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What to do when you get the following message on "the most stable", Windows 8, operating system?
"The drive where Windows is installed is locked. Unlock the drive and try again."
I got that message after the following:
I wanted to open a PDF file from my customer on OUTLOOK - a regular, every-hour procedure - and my computer froze. Nothing worked; therefore, only manually disconnecting my computer from the power source, I was able to shut it down.
After I restarted, I could not get passed the login screen - my computer used to enter the "blue background color and nothing else" mode.
I decided to use USB Flash drive to repair Win8 but it failed. I wanted to refresh my Windows 8, but I got that message:
"The drive where Windows is installed is locked. Unlock the drive and try again."
Just 4 days ago, I did a "clean install" of Windows 8 OS.
What should I do besides another "clean install" of Windows 8?
Locked Question. This question was migrated from the Microsoft Support Community. You can vote on whether it's helpful, but you can't add comments or replies or follow the question.
2 SSD drives one SATA HDD
win 8.1 on SSD #1
this is what I did:
- shutdown
- unhooked HDD
- restarted
- yay !!
- reconnected HDD
- restarted
- yay !!
cheers
Thank you. Of all the proposed solutions this is the only one I tried and it worked perfectly. My computer is back up and running. Thank you so much!
I clean installed windows 8 on a second HD and then the original came up as an option. the key is to disconnect the first hd with the good install on it. and then go into the bios and adjust your boot sequence.
At least this worked for me. As soon as this works you must defeat any options for fast start as that is likely where the trouble is. This is outrageous as it is happening to customers across the world but yet the company is trying to pass it off as a virus. I was told I would have to buy a second license to get the install to stabilize. It is BS.
Good Luck
KC O'Dunn
So today, April 15, I ran into the same problem. I called both HP and Window tech support who told me I had downloaded a virus, yet the only thing that had been downloaded was the update that windows said they needed to preform. I am not very good with computers so I am having a little trouble understanding how you guys reinstalled Windows 8 because I have no access to my computer, just the blue troubleshoot page. My copy of windows 8 is also a digital copy that I am not sure I can find anymore. What do I do?
An update about my frozen computer.
Last night, I entered my password and left my computer running overnight. This morning, I was able to log-in and get to my Desktop Screen.
As soon as I tried to open my MS Access database, my computer froze.
I can use "Windows Key + X" but cannot open anything - Task Manager, Command Prompt, File Explorer.
I've just clicked on "Windows Key" and got to METRO Interface. Right now, my computer really froze. No reaction to the keyboard anymore. My mouse is movable.
What should I do?
Please help.
If I try to run CHKDSK, I get the following message:
"Errors detected in the uppercase file.
Windows has checked the file system and found problems.
...
Failed to transfer logged messages to the event log with status 50.
If I run CHKDSK/F, I get the following:
"Cannot lock current drive, Windows cannot run disk checking on this volume because it is write protected."
Why did I upgrade the most stable Windows 7 to Windows 8?
