A hard drive scandisk is a very simple way to perform a Window XP repair , it can fix a lot of errors , even if you have no problems on your computer, running a scandisk every so often is a good thing, as it will notify you or help to prevent any problems occurring.
The hard drive scandisk can be run either from the command prompt or from the Windows Interface.
To run from the command prompt
A hard drive check scandisk can be run using the application itself, you just need to go to Start Menu and select run
Type CMD and click ok this will then give you the DOS screen
Type CHKDSK C: /F this will then ask you if you would like to run CHKDSK when the system restarts, type Y , now once the system restarts windows will check for any disk errors.

Running a hard drive scan disk from Windows
From my computer , choose your hard drive , right click and you will see a small menu, select properties , you will now see the following screen.

Please note
When your computer boots up, just this time it will take longer due to the scan disk running , depending on the speed of your computer and hard drive , not to mention the size it may take a little while.
The next step is to remove any applications that you really don’t need, just go to the start menu again, select control panels,
Find add/remove programs in here you will see a list of all the installed programs, find the ones that you do not use, high light and click remove.
Search for more on hard drive scan disk hints and tips
computer adviser hard drive scandisk article