C drive chkdsk not working?

Question

Windows 11 25H2 26200.7922

Has anyone else had problems running chkdsk in this preview.?

go to command prompt run as administrator type chkdsk /f /r it gives prompt to run at next boot. Upon reboot chkdsk loads like it is going to run, however as soon as it starts running about 1 second in it quits and takes you back into Windows.

However if you do a shift>restart and get into command prompt via Advanced settings change from X to C: it runs and takes the usual 5 minutes or so to complete.

So is the short 1 second run a bug?

Answer 1

go to command prompt run as administrator type chkdsk /f /r

I test this on three dualboot devices running build 26200.7922 on pubic version and release preview channel.
All six chkdsk test run exactly as it should be run.

Answer 2

Hi kirbster 1,

Thank you for reaching out to Microsoft Q&A forum and taking the time to explain what you’re seeing. I understand how confusing and frustrating this can be, especially when you’re trying to run a disk check just to be safe.

From what you’ve described, it does appear that the scheduled CHKDSK scan on the C: drive isn’t behaving normally on your current Windows 11 Insider Preview build. When CHKDSK is scheduled to run at the next restart, it would normally go through several visible stages, so the scan starting briefly and then exiting back into Windows isn’t the expected behavior.

The good news is that since CHKDSK runs correctly when you start it from Advanced startup (Shift + Restart > Command Prompt), this strongly suggests that the drive itself is accessible and that the tool can complete a full check when Windows is offline.

For now, the recommended workaround is to continue running CHKDSK from the Advanced startup / Recovery environment whenever you need to perform a full disk check. Running it this way allows Windows to fully take the system drive offline, which avoids the behavior you’re seeing during a normal reboot.

After the scan completes, you can also review the results in Event Viewer to confirm whether any errors were found or repaired. In Windows 11, open Event Viewer, then go to Windows Logs > Application. Look for entries with the Source listed as Wininit — these entries typically have Event ID 1001 and contain the full CHKDSK output from scans that run during startup, before Windows fully loads. To make this easier, you can use Filter Current Log and select Wininit (and Chkdsk) under Event sources, which will narrow the view to the relevant entries and help you find the most recent scan result.

Because you’re on an Insider Preview build, this behavior may be related to how early‑boot disk checks are handled in that build rather than an actual problem with the disk. If everything else on the system is running normally and the offline scan completes without reporting errors, there’s no immediate indication of disk failure.

I’d recommend keeping regular backups in place and reporting this behavior through the Feedback Hub so it can be reviewed by the Windows engineering team. If you notice any additional symptoms such as repeated file errors, unexpected restarts, or performance issues, please let me know and we can look at further diagnostics.

I hope this helps clarify what’s happening and feel free to reach out if you have any other questions or concerns.

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