That would depend on what operating system you are using. Every operating system has its own tools for checking hard drive and file system consistency.
chkdisk
diskpart
SCANDISK
it checks for errors or defects on your hard drive and tells the computer not to write there anymore
Local disk Properties > Tools Tab
DOS is an operating system. CHKDSK is an application that check the hard drive for errors.
On a Widows operating system, 1). Go to "My Computer". 2). Right click on the drive you wish to check for errors. 3). Select the "Tools" tab. 4). Select the "Error-checking" tab and click, "Check Now" 5). Check "Automatically fix file system errors" AND check "Scan for and attempt recovery of bad sectors" 6). Click "Start" Note: If the hard drive you are checking for errors is the drive where your operating system is installed, you will be prompted that the the drive cannot be checked at this time but you will be given the option to schedule the drive (disc) check the next time you reboot your computer. In this case choose, "schedule a dskchck". 6). Shut down the computer. 7). Reboot the computer; the hard drive is then, automatically checked for errors. Once the check is run and compelted, you computer will continue the re-boot process and your system is up, loaded and ready again to use.
Fdisk Fdisk
The Hard Drive Property Window.
No, they don't disappear, unless you use the command move to...
The Properties screen is used for doing this. If you go to My Computer (or Computer on newer ones), you can right-click on a drive letter and select Properties. From there, you go to Tools, and there you find options to defragment, check for errors, and even backup your data.
formats are not drive specific so it depends on the software with windows open a command prompt and use the format command