"Solutions for 'Unable to Perform Disk Check'"

Updated by

Tracy King 

Updated on April 22, 2024

For computer users, purchasing an external hard drive is a significant investment. With an external hard drive, you can back up important files and data or store essential items and carry them around. However, issues can arise with external hard drives. For instance, your external hard drive might suddenly disappear from your computer, or you may encounter an error message stating access is denied.

Recently, a user reported that when he clicked on the “Properties” of an external hard drive, it showed 0 bytes. Then, he clicked on “Check Now” in the Error Checking toolbar. However, he received an error message saying, “Windows cannot check the disk because it is in use.”

If you're experiencing the same issue, you can find the solution in this article. Continue reading for more detailed instructions.

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Method 1: Check the External Hard Drive Connection

One reason you might see this error message is because of an issue with the connection between your external hard drive and the computer. It's highly recommended that you check the cable and USB ports for any problems.

First, try using a different USB cable to see if Windows can access the drive. Then, try plugging the external drive into a different USB port on your computer to see if that fixes the issue. If you've confirmed that the cable and ports aren't the problem, proceed with the second method.

Method 2: Two Ways to Change the Drive Letter of an External Hard Drive

Another reason why Windows might fail to access your hard drive is the drive letter assignment. Each time you insert a new disk into your computer, the system assigns it a new drive letter. If there's any mismatch or inconsistency with the default drive letter, you might receive the error message, "The disk check could not be performed because Windows was unable to access the disk."

This issue can be solved by changing the drive letter. For Windows users, there are two ways to do this, one is via Disk Management, and the other is with a partition management tool - tools Partition Master.

#1. Change Drive Letter in Disk Management

Step 1: Right-click on the Windows icon and select Disk Management to enter.

Step 2. In the "Disk Management" console, you'll see all connected drives. Right-click on your external hard drive.

Step 3: Choose "Change drive letter and paths."

Click “Change,” select a new letter from the drop-down menu, and click “OK” to confirm.

After changing the drive letter, restart your computer and check the properties again. Alternatively, run CHKDSK again to see if Windows can access your disk.

#2. Change Drive Letter with Partition Master Tool

We recommend a simple and free disk management tool - AOMEI Partition Assistant. It aims to make disk partition management easier for users. It simplifies the interface and operations, making it user-friendly for beginners. Even with basic partition knowledge, you can use this tool to resize and move partitions, format partitions, check partitions, and wipe partition data.

Now you can download the Partition Master tool for free and follow the guide to learn how to use it to change the drive letter.

Step 1: Run Partition Assistant, right click on the partition whose drive letter you want to change, and select "Change Drive Letter".

Step 2: In the new window, click the down arrow and select a drive letter from the drop-down menu, then click OK.

Step 3. Click the “Perform 1 Task” button in the upper-left corner to commit the change, and then click “Apply” to change the drive letter of the selected partition.

Extra Tip: Run Disk Check with Partition Master Tool

In addition to helping you change the drive letter of an external hard disk, Partition Assistant can also aid you in performing a disk check. Usually, users need to open the Windows Command Prompt and input several command lines. However, with this tool, you can check and fix partition errors with just one click. Here are the detailed steps:

Step 1: Launch Partition Master on your computer. Then, right-click the partition that you wish to check and select “Advanced” > “Check File System.”

Select “Check Partition”

(2) In the Check Disk Utility dialog box, select the Scan for and attempt recovery of bad sectors check box, and then click Start.

Check the popped up prompt

Step 3: The utility will now check the partitions on your hard drive for file system errors. When it's done, click Finish.

Finish the partition check

Bottom line

After reading this article, you should be able to fix the “The disk check could not be performed because Windows cannot access the disk” error. When faced with the same issue, first, check the external hard drive's connection to your computer, and then change its drive letter.

Worth mentioning is that if you need to use the chkdsk command to check and fix disk errors, you should recover data from the target drive to a secure location first. This is because the chkdsk command will reconstruct the data structures, leading to permanent loss of device data that cannot be restored.