Get the fix to the “The drive where Windows is installed is locked” error that appears on Windows 8, Windows 8.1 or Windows 10 systems.
Dec 10, 2018 Check that the external hard drive has power if it needs it. Check the condition of the cable and swap it if you have a spare. Change the hard drive power cable if you have a spare. Try a different wall outlet if there is one nearby. Reboot your Mac to see if it was an open program or app stopping the drive being detected. Feb 20, 2012 But let's see what we can do. Try booting from a Parted Magic CD or flash drive and see if you can access your files through that. Parted Magic is a live Linux variation that comes with a hard. Jan 01, 2017 I appreciate the response. I did get to disk management and the drive is there but it is greyed out. There is also a place that says 'no media present.' My hard drive is running. It was my Operating System drive (C) on my old computer which was running Windows 7.
Feb 01, 2016 If the drive is showing here, but not on the OS X desktop, then click First Aid to try and repair the drive. If the drive has a file system not recognized by OS X, you’ll need to erase it and the format it using FAT or HFS+. If the drive is not showing up in Disk Management or Disk Utility at all, you have some other type of problem. If you can’t boot from your USB recovery drive or don’t see the Recover from a drive option, you may need to ensure that the boot-from-USB function in the Surface BIOS is enabled or configure the boot order so the USB drive is the first option. For more info, see Boot Surface from a USB device.
Contents
- 1 About “The drive where Windows is installed is locked”
- 2 Causes of this Error
- 3 Fixing “The drive where Windows is installed is locked” on Windows
- 4 More Information
About “The drive where Windows is installed is locked”
The following information on this error has been compiled by NeoSmart Technologies, based on the information gathered and reported by our global network of engineers, developers, and technicians or partner organizations.
Description and Symptoms
The error messages, alerts, warnings, and symptoms below are tied to this error.
Symptom 1: “The drive where Windows is installed is locked” error screen on startup
The screen below is displayed when you attempt to start your PC. Unlike most errors, this error screen isn’t identified by an error code like the “Your PC needs to be repaired” error:
Causes of this Error
![Mac Mac](/uploads/1/2/7/1/127106111/297605288.png)
This error has been known to occur as a result of one of the following causes:
Cause 1: Bitlocker boot agent disabled
The root cause of this issue is due to the usage of Windows Bitlocker encryption. Bitlocker is a whole-disk encryption used to secure user data, but requires that the Bitlocker boot agent be installed. At boot time, this boot agent is used to unlock the Windows drive before attempting to load Windows 7, Windows 8, or Windows 10. If this agent is disabled or overwritten, either on purpose, by accident, or due to 3rd party interference such as 3rd party bootloaders or malware infecting the boot process, this error message can appear.
Cause 2: The TPM has been cleared or reset
BitLocker can optionally use a hardware encryption chip found on most modern PCs and laptops known as the TPM (Trusted Platform Module) to manage the secret keys used for the encryption of data. If this TPM is cleared or lost, either due to the user clearing the TPM manually in the BIOS/firmware setup or due to a TPM firmware upgrade as part of the system firmware/BIOS upgrade process, the keys the TPM contains may be cleared and the system will fail to boot.
Cause 3: BCD file is damaged
The BCD(Boot Configuration Data) file that contains boot configuration parameters for Windows system, is a very important part of booting process. If that file becomes damaged, then the boot process is halted.
Fixing “The drive where Windows is installed is locked” on Windows
Windows Setup CD/DVD Required!
Some of the solutions below require the use of the Microsoft Windows setup CD or DVD. If your PC did not come with a Windows installation disc or if you no longer have your Windows setup media, you can use Easy Recovery Essentials for Windows instead. EasyRE will automatically find and fix many problems, and can also be used to solve this problem with the directions below.
Some of the solutions below require the use of the Microsoft Windows setup CD or DVD. If your PC did not come with a Windows installation disc or if you no longer have your Windows setup media, you can use Easy Recovery Essentials for Windows instead. EasyRE will automatically find and fix many problems, and can also be used to solve this problem with the directions below.
Fix #1: Use Easy Recovery Essentials
Easy Recovery Essentials can fix many errors such as this automatically using its built-in Automated Repair option. EasyRE is currently available for Windows XP, Vista, 7 and 8 and can be downloaded and created on any PC.
- Download Easy Recovery Essentials. Make sure to note your Windows version (XP, Vista, 7 or 8) before you download EasyRE. This guide can help you identify what version of Windows you have installed.
- Burn the image. Follow these instructions on how to burn the bootable ISO image very carefully, as making a bootable CD can be tricky! Alternatively, these instructions explain how to create a bootable EasyRE recovery USB stick/drive.
- Boot up your PC from the Easy Recovery Essentials CD or USB you created.
- Once EasyRE is running, choose the “Automated Repair” option and click Continue.Choose “Automated Repair” in Easy Recovery Essentials
- After EasyRE scans your computer’s drives, identify and select the drive letter for your Windows installation from the list, and then click on the Automated Repair button to begin.Choose the drive associated with the Windows installation you’re trying to repair.
- Easy Recovery Essentials will start analyzing the selected drive for problems. EasyRE will test for and attempt to automatically correct errors with the disk, partition, bootsector, filesystem, bootloader, and registry. No intervention is required, as EasyRE’s repair is fully automated:Easy Recovery Essentials searches for errors and makes corrections to the selected Windows installation.
