Before I go into this I’ll explain briefly, for those not in the know, what the chkdsk function is and what it does: -

The chkdsk function is built into the Windows operating system and chkdsk is short for check disk – Yes it’s now becoming clear as mud to some: In short; chkdsk checks the integrity of the data on the disk. If you use the command-line to order a disk check then it’ll execute a function depending upon which parameter you specify: For instance, if you type just “chkdsk” then it’ll tell you, after possibly a long period of execution, all the errors that it found, and do nothing else. If you specify the parameter “r”, as in “chkdsk /r”, then it’ll run through and find errors and repair them. – Or if you run “chkdsk /f” then it’ll check your disk’s or disks’ filing system(s) and repair them.

The function can be executed from within Windows, too, via the GUI, the relevant part of which can be accessed in several ways depending upon which version of Windows you are using.

- Now onto the thrust of this article; and, in the light of progress, we take a look at how Microsoft have improved the function and its access in Windows 7 – seen in comparison to that of XP

What’s the difference between the chkdsk function in Windows XP and the chkdsk function in Windows 7?

Not a lot and quite a bit. I haven’t seen the chkdsk in Vista as I’ve never used Vista myself, and I don’t remember ever having run chkdsk in Vista on a customer’s machine either. – So if it’s exactly the same as it is in Vista then you’ll understand my ignorance of that fact.

To test this I installed 2 hard-drives, a Hitachi 150 GB and a Seagate 150GB, into a box on which I installed Windows 7 RC. I knew that there had to be errors on the Hitachi disc, which I’d installed as the C: drive. The type of MFT error that chkdsk found; free space allocated as used space, would send XP tits-up and make it BSOD. Not so with Windows 7, which appeared to object somewhat, inasmuch as it didn’t appear to run as smoothly as it should, but nothing borked nevertheless. This might be a further indication of the increased resilience of Windows 7 – ?

First I ran chkdsk on D: (The Seagate.) from inside Windows, and it reported no errors. I then asked for a full disc check for C:

As with XP, a chkdsk session was scheduled the next time I rebooted, which I did. A black screen with white text told me that a disc check had been scheduled, and it gave me a 10-second countdown in which to cancel. I ignored this and chkdsk started doing its stuff: -

I apologise for the lousy picture: I was using a CRT monitor, and the curved glass screen isn’t easy to photograph with a camera-phone.

The first thing you’ll notice is that the blue background of XP has been done away with, and replaced with plain black. This is good, as white text on a black background is much easier to read. Added to this was the fact that chkdsk, rather than just giving the user a basic idea of what it was doing, telling how far it had got with doing it in %, and making the user wait without much of a clue until it was finished, as it does in XP; actually specifies more precisely what it’s doing, gives a live textual readout of the process, and count of files processed. After each stage it’ll write details of any corrections that it’s made on the screen, rather than waiting until it’s finished, flashing up the report for a couple of seconds, blanking the screen, and booting into Windows. – It does, however still do this as its finale’, which I found a bit disconcerting after seeing all the improvements previously.

Another thing that I noticed was that the percentage-count covered the entire chkdsk operation, rather than just the stage’s progress. This isn’t a big problem, but the bloody thing is so inaccurate: Half way through Stage 4 (File data verification.) it was reading 22%, at the end of stage 4 it was reading 25%, and the disc was 75% full of files. During stage 5, (Free space verification.) as it processed nearly 17 million free clusters in just over 1/4 hour, it caught up and finished that stage on 99, 100%… And up scrolls the text. – The report is displayed, the user gets to read the first sentence, and it vanishes. – They really should get that fixed.

My verdict: A lot better than the XP chkdsk; but still virtually partially pointless if the user never gets a chance to read the end report.

Any opinions to add, anybody?