ntfsck − check and repair an NTFS file system
ntfsck [options] device
ntfsck will check and repair an NTFS file system located on device or an NTFS image file.
Below is a
summary of all the options that ntfsck accepts.
Nearly all options have two equivalent names. The short name
is preceded by − and the long name is preceded
by −−. Any single letter options, that
don’t take an argument, can be combined into a single
command, e.g. −fv is equivalent to −f
−v. Long named options can be abbreviated to any
unique prefix of their name.
−a,
−−automatic−repair
Repair the volume if it appears to be in need of a repair. This options makes ntfsck exit immediately if the volume appears to be in order (no dirty flag set, logfile clean, no hibernated Windows session, ...), but otherwise a full repair is performed.
−c, −−fast−check
Check if volume is dirty then exit. If the volume is dirty then the exit value will be 100. If used with −m/−−mount−check-only then also repairs any issues which prevent volume from being mounted.
−m, −−mount−check−only
Check if volume can be mounted safely and if volume can be mounted then exit. If volume cannot be mounted then fix it and exit. Also works if used with −c/−−fast−check.
−s, −−simulate
Simulate repair of the volume. This option caches all the changes made by ntfsck in memory and never writes to the device. This can be done with a write-protected volume to check what changes ntfsck would make if it would be able to write to it. Exit value will be the same as you’d expect during a normal repair.
−P, −−no−progress−bar
Don’t show progress bars.
−C, −−no−alloc−check
Don’t check cluster allocations. This option speeds up ntfsck. Use this option with caution.
−O, −−no−orpan−check
Don’t check for orphaned files. This option speeds up ntfsck.
−M, −−no−mft−scan
Don’t scan $MFT. This option typically slows down ntfsck.
−S, −−no−sync
Don’t sync NTFS metadata before exit. This option speeds up ntfsck however it’s safe to use only if device is not removed/ejected.
−F, −−file FILE
Check and repair FILE only. FILE is absolute path to a file or directory.
−i, −−inode NUMBER
Correct inode NUMBER only and its children.
−t, −−timeout SECONDS
Timeout in seconds before ntfsck will abort the volume check/repair. If specified, this sets an upper limit on the execution time of ntfsck. After the timeout occurs, ntfsck will clear all its pending tasks and return as soon as possible.
−f, −−force
This will override some sensible defaults. Use this option with caution.
−D, −−delete-crosslinked
Delete cross linked clusters.
−b, −−crosslinked-check
Run crosslinked check. Remember without this option we will see cross linked messages i.e. information regarding cross linked clusters will always appear in the output. It is disabled by default because resolving cross-links without data loss means moving clusters around which may take extra time if number of cross-linked clusters is high. If ntfsck with this option is run periodically then it can be switched on.
−e, −−delete-crosslinked-if-no-space
Delete cross linked clusters in case ntfsck cannot resolve them by moving to empty space.
−n, −−-check-duplicate-names
Enable duplicate name detection check.
−h, −−help
Show a list of options with a brief description of each one.
−V, −−version
Show the version number of ntfsck.
The exit code
returned by ntfsck is one of the followings:
0 − No errors or file system was
successfully repaired
1 − File system errors could not be
corrected
23 − Volume is read-only
100 − Volume is dirty, needs check
(−−fast-check was used)
If you find a bug please send an email describing the problem to ntfs-support@tuxera.com.
ntfsck is part of the Tuxera NTFS package.
mkntfs(8)