- Once the process is complete, EasyRE will report its findings. Click on the Restart button to reboot your PC and test the changes.
- The “The drive where Windows is installed is locked” error should now be fixed as your PC begins to load:
You can download Easy Recovery Essentials from here.
Fix #2: Run Automatic Repair
The Automatic Repair utility, which is available in Windows 8/8.1/10 by default, might fix the “The drive where Windows is installed is locked” error.
To access Automatic Repair on your computer, follow these steps:
- Insert the Windows DVD/USB and reboot the system.If you don’t have your original Windows 8 installation media, go to Fix #1: Use Easy Recovery Essentials
- Boot from the media
- Click Repair your computer
- Navigate to Troubleshoot > Automatic Repair
- Continue with the wizard to complete the process
Windows 8 Repair your computer screen
If running Automatic Repair didn’t fix the error, go to Fix #3: chkdsk to run the
chkdsk
utility.![Mac Dosent See Hsrd Drive To Install Os Mac Dosent See Hsrd Drive To Install Os](/uploads/1/2/7/1/127106111/826269515.jpg)
Mac Doesnt See Hsrd Drive To Install Os Mac
Fix #3: Check disk for errors with chkdsk utility
The
chkdsk
utility will check the integrity of your hard disk. You can try to fix the “The drive where Windows is installed is locked” error with the chkdsk /r
command.To do so, follow these steps to access
chkdsk
:- Restart the computer with the original installation media (that’s either the DVD or the USB flash drive)If you don’t have the original install media, go to Fix #1: Use Easy Recovery Essentials
- Click Repair your computer
- At the Choose an option screen, click Troubleshoot
- Click Advanced options
- Click Command Prompt
- Type this command:Where
C:
is the letter of the drive where Windows 8/8.1/10 is installed on. If your Windows 8 is installed on theD:
drive, enterD:
- Press Enter
Fix #4: Use bootrec to rebuild the BCD file
In some cases, the “The drive where Windows is installed is locked” error can appear due to damage or corruption of the BCD file on your Windows system.
To fix the BCD, follow these steps:
- Insert the installation media and boot from itIf you don’t have the original disc, go to Fix #1: Use Easy Recovery Essentials
- At the Install screen, click Repair your computer or press R
- Navigate to Troubleshoot > Advanced Options > Command Prompt
- Type this command:
- Press Enter
- Type this command:
- Press Enter
- Type this command:
- Press Enter
- This this command:
- Press Enter
- Remove the installation media from the disc tray or USB port
- Type
exit
- Press Enter
- Restart your computer
Bootrec utility results screen
Fix #5: Set the correct partition
If Fix #4: bootrec didn’t fixed the “The drive where Windows is installed is locked” error by replacing the boot loader of your Windows 8, you may need to set the correct partition first and then run
bootrec
again.To do so, follow these steps:
- Boot from the install media as explained in Fix #4: bootrec until you reach Command PromptIf you don’t have the original disc, go to Fix #1: Use Easy Recovery Essentials
- When Command Prompt appears, type this command:
- Press Enter
- Then type:
- Press Enter
- Then type:
- Press Enter
- Check the volume listed by Command Prompt with FAT32 at the Fs column. Once you identified the volume, type this command:Replace
2
with the volume’s number. - Press Enter
- You need to assign a new letter to this partition. The letter must be unique, e.g. it can’t be
c:
:Replacex:
from the command above with a unique letter for this partition. - Press Enter
- Wait for the confirmation message from the
diskpart
utility to appear: - Then type:
- Press Enter
- Then type:Make sure to replace
x:
with the letter you’ve assigned earlier. - Press Enter
- Then type:
- Press Enter
- Then type:This will create a backup of your current BCD file.
- Press Enter
- Then type:Make sure to replace
x:
with the letter you’ve assigned earlier. - Press Enter
- Remove the install media from the disc tray or USB port
- Type:
- Press Enter
- Restart the computer
Fix #5: Refresh the PC
You can perform a Refresh of your Windows 8/8.1/10 system.
Refresh acts as a reinstall of your Windows 8 without affecting your personal files. This might fix the “The drive where Windows is installed is locked” error.
To run Refresh, follow these steps:
- Restart your computer
- Boot from the Windows 8/8.1/10 installation media (the original DVD or USB drive).If you don’t have your original Windows 8 installation media, go to Fix #1: Use Easy Recovery Essentials
- Click Repair your computer
- Click Troubleshoot and then click Refresh your PC
- Follow the wizard instructions to complete the process
More Information
Linked Entries
Support Links
- Easy Recovery Essentials for Windows – our repair and recovery disk.
It’s an easy-to-use and automated diagnostics disk. It’s available for Windows 8, Windows 7 and Windows Vista. It’s also available for Windows XP and Windows Server.Read more at Windows Recovery Disks. - The NeoSmart Support Forums, member-to-member technical support and troubleshooting.
- Get a discounted price on replacement setup and installation discs: Windows 8, Windows 10.
Applicable Systems
Mac Doesnt See Hsrd Drive To Install Os Download
This Windows-related knowledgebase article applies to the following operating systems:
- Windows 8 (all editions)
- Windows 8.1 (all editions)
- Windows 10 (all editions)