Fixed: Macrium Reflect Unable to Dismount Volume (4 Ways)

User Case: Macrium Reflect Clone Error: Unable to Dismount Volume

"I have a new 1TB SSD, and I am trying to use Macrium Reflect to clone my boot device to this SSD because it would benefit from faster speeds. The question is that I keep getting the Unable to dismount volume error. What am I doing wrong here?"

Macrium Reflect is a widely used disk imaging and cloning tool that allows you to safeguard your PC data by creating backup or cloning hard drive to SSD or another hard drive. However, the Macrium Reflect unable to dismount volume error occurs from time to time, causing disk clone to fail.

Usually, the unable to dismount volume error on Macrium Reflect results in active processes on the target drive, conflict programs, improper connection between your drive and computer, and so on. If you are troubled by the same error, keep reading and you will find 4 solutions to fix this issue with ease.

Note: Macrium Reflect Free has been discontinued early 2024. If you want another powerful disk imaging and clone software, try AOMEI Backupper.

How to Solve Macrium Reflect Unable to Dismount Volume

When confronted with unable to dismount volume on Macrium Reflect, the first thing is to check if your disk is connected correctly to your computer. If there is no problem with the disk connection, you can go on with the following troubleshooting tips to resolve this error.

Method 1. Check if Your Volume is Used by Other Software

Ensure that no other applications or processes are actively using the volume you are trying to dismount. Close any programs that might be accessing files on that volume. You can open Task Manager (Ctrl + Shift + Esc) on Windows and check for any processes that might be using the volume. If you find any, try ending those processes and then attempt to dismount the volume again.

And sometimes, third-party antivirus software may interfere with Macrium Reflect cloning. You can temporarily disable your security software and see if the issue persists.

Method 2. Use Disk Management

You can try using the Disk Management tool, dismounting the volume manually, to fix unable to dismount the target disk when running Macrium Reflect.

Step 1. Go to Control Panel, and tap on System and Security. Then, select Administrative Tools.

Step 2. Choose Computer Management (enter the administrator password if asked).

Step 3. Click on Disk Management under Storage.

Step 4. Right-click on the volume you wish dismounted and select Change Drive Letter and Paths. Choose Remove. Then, tap Yes to confirm the volume dismount.

Method 3. Erase the Target Disk

You can also use the "Erase Disk" option to solve Macrium Reflect unable to dismount volume. It can help you delete all existing partitions on the target disk.

Step 1. Run Macrium Reflect and select your source drive your partitions.

Step 2. Choose another disk as your destination disk, and click on Erase Disk to clear all contents of the target drive.

Step 3. Then, go on to start the disk cloning process, and check if the unable to dismount volume error on Macrium Reflect persists.

Method 4. Clone hard drive to SSD with free Macrium Reflect alternative

Although Macrium Reflect is a great tool, some users also find several problems when attempting to clone disks. In addition to unable to dismount volume, many people confront errors like “Macrium Reflect the device is not ready”, “Macrium Reflect can’t see drive”, and so on. Fixing Macrium Reflect failure errors is often time-consuming and sometimes they are hard to resolve.

In this case, the best option is to turn to a reliable free Macrium Reflect alternative, like AOMEI Backupper Standard, to safely and easily clone a hard disk.

• It supports partition clone as well as disk clone.
• You can use it to clone all kinds of HDDs and SSDs, regardless of disk brands and interfaces, such as WD, Seagate, Samsung, Intel, SanDisk, SATA, M.2, etc.
• It uses intelligent clone to copy only used sectors by default, so you can easily clone large HDD to small SSD, with an SSD Alignment option to accelerate SSD’s reading & writing speed and prolong its lifespan.
• If your target disk is larger, you can also use the "Sector By Sector Clone" option to copy all the sectors, including the blank and logically bad ones.

Let’s see how this tool works smoothly when Macrium Reflect is unable to dismount volume during disk clone to SSD:

Step 1. Free download AOMEI Backupper and install it on your computer. Run it, select Clone and then Disk Clone.

★Note:

The Disk Clone function on the free version only supports data disk clones. For Windows cloning, like migrating Windows 10 to M.2 SSD, you need to upgrade to the Pro version, which also offers a System Clone feature for only OS migration.

Step 2. Select the source disk that you intend to clone, and click Next.

Step 3. Choose your connected SSD as the destination disk, and then hit Next.

Step 4. Select SSD Alignment and then click Start Clone to begin the process. And you can continue using your computer as usual; the cloning process will proceed without disruption.

Final Words

If you are struggling with Macrium Reflect unable to dismount volume, you can try the solutions provided on this page, or turn to the free Macrium Reflect alternative AOMEI Backupper for an error-free and streamlined disk cloning process. You can use it to clone hard drive to another disk or SSD with smaller or larger storage capacity easily.

What’s more, you can create portable version of this tool on a removable device, like a USB flash drive, so you can plug and play it on any computer without installation anymore.