Does Scandisk fix errors?

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Occasionally I run a scandisk which - according to the little window that comes up - should fix system errors and recover bad sectors by ticking the two boxes. However, when I click on "start," I get told that the scan can only be run after rebooting, and then the tick marks in the two boxes also disappear.

Does the scandisk REALLY perform these functions? It doesn't seem like it to me, and unfortunately one cannot see the scan being done.

Question - is it an excercise in futility to even go to the trouble of running the program if it does not do what it says? Sure, I also create system restore points on a regular basis, but does that compensate for an actual scandisk in case something goes wrong? If not - is there some other program one can use to do what scandisk is supposed to do?

Any ideas?

 

The purpose of Scandisk is to check that your data and system files are in good health and also check the hard disk itself for problems. If it finds any problems, it will try to fix them. If the problem is a part of the hard disk is damaged, the way it fixes the problem is by attempting to copy the data there to somewhere else and making a note that that part of the disk is unfit for use.

Therefore, System Restore, while a good thing to use, isn't the be-all and end-all of looking after your system. Make sure that all data that REALLY matters is backed up somewhere else as well because if your hard disk suddenly were to fail, you would have a major job on your hands trying to get your data back. The rule of thumb is always that the hardware and the software can blow up and that's not a major problem (except of course if we don't have the money to replace them ) but that the data you have created with the software is irreplaceable and must be backed up on a separate disk. Anyone with important, irreplaceable data such as photos and video of the children that doesn't follow this rule is living dangerously!

I checked what happens when I try to set a Scandisk running on my computer and found that the boxes do become unchecked, so that's probably normal on your computer. The message you're getting is saying that when the computer restarts, the Scandisk will be run. I can't say how good a job it does because that's a question I have. It seems to go through so fast and earlier versions took so long that it makes me wonder if it's doing as good a job as the earlier versions. When the computer restarts, what you would notice is a message about scanning the disk. Depending on the speed of your computer, this will probably take around a minute at the most and then it will continue loading.

There are other programs that can check disks and you could check Major Geeks to see what might suit you - I think this is the right page:

http://www.majorgeeks.com/downloads8.html

Hope this helps!

 

For some reason I can't edit my own post so I'm quoting it instead.

I gave you the wrong information before - I decided to restart my computer and while I was doing that, figured I might as well let the Scandisk run. It took somewhere around 3/4 to an hour. Perhaps I've forgotten in the past to tick those 2 boxes and that's why my Scandisk has always been so quick and seems to do so little.

Here's a picture to show you what you should be seeing when the computer restarts and runs the scandisk.

 

Thank you, Chookers - I didn't accept it as a fait accompli that Scandisk WOULD fix any erors - I was just curious about it. However, I back all my valuable data up on an external HD - not only for the sake of preservation, but as and when I MIGHT go and visit my children (unlikely though, as now at my age I'm having to put up with numerous aches and pains!) I can at least take the loose HD with me and plug it into their machines. Hopefully we might even be privileged to visit our son and his wife in New Zealand sometime towards the end of the year, in which case, the HD will be a "SPUTNIK." Just as a matter of interest, know the meaning of the word SPUTNIK? "PUTNIK" is the Russian word for TRAVELLER, and the "S" indicates a fellow-traveller. That is what I was told years ago, anyway, and I still like to use the word...

Getting back to scandisk - it also takes ages for my machine to run through the procedure, even though it does untick the little boxes. On restart it opens on a blue screen with white lettering, going through five phases, at the end of each one it indicates that that particular phase is complete - the first four go fairly quickly, but when it checks for available space, it's a long process - probably because I have 82% free space on my HD. Meanwhile I'll continue creating restore points and backing up...

Take care!