Your Information Source, The Windows PC Help Website

As you save, erase, and move files sometimes things do not go just right. This is not caused by anything you are doing wrong. A PC is a very complex, fast machine and despite the best efforts of all the designers, engineers and programmers who've toiled to make it flawless, sometimes programs collide and mess up each others files.

This unwanted interaction can result in invalid files, files with lost file fragments, and cross linked files. You don't always know right away when this happens. This is why you should run the Scandisk utility from time to time.

For Windows 9x and ME

1) Click the Start button.
2) Select Programs, Accessories, then System Tools. Click Scandisk.
3) Select and click the drive you want to scan, and then choose either the Standard or the Thorough test.
4) Click Start.

Scandisk runs in two modes

The Standard test checks the files and folders on the selected drive for errors.
The Thorough test performs the Standard test and then checks the entire surface of your hard drive for physical damage. You can even specify to scan areas of your disk containing only data files, or just the areas with system files, or both. This process takes a long time. Unless the Standard test fails you shouldn't need to run this test.

For Windows XP and 2000

In XP and 2000, the utility is called 'Error Checking' and doesn't offer the full physical surface check.

1) From 'Start' double click 'My Computer'.
2) Right-click the drive you want.
3) Click on 'Properties', then 'Tools'.
4) Under 'Error Checking' click 'Now', then "Start'.
5) A small scandisk window appears and the process begins.