Moreover, there is practically no chance to check the bootable USB flash drive on a virtual machine.

The free program MobaLiveCD is a simple tool for checking bootable media, the application emulates booting (works on the basis of the QEMU emulator), thanks to which the user can check the bootability of a flash drive or disk image.

Many users download images from the Internet, various assemblies from unknown sources. MobaLiveCD will help check the operation of the bootloader so that the user can be confident that in the event of an emergency, the boot disk will do its job: boot onto the computer to perform the necessary actions.

You can download the MobaLiveCD program from the official website of the developer - Mobatek.

download MobaLiveCD

The MobaLiveCD program does not require installation on your computer; to launch the application, click on the executable file.

How to use MobaLiveCD

After launch, the main window of the MobaLiveCD program will open. The MobaLiveCD program works in English, but everything is very clear there.

Main features of the MobaLiveCD program:

“Install MobaLiveCD’s right-clic association” - “Install MobaLiveCD’s in the context menu”

This option allows you to launch MobaLiveCD from the context menu of ISO files. It is not necessary to use this option.

“Start directly CD-ROM ISO image file” - “Start ISO image”

This option allows you to select any ISO file on your hard drive and run it like a CD-ROM drive.

“Start directly from a bootable USB drive” - “Start a bootable USB drive”

This option allows you to select a bootable USB drive (for example, with a Grub4dos or Syslinux bootloader) and run it.

Using MobaLiveCD is very simple: connect a bootable USB flash drive to your computer, and then run the MobaLiveCD program as administrator. To do this, right-click on the MobaLiveCD.exe file and select “Run as administrator” in the context menu.

Hotkeys in MobaLiveCD

When working in MobaLiveCD, use the following hotkeys:

Ctrl + Alt - return to the environment (operating system)
Ctrl + Alt + F - switch to full screen mode
Ctrl + Alt + F - exit full screen mode

Loading an ISO image into MobaLiveCD

On my computer there is a boot disk of the Acronis True Image program with Windows PE in an ISO file image. I need to check the ability to download this image. See how you can check this in MobaLiveCD.

In the MobaLiveCD program window, click on the “Run the LiveCD” button. Next, select the location of the image on your computer, select it, and then click on the “Open” button.

In the window asking you to create a virtual hard disk for your virtual machine, click on the “No” button. The generated MobaLiveCD HardDisk file is not needed.

There is no point in creating and installing anything, since the program allocates only 256 MB of memory. It will not cope with modern operating systems due to lack of memory.

We have made sure that the disk image is loaded, now you can close the “QEMU” window.

Checking a bootable USB flash drive in MobaLiveCD

Let's check the bootable USB flash drive to see if it can be launched on the computer. For testing, I chose a bootable Windows 7 PE flash drive from Ratiborus.

In the MobaLiveCD window, click on the “Start directly from a bootable USB drive” button.

In the next window you need to select the drive letter of the flash drive. Select the letter of the flash drive, click on the “OK” button.

Then don't create the virtual hard disk.

After selecting Windows 7 PE, the system will boot for a while, and then the Windows 7 PE window will open.

That's it, we made sure that the bootable flash drive works.

Users who have difficulties with the English language can download the program in Russian from the mobalivecd 2.1 rus link.

Conclusions of the article

The free program MobaLiveCD is a simple tool for checking bootable flash drives and bootable images in ISO format for functionality when booted on a computer. The application checks without entering the BIOS or rebooting the computer.

This example is problematic ( Recovery example ) situation represents step-by-step actions when working with TestDisk, allowing you to restore and fix damaged partition/s.

One of the conditions when working in the program is:

The program must be launched with "administrator" privileges/rights.

Important points for using TestDisk:

To go to TestDisk, use the arrow keys Up down And PageUp/PageDown .

To continue, confirm your choice by pressing the key Enter .

To return to the previous display or exit TestDisk, use the key Q (exit ).

To save changes made while running TestDisk, you must confirm them with the key Y (yes) and/or Enter

To write data to the MBR partition, you need to select "Write" by selecting from the keyboard and press the key Enter .

Signs

1. If the primary partition on the hard disk contains an operating system, then most likely it will no longer boot; due to the primary boot sector partition.
2. If the hard drive contains secondary partitions that cannot be accessed or you are connecting your drive to a second channel in another computer (usually a CD/DVD drive is connected there), and the following symptoms are observed, the following symptoms would be noted:

Windows Explorer or Disk Manager displays the first primary partition as raw unformatted and Windows shows:
The drive is not formatted, do you want to format it now? [ Your disk is unformatted. Should I format it now?]
There is no logical partition. The logical drive is not accessible in Windows Explorer. In the Disk Management snap-in, it displays only the “unallocated space” in the place where this logical partition was located.

