CHKDSK can repair some types of damage and retrieve data that is still usable. 
The sooner the damage is discovered, the less painful it is, so using CHKDSK 
every week or so is a good idea.

A complete BACKUP, FORMAT, and RESTORE of the disk is one way to eliminate 
fragmentation. Separately purchased programs can also solve this problem.

The /V option of CHKDSK can be used to get a listing of all the files on a
disk, in all the subdirectories. TREE /F can also do this, in a different
format.

The smaller the disk to be checked, the faster CHKDSK operates. If the only 
reason you are executing CHKDSK is to get a report on memory status, specify 
a diskette drive letter rather than a hard disk drive letter, and you will 
get the report faster. An empty diskette is fastest of all. On DOS 4.0 and
later systems, use the MEM command, instead.
