When a certain amount of time has passed since the installation of an operating system, it is normal for errors to begin to occur. In the case of Windows 11, sometimes these errors manifest themselves in the form of unexpected restarts or slower than normal operation. Fortunately, we have tools like CHKDSK, SFC and DISM to repair Windows 11 and get everything back to normal.
Most of the time the origin of these errors lies in the fact that some files have been corrupted. Many users, not knowing exactly what to do, opt for a complete reinstallation of the entire system. An effective remedy, although slow and too drastic. Before resorting to it, It is advisable to explore other possibilities.
If you have a problem with corrupt, damaged or deleted files, Windows offers us several solutions in the form of commands. The three that we present in this entry can help us not only analyze the system in search of this type of errors, but they also allow us to solve them quite effectively. These 3 commands are: CHKDSK, SFC, and DISM. Next, we explain what they are and what they are for.
CHKDSK (Check Disk)
This is one of the best diagnostic tools that Windows offers us. And the first option that we must try. CHKDSK or "check disk" It is a utility integrated into the Microsoft operating system whose function is to find and repair errors in a simple way.
It is best to use CHKDSK regularly to detect the presence of corrupt files on our PC's hard drive. It can help us correct them and, in the process, free up disk space. There are two main methods to run CHKDSK:
From file explorer
This is the easiest way to run this tool. The steps to follow are these:
- First we open File Explorer and select «This PC».
- Then we right click on the drive that contains the Windows operating system (usually C:) and select «Properties».
- Now we are going to "Tools".
- There we click "Check".
- After finishing the scan, we click Show details to see which errors have been fixed, if this is the case. Then we press "Close" to complete the process.
From the Command Prompt
The advantage of running the check disk command this way is that we can customize the parameters. It is done like this:
- To start, let's go to the menu search bar Home and there we write cmd (Symbol of the system).
- Then we click on "Execute as an administrator".
- Next we write chkdsk and click Enter.
CHKDSK scans the unit for errors and sends us a notification, but will not repair them without receiving a new order from us. For that we will have to use a specific CHKDSK command for each case, as shown below:
Rewrites the file system directory to match what is actually on the hard drive.
- chkdsk /f. It serves to rewrite the file system directory so that it matches what the hard drive actually contains.
- chkdsk / r O well chkdsk /f /r. It is used to repair hard drive sectors and make them readable within the file system.
- chkdsk /f /r /x. It allows us to run an analysis of the file system, correcting any errors that exist.
- /scan. It runs an online analysis of the hard drive, which we can continue using while it is being carried out.
SFC or System File Checker
This is a more specific command whose main purpose is to scan and repair Windows system files. It is the one we must go to when the dreaded blue screen or there is a persistent error that keeps bothering us.
We explain below how to repair Windows 11 using SFC:
- First we use the key combination Windows + X. In the menu that appears, we choose "Command Prompt (Admin)".
- In the User Account Control command prompt window, select Yes.
- Then we write SFC / scannow and click Enter.
With this action, the system file checker will start checking the status of the Windows system files and, if necessary, will proceed to repair them. Once the process is finished, we will have to restart our PC.
DISM
The third tool we have to repair Windows 11 is DISM (Deployment Image Servicing and Management) or “Deployment Image Maintenance and Management Tool”. This is an even more specific command than SFC, which focuses on the task of analyze and repair Windows image.
A Windows image file is a file that contains the operating system as well as all the data present on your hard drive and other executable files. Its usefulness is to save this information to be able to restore all these files in the event of a critical failure in the system or serious damage to important files.
Let's see how to use this command to repair Windows 11:
- The first step is to use, as we have seen before, the key combination Windows + X. Then, in the menu that appears, we select "Command Prompt (Admin)".
- To verify that there are problems to be resolved in the Windows 11 image, we use one of the following commands:
- DISM / Online / Cleanup Image / CheckHealth (for simple analysis).
- DISM / Online / Cleanup Image / ScanHealth (for more advanced analysis).
- If the result of this check is that problems have been detected in the files, we execute the following command: DISM / Online / Cleanup Image / RestoreHealth. With this we will be able to repair the Windows 11 image. It's that simple.
Conclusion
Now that we have learned how to use these three commands to repair Windows 11 simply and effectively, all that remains is to decide When is it advisable to use one method or another?. As a summary, we can express it as follows:
- We will use CHKDSK as a general command to resolve any type of errors related to Windows 11 files.
- Instead, we will use SFC when we believe that the problem may be hidden in some specific files in Windows 11.
- Finally, we will resort to DISM if it has not been possible to solve the problem with either of the two previous commands.