Will Scandisk or CHKDSK Cause Computer Data Loss?

Data Recovery, Outlook Data Recovery February 8, 2017

I’ve heard some users complain that some computer files get lost after running the Scandisk or CHKDSK. In most situations, this tool will not cause data loss. But there are still a few unexpected cases. This article will discuss this issue in detail.

Computer data losses have plagued numerous users a lot for various reasons. The most common causes include virus infection, human errors and abrupt Windows shutdown, etc. In general, if with current backups, data recovery can be very easy. But if no up-to-date backups, some data recovery software may be required, such as Outlook data damage recovery software.

As we all know, our computer data is stored in the hard drive. Provided that there are bad sectors in the drive, our data may be put in danger. Fortunately, Windows offers users an inbuilt scandisk tool, originally called Scandisk and now CHKDSK, which can scan a disk and report the disk state and endeavor to fix the issues from bad sectors, system errors and other mechanical problems alike. Though this tool is seemingly powerful, it still may cause additional computer data losses in some special scenarios.

Use Scandisk or CHKDSK to Fix Computer Issues

How to Launch and Use Scandisk or CHKDSK

This tool can work in the following 4 ways.

  1. If your Windows operating system suddenly crashes or your computer shuts down improperly, the next time when the computer boots, the scan disk tool will auto start to work. In such cases, you can simply follow its suggested steps.
  2. In addition, if you intend to open a corrupt file, you may receive an error message displaying in the bottom right corner of the Windows Desktop. It suggests you to run CHKDSK. You can select whether to just delete the file or try this tool to fix it.
  3. Moreover, if you want to manually launch Scandisk or CHKDSK. You can go to Windows Explorer, right click the drive that you’d like to check and select “Properties” from the context menu. Then in the popup dialog box, switch to “Tools” tab and hit “Check Now”. Later just follow onscreen instructions.
  4. Furthermore, you can launch CHKDSK in Command Prompt too. Search “cmd” in “Start Menu” and press “Enter” to open Command Prompt window. Then type in format “CHKDSK drive: /parameter”, like “CHKDSK D: /f”.

Scandisk or CHKDSK Can Cause Computer Data Loss

This tool scan and check the disk health by examining file allocation table (FAT) or new technology file system (NTFS). It will find out the culprits doing harms to your computer’s function. The criminals are usually missing or damaged files and bad sectors and so on. If you’ve specified the “/f’ or “/r” parameter, the scan disk tool will automatically try to fix them, which will change some vital information on the file system. So in this process, data loss can occur under the following 3 circumstances.

  1. As many changes will be made to file system in this repairing process, if this course gets interrupted, some information on file system will be damaged or lost. It will lead to severe data loss.
  2. What’s more, when viruses or malware attack your computer and some files have been corrupt, if you launch CHKDSK, this tool will detect these files and delete them straightly. At that point, you won’t see them, let alone recovering them.
  3. Additionally, CHKDSK is capable of finding and deleting the files in invalid file name or the compromised index entries and attribute records without letting you know.

Data Recovery after Scandisk or CHKDSK

If you encountered data losses after launching a scan disk tool, you must desire to get back your data as soon as possible. You can apply the following 3 means.

  1. Firstly, if you’ve made a consistent and up-to-date data backup before using this tool, you can easily recover data from your backups.
  2. Secondly, before CHKDSK delete files, you may receive a message, asking you whether to convert lost chains to files. If you select “Y”, the files will be saved in a folder called as “found.000” in the root directory of the disk. These files will be in the same file extension “.chk”. So you can turn to the root directory of the drive to check if there are some useful files.
  3. Last but not least, if both approaches cannot help you, perhaps what you can do is to call in professional data recovery software. There is much this kind of software in the today’s market. Please keep cautious, Don not readily trust in those freeware from unknown source.

Author Introduction:

Shirley Zhang is a data recovery expert in DataNumen, Inc., which is the world leader in data recovery technologies, including repair corrupt SQL Server mdf db  and outlook repair software products. For more information visit www.datanumen.com

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