For some drives, that’s as simple as closing the programs that are active on the drive in question. “Chkdsk cannot run because the volume is in use by another process” simply means that in order to fix your hard disk, Chkdsk needs to be the only program accessing it. The article How Do I See the Results of a Chkdsk that Ran on Boot? shows you how to view it. The information generated by Chkdsk running at boot time is saved to the system event log. Once Chkdsk completes, the computer should reboot and load Windows normally. (Screenshot: )Īs the message indicates, you have a few seconds to press any key on the keyboard to skip the disk check, after which Chkdsk proceeds. When you reboot, all proceeds normally until the screen changes to give you the opportunity to skip disk-checking. That’s the only time Chkdsk can have the exclusive access to the system disk it needs. Would you like to schedule this volume to be checked the next time the system restarts? (Y/N)Īnswer the question with a “Y” for yes, followed by Enter, and Chkdsk will run the next time you reboot Windows, before Windows itself begins to run. The answer is actually in part of the error message we see: Chkdsk cannot run because the volume is in use by another Unless, of course, you happened to have moved your paging file to D:, in which case you’re back in the “can’t do it while Windows is running” situation, since the paging file is always open while Windows is running. Make sure nothing is accessing anything on that drive and try again. The solution is easier, though: close those programs. If you have Windows File Explorer open on drive D:, or perhaps have a document open on that disk, the same situation applies. While getting this error on the Windows drive is the most common, it’s certainly not the only case. In fact, Windows has several files open, including the files containing the registry, the system paging file, and the executable files that make up Windows itself.Ĭhkdsk cannot fix or repair a drive from which Windows was loaded while Windows is running. “But I have no programs running!” I hear you say. If any other program has a file open on the disk, it’s considered to be “in use”, and Chkdsk can’t get the exclusive access it needs. ( Volume, in the error message, is simply another term for disk, or more correctly, partition process is another word for program.) In order for Chkdsk to be able to fix or repair a disk, it needs to be the only program accessing that disk.

For more about what it does and why it matters, see Chkdsk: What Is It and How Do I Run It? … because the volume is in use by another process

Chkdsk is, as its name implies, a disk-repair utility included in Windows.

Chkdsk access denied elevated mode