Running TestDisk

If TestDisk is not already installed, it can be downloaded from TestDisk Download. Unpack all files from the archive including subfolders.

To recover a lost partition or restore the file system of a hard drive, USB drive, smart card..., you must have the necessary rights to access the device.

To restore a partition from a device image or restore the image file system, run

testdisk image.dd to split the image
testdisk image.E01 to recover files from the Encase EWF image
testdisk "image.???" if the Encase image is split into multiple files.

To restore a file system that is not visible in TestDisk, run testdisk device, for example

testdisk /dev/mapper/truecrypt0 or testdisk /dev/loop0 to recover NTFS or FAT32 boot sector files from a TrueCrypt partition. The same method works with file systems encrypted using cryptsetup/dm-crypt/LUKS.
testdisk /dev/md0 to restore the file system on a Linux Raid device.

Creating a log

Use the down/up arrow buttons to select the problematic hard drive.

If possible, choose raw /dev/rdisk* devices instead of logical /dev/disk* devices to improve data transfer rates.

Selecting a Partition Table Type

TestDisk displays Partition Table types.

Select the "Analyse" menu item to check the partition structure of the current disk and search for "lost" partitions.
Press Enter to continue.

Answer the question Should TestDisk search for partition created under Vista? (Search for partitions created under Vista OS?).

Select this section and click p to display the file list (To exit the file list display mode, press q ).

All folders and files are displayed normally. (The utility does not understand the Russian language, so files with Russian names will not be displayed correctly)

Press Enter to continue.

Should I save the partition table or continue searching?

When all the required partitions are present and their data is displayed correctly, you should select Write in the menu to save the partition structure. The Extd Part menu item gives you the opportunity to decide whether the extended partition will use all available disk space or only the required (minimum) space.
Since the first section is still missing , select menu item Deeper Search (if it was not automatically selected) and press (Enter) to continue.

Section still missing: Deeper Search

Deeper Search also searches for FAT32 boot sector backup, NTFS boot sector superblock backup, ext2/ext3 superblock backup to find more partitions,

After Deeper Search, the results will be displayed as in the image below:
First section "Partition 1" was found using a boot sector backup. You can see a message at the bottom line of the window "NTFS found using backup sector!" and partition size. Second section "Partition 2" displayed twice with different sizes.
Both sections are marked with status D to be deleted because they overlap.

Highlight the first partition Partition 2 and press p to list its data.

The file system of the upper logical partition (label Partition 2) is damaged

(click on thumb).

Let this partition Partition 2 with a damaged file system marked as D(deleted) .
Highlight the second partition Part 2 below
Press p to list its files.

It works, you have found the correct partition!

Use the left/right arrow to navigate into your folders and watch your files for more verification

Note: FAT directory listing is limited to 10 clusters, some files may not appear but it doesn't affect recovery.

Press q for Quit to go back to the previous display.

The available status are Primary, * bootable, Logical and Deleted.

Using the left/right arrow keys, change the status of the selected partition to L(ogical)

Confirm at Write with Enter, y and and Ok.

Now, all partitions are registered in the partition table.

Recovering the NTFS boot sector

The boot sector of the first partition named Partition 1 is still damaged. It"s time to fix it. The status of the NTFS boot sector is bad and the backup boot sector is valid. Boot sectors are not identical.

To copy the backup of the boot sector over the boot sector, select , validate with Enter, use y to confirm and next Ok.

More Information about repairing your boot sector under TestDisk Menu Items. The following message is displayed:

The boot sector and its backup are now both ok and identical: the NTFS boot sector has been successfully recovered.

Press Enter to quit.

TestDisk displays You have to restart your Computer to access your data so press Enter a last time and reboot your computer.

Recovering Deleted Files

TestDisk can recover

files from NTFS partitions starting from version 6.11.

If it doesn't work or for other filesystem, try PhotoRec , a signature based file recovery utility.

You may need Windows 7 installation or boot media to reinstall, install from scratch, roll back, or restore your system. You can also create media not with the operating system, but with regular applications, files or games. But first, you will have to create a disk image so that in the future you can copy it to third-party media: a disk or USB flash drive.

How to create a bootable Windows 7 disk: ISO image

A disk image is a file in ISO format that contains all the necessary elements. You can create it using a third-party program. Another way is to download a ready-made image from the Internet. But be careful, there is a high chance that you will come across a broken or viral image.

Ultra ISO

There are several programs that allow you to create and burn disk images, but one of the most multifunctional and convenient is UltraISO. You can buy or download a trial version of the application from the developer’s official website - http://www.ezbsystems.com/ultraiso/.

