The Drive Where Windows Is Installed Is Locked | Unlock It!

The error: the drive where Windows is installed is locked

“I upgraded to Windows 8.1 yesterday and I have been having trouble so I am trying to do a Refresh. It says ‘the drive where Windows is installed is locked. Unlock the drive and try again.’ What is wrong? What do I do?”

One user shared his bothering experience in the forum. When you are trying to repair or recover a Windows installation from the Windows Recovery Environment, you may encounter this error: Windows drive is locked. Then, what can you do to fix the error?

How to unlock Windows drive in Windows 10/8 easily

The error that Windows drive is locked can be caused by disabled Bitlocker boot agent, the cleaned TPM or damaged BCD files. I’ll show you how to fix the drive where Windows is installed is locked in Windows 10/8 as follows. There are three quick fixes for your reference:

👉 Fix #1: Running the CHKDSK utility to check disk errors
👉 Fix #2: Using the bootrec command to rebuild BCD files
👉 Fix #3: Refreshing the PC
👉 Extra tip for unlocking Windows drive

Fix #1: Running the CHKDSK utility to check disk errors

1. Restart your computer with the Windows installation media and go to “Next”.

2. In the Windows Setup screen, click Repair your computer.

3. At the Choose an option screen, go Troubleshoot > Advanced options > Command Prompt successively.

4. Type chkdsk c: /f /r /x and press Enter. (C: is the drive where your Windows is installed)

5. Reboot the computer and check if the error is fixed.

Tips: The meaning of the parameters used: “/f” tells chkdsk to fix any errors it finds; “/r” tells it to locate the bad sectors on the drive and recover readable information; “/x” forces the drive to dismount before the process starts.

Fix #2: Using the bootrec command to rebuild BCD files

1. Open Command Prompt as you did in Fix #1.

2. Input following command lines and press Enter after each.

• bootrec /fixmbr

• bootrec /fixboot

• bootrec /rebuildbcd

• bootrec /scanos

3. Remove the Windows installation media from the disc tray or USB port.

4. Type exit and press Enter to exit Command Prompt. Restart your computer later.

Fix #3: Refreshing the PC

1. Go to Repair your computer as mentioned in Fix #1.

2. At the Choose an option screen, go Troubleshoot > Refresh your PC.

3. Follow the on-screen instructions to complete the process.

Extra tip for unlocking Windows drive🔥

As you see, you will need Windows installation media to solve the problem that the drive where Windows is installed is locked in Windows 10/8. What if you don’t have the installation media? Actually, you can create a Windows recovery drive by yourself.

AOMEI Backupper Standard, the best free backup software, can help you complete the task.

• It allows you to not only backup and restore the system, disk, partition, or files, but also create bootable media.
• You are able to create two kinds of bootable disc: Linux boot disc and Windows PE boot disc.
• Both CDs and USB flash drives can be used as bootable media.

With AOMEI Backupper, all you need to do to create bootable media are a few clicks. Here take USB as an example:

Step 1. Download AOMEI Backupper and follow the wizard to finish installation. It will be installed in a short time.

Step 2. Connect a USB drive to your computer. Launch AOMEI Backupper, click "Tools" and select “Create Bootable Media”.

Step 3. In the pop-up window, choose bootable disc type and click “Next”. It is recommended to choose Windows PE so that you can access full functions of AOMEI Backupper.

Step 4. Select “USB Boot Device” and click “Next”. You will receive a prompt to format your USB drive. Click “Yes” to start creating bootable media. The created bootable disc supports both legacy/MBR and UEFI/GPT boot modes.

After you boot your computer from the bootable USB drive created by AOMEI Backupper, you will see loaded AOMEI Backupper once login. Go Tools > Windows shell command to open Command Prompt and run the command lines mentioned above to unlock Windows drive.

Summary

You have learned three efficient ways to fix the error that the drive where Windows is installed is locked in Windows 10/8. You can use AOMEI Backupper to create bootable media for booting the computer if you don’t have the Windows installation media.

Other than creating bootable media, AOMEI Backupper enables you to backup multiple drives at once, such as drive C:, D:, E:, etc. Also it offers Server edition to help you run bare metal restore in Windows 2008. Don’t hesitate to try it out!