Microsoft ScanDisk

Microsoft ScanDisk (also called ScanDisk) is a diagnostic utility program included in MS-DOS and Windows 9x. It checks and repairs file systems errors on a disk drive, while the system starts.

Microsoft ScanDisk
Other namesScanDisk
Developer(s)Microsoft
Initial release1993 (1993)
Operating systemMS-DOS 6.2 and Windows 9x
TypeUtility software
LicenseProprietary commercial software

Overview

The program was first introduced in MS-DOS 6.2[1] and succeeded its simpler predecessor, CHKDSK. It included a more user-friendly interface than CHKDSK, more configuration options,[2][3] and the ability to detect and (if possible) recover from physical errors on the disk. This replaced and improved upon the limited ability offered by the MS-DOS recover utility.[4] Unlike CHKDSK, ScanDisk would also repair crosslinked files.[5]

In Windows 95 onwards, ScanDisk also had a graphical user interface, although the text-based user interface continued to be available for use in single-tasking ("DOS") mode.[6][7]

However, ScanDisk cannot check NTFS disk drives, and therefore it is unavailable for computers that may be running NT based (including Windows 2000, Windows XP, etc.) versions of Windows; for the purpose, a newer CHKDSK is provided instead.

On Unix-like systems, there are tools like fsck_msdosfs[8] and dosfsck to do the same task.

See also

References
  1. Wolverton, Van (2003). Running MS-DOS Version 6.22 (20th Anniversary Edition), 6th Revised edition. Microsoft Press. ISBN 0-7356-1812-7.
  2. "ScanDisk command-line options". Microsoft Support. Microsoft Corporation. 2007-01-23. Retrieved 24 December 2011.
  3. "MS-DOS 6.2 ScanDisk.INI". Microsoft Support. Microsoft Corporation. 2003-10-14. Retrieved 24 December 2011.
  4. "What Does RECOVER Do? (Revision 3.0)". Microsoft Support. Microsoft Corporation. 25 November 2003. Retrieved 24 December 2011.
  5. "How to Fix Cross-linked Files (Revision: 2.0)". Microsoft Support. Microsoft Corporation. 10 May 2003. Retrieved 24 December 2011. If you are running MS-DOS 6.2 or later, run ScanDisk, instead of [~snip~]
  6. "Windows 95 Documentation". Microsoft TechNet. Microsoft Corporation. 1996-03-03. Retrieved 24 December 2011.
  7. "Description of ScanDisk for Windows (Scandskw.exe) in Windows 98/Me (Revision: 1.3)". Microsoft Support. Microsoft Corporation. 23 January 2007. Retrieved 24 December 2011.
  8. "FSCK_MSDOSFS". FreeBSD System Manager's Manual. The FreeBSD Project. 13 August 1995. Retrieved 24 December 2011.

Further reading
  • Cooper, Jim (2001). Special Edition Using MS-DOS 6.22, Third Edition. Que Publishing. ISBN 978-0789725738.
  • Stinson, Craig (1998). "ch. 16: Optimizing, Maintaining, and Troubleshooting". Running Microsoft Windows 98. Redmond, Washington: Microsoft Press. ISBN 1-57231-681-0. Retrieved 24 December 2011.
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