After installing and launching the program, you will see its main menu. In the left block you will see a disk icon with a specific name, which you can rename.
At the bottom of the application there is an explorer that allows you to work with files. Select the files and folders in it that will be sent to the disk image, and transfer them to the block located above, opposite the disk image.
Once all the necessary elements have been transferred to the disk image, expand the “File” menu.
Select the "Save As" function.
Name the file and select the .iso format for it.
Wait until the program creates the desired image automatically.
Once the process is complete, expand the file to make sure it contains all the necessary elements.

How to burn Windows 7 installation media

Once you have created a disk image, you can start burning it to third-party media. This can be done using standard Windows tools or through a third-party program.

Via Windows Tools

Through a third party program

Let's use UltraISO applications. You can buy or download a trial version of the application from the developer’s official website - http://www.ezbsystems.com/ultraiso/.
After launching the program, expand the “File” menu.
Select the “Open” sub-item.
Specify the path to the disk image file.
Returning to the program, click on the icon that looks like a disk on fire.
Set the Maximum parameter in the Write Speed line to increase the speed of writing the image to the media. But this may reduce the recording quality, which will subsequently lead to installation problems. Therefore, it is better to set the Minimum parameter.
Specify which media to record to.
Click on the Burn button to activate recording. Done, wait until the end of the process, which can last from 5 minutes to half an hour: the speed of the procedure depends on the number of files in the disk image.

Creating multiboot media

A multiboot disk is a disk image that contains several programs simultaneously. It makes sense to create such a disk if you need to load several applications onto your computer at once, but you don’t want to do it from a separate file each time.

Download the installation archive with the Xboot program from the official website of the developer - Error: 06/07/2017, 15:11
%D1%83%D0%B4%D0%B0%D0%BB%D0%B8%D1%82%D1%8C%20%D1%81%D1%81%D1%8B%D0%BB%D0%BA %D1%83
">https://sites.google.com/site/shamurxboot/download">https://sites.google.com/site/shamurxboot/download .
Unzip the downloaded archive and install the program.
Please note that you must create ISO files with the necessary programs in advance.
Transfer the .iso files to the Xboot main menu.
It will silently accept some applications that the program does not suspect, but when transferring applications unknown to it, a green window may appear, which means that Xboot cannot determine the type of application from the ISO file.
Explain to Xboot that this file should be perceived as universal - Add using Grub4dos ISO image Emulation.
Click on the “Add this file” button.
After all the files are formed into one archive, click on the Create ISO button.
A window will open in which you will need to click the Browse button.
Specify where to save the multiboot file.
Wait until the process of creating this file is completed.
You will be prompted to check the functionality of the created file using the virtual machine built into Xboot. If you want to do this, then click the “Yes” button.
Select Utility.
Wait for the virtual machine to start.
Check which programs work and which don't. Done, this completes the creation and testing of the multiboot disk.

Creating a recovery disc

A recovery disk differs from a normal boot disk in that it contains an operating system that can be used for recovery, installation, or rollback. But for that disk you need a special recovery image with a system backup; you can create it using the following steps:

Through the Start menu, open the computer control panel.
Let's move on to the "System and Security" section.
Let’s move on to the “Archiving and Restoration” subsection.
Select the “Create a system image” function.
Choose where the disk image will be saved after it is created: to your hard drive or third-party media. Now you are not creating a boot disk, but only a file for it, so you can place the disk image on one of the hard drive partitions. But if there is no space on it, you can send the file to a third-party storage device.
Check the boxes of the hard drive partitions whose images will be created. Please note that the main partition on which Windows itself is installed will be marked by default, but the drive to which the disk image will be sent cannot be marked.
Confirm that the settings are correct by clicking the “Archive” button.
Wait for the process to complete. Do not interrupt it, otherwise the file will become unusable for creating bootable media. The procedure can last from 5 minutes to half an hour: its duration depends on how heavily the system is loaded.

After you finish creating the image with the system recovery files, you can burn it to a disk or flash drive. How to do this is described in the previous paragraph of the article “Writing an image to a disk or USB flash drive.”

To boot from the boot disk or flash drive you created, you need to change the BIOS settings: the computer should boot from the boot media, not from the hard drive.

Windows malfunctions, emergency shutdown of the computer, experiments with disk space management software, the consequences of viruses - these and other problems can lead to the automatic launch of the standard Windows Chkdsk utility, designed to correct errors in the file system of hard drives. Incorrectly completed operation of the operating system with files leads to file system errors, and sometimes even damage to the file system. In emergency cases, the Chkdsk utility turns on itself before Windows starts, scans disk partitions and corrects errors. However, the fact that there are problems with the file system may not make itself felt during normal use of the computer and only become apparent when trying to manage disk space. So, for example, when trying to shrink a disk partition using standard Windows tools, we may receive the following notification: “It is possible that the volume selected for compression is damaged. Use Chkdsk to troubleshoot the problem, and then try shrinking the volume again."

