How to cancel ChkDsk in Windows 8

In this post we will see how to cancel ChkDsk in Windows 8 at startup or reboot, after it has been scheduled in Windows 8 / 7.

Disk Error Checking in Windows 8  is a bit different from the earlier versions of Windows. In Windows 8, Microsoft has redesigned chkdsk utility – the tool for detecting and fixing disk corruption. Microsoft introduced a file system called ReFS, which does not require an offline chkdsk to repair corruptions – as it follows a different model for resiliency and hence does not need to run the traditional chkdsk utility. The disk is periodically checked for file system errors, bad sectors, lost clusters, etc, during Automatic Maintenance and you now no longer need to really go and run it.

But there may be times when you may want to run the command line version of ChkDsk.  In this case you may bring up CMD, enter the command chkdsk /f /r c: to identify bad sectors, attempt recovery of information and fix errors detected, and schedule a ChkDsk run at boot time.

Cancel ChkDsk in Windows

During Windows startup, you will be given a couple of seconds, during which you can press any key to abort the scheduled Disk checking.
If while it is running, you need to cancel it, then the only want to do it, is to power down the computer. But then, again on next restart, the scheduled chkdsk utility will run.
If you want to cancel chkdsk in Windows 8 after you have scheduled it, here is how you can do it.
Using Registry Editor
Run regedit to open the Registry Editor and navigate to the following key:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager

Change the BootExecute entry from:

autocheck autochk * /r\DosDevice\C:

To:

autocheck autochk *

Close the Registry Editor and restart your WindowsPC. ChkDsk will not run.

Using Command Prompt
To cancel a scheduled check disk, open an elevated CMD windows, type the following and hit Enter:

chkntfs /x c:

Here c is the drive letter. This should cancel the scheduled chkdsk run.