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The pages on this site contain documentation for very old MS-DOS software,
purely for historical purposes.
If you're looking for up-to-date documentation, particularly for programming,
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out of date.
SCANDISK
◄Notes► ◄Examples►
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SCANDISK
Starts Microsoft ScanDisk, a disk analysis and repair tool that checks a
drive for errors and corrects any problems that it finds. For an
introduction to using ScanDisk, see <An Introduction to ScanDisk>.
Syntax
To check the current drive for disk errors, use the following syntax:
SCANDISK
To check one or more drives for disk errors, use the following syntax:
SCANDISK [drive: [drive: ...]|/ALL] [/CHECKONLY | /AUTOFIX [/NOSAVE] |
/CUSTOM] [/SURFACE] [/MONO] [/NOSUMMARY]
To check an unmounted compressed volume file for errors, use the following
syntax:
SCANDISK volume-name [/CHECKONLY | /AUTOFIX [/NOSAVE] | /CUSTOM] [/MONO]
[/NOSUMMARY]
To check a file or files for fragmentation, use the following syntax:
SCANDISK /FRAGMENT [drive:][path]filename
To undo repairs you made previously, use the following syntax:
SCANDISK /UNDO [undo-drive:] [/MONO]
Parameters
drive:
Specifies the drive or drives you want to check and repair.
volume-name
Specifies the name of the unmounted compressed volume file you want to
check and repair. The volume-name parameter should take the form
[drive:\]DRVSPACE.nnn, in which drive specifies the drive that contains
the volume file and nnn specifies the extension of the volume file. For
example, H:\DRVSPACE.000.
[drive:][path]filename
Specifies the file(s) you want to examine for fragmentation. You can
also specify wildcards for the filename.
undo-drive:
Specifies the drive containing the Undo disk.
Switches
/ALL
Checks and repairs all local drives.
/AUTOFIX
Fixes damage without prompting you first. By default, if you start
ScanDisk with the /AUTOFIX switch and ScanDisk finds lost clusters on
your drive, it saves the lost clusters as files in the drive's root
directory. To have ScanDisk delete lost clusters rather than saving
them, include the /NOSAVE switch. (If you use the /AUTOFIX switch and
ScanDisk finds errors, it still prompts you for an Undo disk; to prevent
this, include the /NOSUMMARY switch.) You cannot use the /AUTOFIX switch
in conjunction with the /CHECKONLY or /CUSTOM switches.
/CHECKONLY
Checks a drive for errors, but does not repair any damage. You cannot
use this switch with the /AUTOFIX or /CUSTOM switches.
/CUSTOM
Runs ScanDisk using the configuration settings in the [Custom] section
of the SCANDISK.INI file. This switch is especially useful for running
ScanDisk from a batch program. You cannot use this switch in conjunction
with the /AUTOFIX or /CHECKONLY switches.
/MONO
Configures ScanDisk to use a monochrome display. Instead of specifying
this switch every time you run ScanDisk, you can include the
DISPLAY=MONO line in your SCANDISK.INI file.
/NOSAVE
Directs ScanDisk to delete any lost clusters it finds. Can be used only
in conjunction with the /AUTOFIX switch. (If you start ScanDisk with the
/AUTOFIX switch and omit the /NOSAVE switch, ScanDisk saves the contents
of any lost clusters as files in the root directory of the drive.)
/NOSUMMARY
Prevents ScanDisk from displaying a full-screen summary after checking
each drive. (This switch also prevents ScanDisk from prompting you for
an Undo disk if it finds errors.)
/SURFACE
Automatically performs a surface scan after checking other areas of a
drive. During a surface scan of an uncompressed drive, ScanDisk confirms
that data can be reliably written and read from the drive being scanned.
During a surface scan of a compressed drive, ScanDisk confirms that data
can be decompressed. You should periodically do surface scans of all
drives.
By default, when it has finished checking a drive's file system,
ScanDisk asks whether or not you want to perform a surface scan.
However, if you specify the /SURFACE switch, ScanDisk proceeds with the
surface scan without prompting you first. When /SURFACE is used in
conjunction with the /CUSTOM switch, it overrides the Surface setting in
the [Custom] section of the SCANDISK.INI file.
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