In this case, disk check will not start automatically. How to run Chkdsk manually in Windows 7, 8.1 and 10? How can I use Chkdsk to fix disk errors if this problem is the reason the operating system is unable to boot?

Inside Windows, the Chkdsk utility can be launched in several ways.

1. Run Chkdsk using Windows GUI

To run Chkdsk, in the system explorer on drive C, right-click and open “Properties”.

In the disk partition properties window that opens, go to the “Services” tab, and in it click the “Check” button (or “Run check” for Windows 7).

In versions of Windows 8.1 and 10, if everything is in order with the disk file system, in the window that appears next, we will see a notification that checking is not required. But if you wish, you can start checking the disk with the Chkdsk utility by clicking “Check disk”.

If the system suspects file system errors, this window will contain a button to start scanning and repairing the disk.

For Chkdsk to work relative to drive C, you must restart the computer. You can do this immediately or delay running the scan until the next reboot.

After restarting the computer, we will be able to observe the operation of Chkdsk.

In Windows 7, launching Chkdsk is slightly different: to the preinstalled option of automatic error correction, you can add another possible option - checking and repairing bad sectors of the hard drive. When activating this option, it is worth considering that in this case Chkdsk may take longer to run.

As with Windows 8.1 and 10, in version 7 the system drive C cannot be scanned within a running operating system. To start the scan, the computer must be restarted. Click “Schedule disk check”.

When checking a non-system partition of a disk, if it is used by some programs, the situation is simpler than with the system partition. In the window with a notification that the disk is currently in use, you just need to click the “Disconnect” button to, accordingly, disable this partition for the duration of the scan.

2. Run Chkdsk using the command line

To run Chkdsk using the command line, first, accordingly, launch the latter.

In the command line enter a command like this:

In this command, instead of drive C, we each time substitute the letter of the desired partition on which the scan is required. If Chkdsk needs to check the system partition C, as with the GUI, you will need to restart the computer. When a message appears in the command line about the impossibility of locking the specified drive, you need to enter “Y”, then restart the computer.

In addition to the /f parameter, which is responsible for correcting disk errors, Chkdsk can be run with the /r parameter, designed to search for bad sectors and restore data. As a result of Chkdsk running with this parameter, hard disk clusters with unreadable sectors will be listed as damaged (bad blocks) and their functions will be transferred to a new cluster. Therefore, it is recommended to run Chkdsk with the /r parameter only when the usual error correction - running the utility with the /f parameter - does not bring the necessary results. Using the same drive C as an example, the command would look like this:

3. Running Chkdsk on a non-booting Windows

If Windows freezes at a certain point in the boot process, one of the possible causes of this problem is file system errors. In this case, you need to run Chkdsk by booting from the rescue media. As such, you can use regular installation media with versions of Windows 7, 8.1 or 10. With its help, we will launch the Chkdsk utility inside the command line. At the first stage of starting the system installation process, press the command line launch keys – Shift+F10.

In the command line that opens, before running the Chkdsk command, you need to clarify which letters define the disk partitions. This is easy to do using a notepad. I launch it with the command:

Click the notepad menu “File”, then “Open”.

In the explorer that opens, remember the new drive designations. As a rule, in Windows 8.1 and 10, the C drive partition (as it exists inside the running operating system) is listed as D, since the letter C is assigned to the first technical partition of the system. And all other sections are shifted by one letter of the alphabet.

Having decided on the letters of the disk partitions, close Notepad, then, returning to the command line, enter a command like this:

As with Chkdsk inside Windows, you must first try to fix disk errors by running the utility with the /f parameter. And only if the problem is not solved, only then run the command with the /r parameter, as indicated in the previous paragraph of the article.

In cases where Windows is unable to boot, you can pre-burn an emergency Live disk with a selection of various tools to restore the operating system. Among these, for example, is AdminPE based on WinPE. Its image for recording on a disk or flash drive can be downloaded from the official website of the project Adminpe.Ru. Using AdminPE, you can launch a command prompt and enter the Chkdsk launch commands discussed above. But in this Live disk, the Chkdsk utility has its own interface and is launched using a script. The shortcut to launch the utility is placed directly on the desktop.

In the drop-down list to check the disk, select the desired disk partition. Next, activate the checkboxes for restoring damaged sectors and forcibly disabling a partition (volume). Let's check the launches.

AdminPE's tools include a number of other utilities for working with hard drives, as well as the well-known programs Hard Disk Sentinel and Victoria.

Have a great day!