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Windows 7 seems to automatically performs a CHKDSK of any new hard-drive installed in a computer at startup (before login screen).

There is a way to skip that by pressing a key but you have to be fast (it will automatically proceed with disk repair after a few seconds if nothing is done).

The problem is that CHKDSK of Windows 7 is not compatible with NTFS drives formatted in Windows 10 : it will consider hibernation data as error, will try to repair it (it take ages) and by doing so it will corrupt the disk (Windows 10 won't boot anymore).

This is a major issue as I use a Windows 7 machine to repair / inspect some old harddrives. Is there a way to prevent Windows 7 to not automatically perform any CHKDSK at startup ?

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  • I suggest you turn off the automatic feature (I interpreted your first sentence that you had enabled the automatic feature) and then run CHKDSK manually when you need it. It does not need to run otherwise.
    – anon
    Commented Mar 13, 2020 at 20:41
  • Have a look in msconfig. I'm in the bath at the moment, so I can't check but I think it's in there.
    – spikey_richie
    Commented Mar 13, 2020 at 20:41
  • @John : By "I notified" I mean "I just found out" "just realized". It's a fresh Windows 7 installation and I never turned on such a feature. I will edit question.
    – tigrou
    Commented Mar 13, 2020 at 21:11

1 Answer 1

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Windows 7 and 10 do not have compatible formats, especially as regarding hibernation and fast startup. These two features should be disabled in Windows 10 if you intend using the disk under Windows 7.

If disabling the above is not possible, you could use in Windows 7 the chkntfs command option of \x:

/x <Volume>
Specifies one or more volumes to exclude from checking when the computer is started, even if the volume is marked as requiring chkdsk.

Note that each chkntfs command overrides the previous one.

Example: chkntfs /x c: d: e:.

Use chkntfs /d to restore chkntfs default settings.

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  • Is it safe to browse (file explore) a Windows 10 drive under Windows 7 ? (I guess it might write some data too, eg : last access datetime) –
    – tigrou
    Commented Mar 13, 2020 at 21:33
  • It usually is safe enough, but modifications are to be avoided. Working on one disk by two operating systems is always to be avoided, for reasons of conflicting accounts and permissions.
    – harrymc
    Commented Mar 14, 2020 at 6:41

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