Fixed Windows Cannot Run Disk Checking on This Volume

Theo Lucia

Nov 11, 2024 • Filed to: Answer Hard Drive Problems • Proven solutions

A CHKDSK command prompt is a built-in utility that is often used at times when the device is facing errors and you want to check the device for an existing error. But this utility is also prone to errors leached to it. One of them is i.e. windows cannot run disk checking because it is write-protected or windows cannot run disk checking. It happens when a drive’s volume carries certain write protection. Disabling these security protections would help to rule out the error. This article will help you with some quick-fix solutions to resolve windows cannot run disk checking on this volume.

Related: What is disk volume

As mentioned above, CHKDSK is a command based built-in utility that is employed at times to check/scan the device for any errors. Most of the time it issued to check the hard drive for associated errors. This utility does get stuck, as an error is leached to it. The error message pops up the screen i.e. windows cannot run disk checking because it is write-protected or windows cannot run disk checking. This error appears in extreme cases i.e. in case if the drive is corrupted on the whole or there exists any security check linked to its read/write functionality. In both cases, you are unable to access the drive and the data stored on it. If it is the drive to contain BIOS system files, you would face a system failure as it will not boot. In other circumstances, if the volume of the drive contains important backups and restore points, then you won’t be able to access them. This error windows cannot run disk checking on this volume must be resolved in order to run the drive normally. This article is all about the reasons causing the error to the utility, along with five quick-fix solutions to fix the problem. Here are the topics that would be discussed in detail.

Part 1: What Are the Causes of the Error?

Let’s start from the beginning! You suspect that your hard drive is facing some issues while running and you decide to scan it for any prevailing errors. Using CHKDSK utility is your prime choice. But when you happen to run this command based utility, you get an error message on the screen saying windows cannot run disk checking because it is write-protected or windows cannot run disk checking on this volume. What causes this message to pop up? Here in this section, some of the underlying reasons are listed.

1. When you happen to get an error message i.e. windows cannot run disk checking on this volume, it is because the disk volume attribute is set to the read-only setting. It will only allow you to read the files but you won’t be able to carry out any process on existing data. Turning off this read-only status will allow you to run the CHKDSK command.
2. Most of the time, it is the hard drive that is causing this error. A physically damaged or a corrupted hard drive would end up showing this error. It could be due to any disaster, sudden fall, or virus and malware attack on the partition. Sometimes, it is the corrupted file (data) that causes hard drive corruption.

Part 2: Fixed: Windows Cannot Run Disk Checking On This Volume

As you know the two prime reasons for windows cannot run disk checking on this volume, then this section is all about the quick-fix solutions to fix windows cannot run disk checking because it is write-protected. Let’s get started!

Method 1. Remove Write Protection via CMD

If the drive is set to read-only status, then turning it off via CMD is the foremost solution to consider. Here are the steps to follow:

Step 1: Start the procedure by pressing Windows key + X simultaneously. It will launch the power user menu.

Step 2: In the menu, select the option of the command prompt (admin).

Step 3: In the next UAC window, click yes to grant permission to command prompt to run as administrator.

Step 4: As the command prompt launch, type chkdsk E: /f /r /x in the box and click enter to continue.

Step 5: Replace the drive letter. As it will unmount the drive, USB, or SD card under consideration. Any write protection associated with it would be removed.

Method 2. Remove Write Protection via Diskpart

Apart from using the CMD command prompts, you can also use the disk part for removing the write protection to resolve windows that cannot run disk checking on this volume. Here are the steps:

Step 1: Launch the CMD command by pressing Windows key + X simultaneously and click enter to run the command prompt as administrator.

Step 2: As the command prompt launch, type diskpart, and click enter to continue. Click yes to grant respective permissions.

Step 3: Diskpart will open. In diskpart type the following commands and click enter every time you type the command.

• list volume
• select volume n (where n is the write-protected drive, here is 6)
• attributes disk clear read-only
• exit

Step 4: As soon as all the command lines are typed, now move back to CMD command prompt and type CHKDSK F: /f. It will locate the disk checking for errors normally.

Method 3. Clear Read-Only in Registry Editor

If CMD command or diskpart didn’t work for you to remove the write protection from the drive volume, then you can go for the registry editor. Here are the steps:

Step 1: Launch the run command prompt by pressing windows key + R simultaneously.

Step 2: As the command box is open, type Regedit, and click enter to continue. Then locate the following path in registry editor.

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\StorageDevicePolicies

Step 3: Now locate the write protection and select the option to modify. Change the numerical value from 1 to 0.

Method 4. Format the volume

If none of the above-mentioned techniques work for you, then you can go for formatting the drive. This formatting will remove all the write-protection as well as the data present on the drive. It is recommended to create a backup for data prior to running a format on a hard drive. For formatting the drive, you can use the disk management utility. It helps to manage disk and partitions, create a partition, delete partition, format partition, change drive letter, convert the disk to dynamic, etc. Here are the steps to follow to format the drive with disk management to rule out the error i.e. windows cannot run disk checking because it is write-protected.

Step 1: Start the process with opening disk management utility.

Step 2: You can open it in two ways i.e. right-click the windows main menu and in the drop-down select the option of disk management or press windows key + R simultaneously to launch run command prompt, type diskmgmt.msc in the box and click enter to open the utility.

Step 3: Like the disk management launch, select the target drive/partition and right-click on it. in the drop-down menu, select the option of format.

Step 4: In the format window, set the volume label, file system, and allocation unit size. Click ok to continue.

Step 5: A warning message will pop up. Read it and click ok to complete the action. Once the process is completed, your drive is now free to use.

Method 5. Recover Files from Hard Drive

In case you have lost your data due to the windows cannot run disk checking because it is write protected error for any reason, you need third-party application software to recover the lost data. In this regard, Recoverit data recovery software is at your service. It helps to recover all the lost or accidentally deleted data from the corrupted or damaged hard drive. Here are the steps to use the software for retrieving the lost data.

Step 1: Download and then install the software on your device. After successful installation, launch the software.

Step 2: You have to select the hard drive source from where you lost the data. Click start to continue.

Step 3: The software will run a quick scan on the source drive to retrieve the data files.

Step 4: As soon as the scan is completed, all the retrieved files will appear on the screen. Preview them one by one and select the files you want to recover. Click recovery to complete the action.

As the process completes, all the retrieved and selected files will be saved on the device. Make sure you have saved the recovered files on a location other than from where they were lost at first.

Hence, whenever your hard drive is suspected to contain any error, CHKDSK command-based utility is used to run a quick scan on the targeted drive. But what if the chkdsk utility fails to run. It is probably the case when an error message pops up on the screen i.e. windows cannot run disk checking because it is write-protected or windows cannot run disk checking. It is the write protections linked to the volumes/partitions of the drive that won’t allow you to carry out any process on data under read-only option. In other cases, a corrupted data stored on the drive, bad sectors, corrupted volume, damaged partition or virus, and malware attacks can lead to this chkdsk error. This article explained all the underlying reasons causing the error along with top-notch quick-fix solutions to remove the write protection from the hard drive. Moreover, a third-party recovery software i.e. Recoverit data recovery is also recommended to use for recovering the deleted/lost data from corrupted/damaged hard drive.