The Chkdsk utility checks the file system and file system metadata of a volume for logical and physical errors and repairs them. When you run Chkdsk c: /r and schedule it for the next boot, Chkdsk runs the scan during the next boot.
The results of the Chkdsk operation is logged into the Application event log under the event ID 1001 and event sources “Wininit” and “Chkdsk”.
Read Chkdsk Log in the Event Viewer
Method 1: Using the Event Viewer
To view the results of the last Chkdsk operation, launch the Event Viewer (eventvwr.msc).
- Right-click Start, and click Event Viewer.
- Expand “Windows logs”, and select “Application”.
- Look for the most recent “Wininit” entry (event source) with the event ID: 1001.
- Also, look for the recent “Chkdsk” entry (event source).
- Right-click on the entry, click “Copy” and select “Copy details as text”.
- Paste the data into Notepad and read the results.
Additional Tip: Use the filtering options
To quickly locate the Wininit entries, you can use the filtering options in the Event Viewer.
After selecting the Application log, click “Filter Current Log..” in the right pane.
Click on the “Event sources” dropdown box, scroll down the listing, and select Wininit and Chkdsk.
Click OK.
Doing so displays only the Wininit and Chkdsk entries in the Application event log listing.
Note: Once you’re done reading the event logs, use the “Clear Filter” option that appears in the right pane.
Method 2: Using wevtutil.exe command-line tool
You can also use the Windows Events Command Line Utility (wevtutil.exe) to query event log entries. For example, to query the three most recent Wininit entries from the Application event log, open a Command Prompt window and run the following command:
wevtutil qe "Application" /q:"*[System[Provider[@Name='Microsoft-Windows-Wininit']]]" /c:3 /f:text /rd:true
To copy the output to the clipboard, pipe the output to Clip.exe, as mentioned below:
wevtutil qe "Application" /q:"*[System[Provider[@Name='Microsoft-Windows-Wininit']]]" /c:3 /f:text /rd:true | clip
You can now paste the output into Notepad and analyze the results.
Chkdsk results – Example
The following is sample data:
Log Name: Application
Source: Microsoft-Windows-Wininit
Date: 5/16/2024 5:38:16 PM
Event ID: 1001
Task Category: None
Level: Information
Keywords: Classic
User: N/A
Computer: OptiPlex-7010
Description:
Checking file system on C:
The type of the file system is NTFS.
Volume label is OS.
A disk check has been scheduled.
Windows will now check the disk.
Stage 1: Examining basic file system structure ...
822016 file records processed.
File verification completed.
Phase duration (File record verification): 3.95 seconds.
23978 large file records processed.
Phase duration (Orphan file record recovery): 0.00 milliseconds.
0 bad file records processed.
Phase duration (Bad file record checking): 0.93 milliseconds.
Stage 2: Examining file name linkage ...
653 reparse records processed.
1195530 index entries processed.
Index verification completed.
Phase duration (Index verification): 14.26 seconds.
0 unindexed files scanned.
Phase duration (Orphan reconnection): 1.19 seconds.
0 unindexed files recovered to lost and found.
Phase duration (Orphan recovery to lost and found): 3.65 seconds.
653 reparse records processed.
Phase duration (Reparse point and Object ID verification): 4.00 milliseconds.
Stage 3: Examining security descriptors ...
Cleaning up 2622 unused index entries from index $SII of file 0x9.
Cleaning up 2622 unused index entries from index $SDH of file 0x9.
Cleaning up 2622 unused security descriptors.
Security descriptor verification completed.
Phase duration (Security descriptor verification): 37.69 milliseconds.
186758 data files processed.
Phase duration (Data attribute verification): 0.95 milliseconds.
CHKDSK is verifying Usn Journal...
41758984 USN bytes processed.
Usn Journal verification completed.
Phase duration (USN journal verification): 128.10 milliseconds.
Stage 4: Looking for bad clusters in user file data ...
822000 files processed.
File data verification completed.
Phase duration (User file recovery): 3.99 minutes.
Stage 5: Looking for bad, free clusters ...
52911268 free clusters processed.
Free space verification is complete.
Phase duration (Free space recovery): 0.00 milliseconds.
Windows has scanned the file system and found no problems.
No further action is required.
289502207 KB total disk space.
76556960 KB in 434021 files.
355420 KB in 186759 indexes.
0 KB in bad sectors.
944751 KB in use by the system.
65536 KB occupied by the log file.
211645076 KB available on disk.
4096 bytes in each allocation unit.
72375551 total allocation units on disk.
52911269 allocation units available on disk.
Total duration: 4.38 minutes (262945 ms).
Checking file system on C:
The type of the file system is NTFS.
Volume label is OS.
A disk check has been scheduled.
Windows will now check the disk.
Stage 1: Examining basic file system structure ...
822016 file records processed.
File verification completed.
Phase duration (File record verification): 3.95 seconds.
23978 large file records processed.
Phase duration (Orphan file record recovery): 0.00 milliseconds.
0 bad file records processed.
Phase duration (Bad file record checking): 0.93 milliseconds.
Stage 2: Examining file name linkage ...
653 reparse records processed.
1195530 index entries processed.
Index verification completed.
Phase duration (Index verification): 14.26 seconds.
0 unindexed files scanned.
Phase duration (Orphan reconnection): 1.19 seconds.
0 unindexed files recovered to lost and found.
Phase duration (Orphan recovery to lost and found): 3.65 seconds.
653 reparse records processed.
Phase duration (Reparse point and Object ID verification): 4.00 milliseconds.
Stage 3: Examining security descriptors ...
Cleaning up 2622 unused index entries from index $SII of file 0x9.
Cleaning up 2622 unused index entries from index $SDH of file 0x9.
Cleaning up 2622 unused security descriptors.
Security descriptor verification completed.
Phase duration (Security descriptor verification): 37.69 milliseconds.
186758 data files processed.
Phase duration (Data attribute verification): 0.95 milliseconds.
CHKDSK is verifying Usn Journal...
41758984 USN bytes processed.
Usn Journal verification completed.
Phase duration (USN journal verification): 128.10 milliseconds.
Stage 4: Looking for bad clusters in user file data ...
822000 files processed.
File data verification completed.
Phase duration (User file recovery): 3.99 minutes.
Stage 5: Looking for bad, free clusters ...
52911268 free clusters processed.
Free space verification is complete.
Phase duration (Free space recovery): 0.00 milliseconds.
Windows has scanned the file system and found no problems.
No further action is required.
289502207 KB total disk space.
76556960 KB in 434021 files.
355420 KB in 186759 indexes.
0 KB in bad sectors.
944751 KB in use by the system.
65536 KB occupied by the log file.
211645076 KB available on disk.
4096 bytes in each allocation unit.
72375551 total allocation units on disk.
52911269 allocation units available on disk.
Total duration: 4.38 minutes (262945 ms).
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