‘Hard Drive is not accessible. Access is denied’ is one of the most common errors that make the hard drives inaccessible and in the worst case, it could also lead to data loss. Here in this blog you will find the solutions to fix the issue. We will also share an easy, DIY method to recover your lost data stored on inaccessible hard drive using Stellar Data Recovery tool.
The hard drive is one of the major storage components of a computer system. It stores various kinds of data like text, pictures, audios, videos, etc. Any problem arising in such hard drives could lead to inaccessibility of the data present in it. Such inaccessibility is often supported by various error messages. One of the most common error messages that make the hard drives inaccessible is “Hard Drive is not accessible. Access is denied“.
The error message indicates that there is some problem with the hard drive, which has made the hard drive inaccessible. In the worst case, it could also lead to data loss.
The issues mentioned above can be experienced in many different situations as well as different versions of operating systems. The error message indicates that the hard drive has gone corrupt.
To get over from the situation, you can follow any of the two solutions mentioned below:
1. How to Automatically Fix this Error?
To solve hard drive inaccessibility issues, formatting will be the sure shot way. However, the stored data may be compromised, and you may permanently lose access to it. To avoid losing data, you can use data recovery programs that can recover data from the inaccessible hard drive without altering the file attributes.
Use Stellar Data Recovery Professional for Windows to recover files from the inaccessible hard drive or any other storage media with similar issues. You can free download this data recovery software on any latest Windows machine and begin scanning the formatted or erased hard drive for your data.
You can select specific volume giving you access denied error. Once you select the volume, click on Scan button to initiate scanning process. Here is the video to show how you can recover the lost data:
2. How to Fix this Error via Manual Ways?
a) For Windows 10
If you are running Windows 10 then follow below steps to access your inaccessible drive:
b) For Windows 7
In the case of Windows 7, you might get that error if you are running HomeGroup and have shared a root drive E:\, and finally, you have left the HomeGroup. This situation would deny you any access to the drive that was shared and would give you the following error message.
To resolve this issue, go to the Windows Explorer and follow the below mentioned steps:
Alternatively, you can also try the following option if you are not able to access any file or folder on a Windows 7 drive.
You can also try the following method:
c) For Windows Vista
You can also face a similar kind of situation while working with Windows Vista.
Like Windows 7, you can also check the permissions of the file or folder in Windows Vista.
You can also check if the problem is due to an encrypted file or not, by following the below mentioned steps.
You need to have an encryption key or certificates for those Windows edition in which the Encrypting File System (EFS) is not fully supported. For example, Windows Vista Starter, Windows Vista Home Basic, and Windows Vista Home Premium do not support it so that you can follow the below mentioned steps.
d) For Windows XP
In the case of Windows XP, you might face the “Access is denied” issue if you have used an earlier version of Windows to create a volume based on NTFS file system and then installed Windows XP.
A change in the version of the operating system changes the security ID of the user. As the security ID of the person who created the folder was different on an earlier version of the Windows, in spite of the same username and password you do not have the permission to open the folder after you perform the following steps.
For resolution turn off the Simple File Sharing option and take ownership of the folder.
Oliver Powell is a Data Recovery Expert at Stellar®. He is a passionate technology blogger & content creator, He explores new applications and has deep understanding of data recovery. He has experience in Windows & Mac data recovery domain.
Thanks, Oliver Powell. I don’t know about the automatic method, but the Manual Method worked for me on Windows 10. But I will try the automatic method too on my other device and see whether it works.
Super useful.
You saved me. I used manual method on Win 10. Thank you so much!
Howdy,
My hard drive was not able to access so I had to format it. Now as you said your software can recover data. So how can I get it? please help!!
Hi Jonas,
You can download the free trial version of Stellar Data Recovery Professional for Windows and run-on your machine. If you see your data in preview then you can recover your data very easily. You can find the download link of software to use the below link.
https://www.stellarinfo.com/windows-data-recovery-professional.php
Thank You sooooooo much worked for me !!!
after spending almost 2 days on youtube and everywhere almost finally this method worked for me..
I used the Windows 10 Manual ways.
Hello Punisher,
We glad to know our blog helped you to solve your problem. Thanks for your appreciation.