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Hard drive locked error during Windows 10 recovery

Summary: Resolving an error with the hard drive reporting as locked trying to repair or recover a Windows 10 installation from the Windows Recovery Environment.

This article applies to This article does not apply to This article is not tied to any specific product. Not all product versions are identified in this article.
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Symptoms

When repairing or recovering Windows 10 from the Recovery Environment, you may encounter an error stating the drive is locked. This article provides steps to resolve this issue and continue with the Windows 10 restore.

Hard drive locked during Windows 10 recovery

If you choose to refresh your personal computer from the Windows 10 Recovery Environment, then the following error may appear: "The drive where Windows is installed is locked. Unlock the drive and try again." To resolve the issue, follow the steps below.

  1. Press Cancel on the error message. The computer should boot to the Windows 10 Recovery Environment.
    NOTE: If the computer can boot into Windows, then follow the steps listed in the following article to reboot to the Windows Recovery Environment: How to access the Windows Recovery Environment in Windows 10.
  2. Click Troubleshoot.
  3. Then click Advanced options from the Troubleshoot menu.
  4. On the Advanced options screen that appears, click the Command Prompt.
  5. At the command prompt, type bootrec /FixMbr and press Enter on the keyboard.
    NOTE: A message should appear after each command that the process was completed successfully. The command prompt will then reappear, allowing you to type the next command in the list of steps below.
  6. Type bootrec /fixboot and press Enter.
  7. Type bootrec /ScanOs and press Enter.
  8. Type bootrec /RebuildBcd and press Enter.
    NOTE: A prompt for Total identified Windows installations: may now appear with the choices of Add installation to boot list? Yes<y>/No<n>/All<a>:. Type Y for Yes to continue with the rebuild process.
  9. Finally, type Exit and press Enter.
  10. The computer should reboot and allow the refresh or repair of Windows 10 to complete.

If you get a 'Hard drive is locked' error while installing Windows 10 from recovery media, see the Dell article for a solution: Windows 10: Hard Drive Locked Error During Install.

If you still have an issue with the hard drive locked error after performing the steps above, contact Dell Technical Support at the following link: Contact Dell Technical Support.

Cause

 N/A

Resolution

N/A

Affected Products

Alienware, Inspiron, Legacy Desktop Models, OptiPlex, Vostro, XPS, G Series, G Series, Alienware, Inspiron, Latitude, Vostro, XPS, Legacy Laptop Models, Fixed Workstations, Mobile Workstations
Article Properties
Article Number: 000129786
Article Type: Solution
Last Modified: 17 Jul 2025
Version:  7
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