# How do I unlock C: Drive on Windows XP ?



## Puppet-Master (Jun 12, 2006)

Hello
I have recently bought a great piece of software called 'System Mechanic 6'
I am currently using it to fix the problems that have haunted my Hard-drive for a while now.

Today, When I ran a Hard-Drive scan to fix any errors to my hard-drive, 
The scan finished, but on the summary at the end of the scan
it told me my C: Drive was locked and it couldnt be fixed.

So, I basically need to know how to unlock it
As in which program to use
and what command I use to unlock it

I would also like to know how I can Lock it again afterwards
to prevent any immediate re-infection of my hard-drive


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## Kalim (Nov 24, 2006)

Hi 

The HDD is locked when its in use usually. The LOCK command blocks direct access by programs that can corrupt file names and/or destroy disk data, resulting in the loss of files on your disk. I've never used this piece of software but you won't have to use the HDD repair function, Windows has one that is perfectly adequate and suited for it.

-Go to Start>Run>type: *chkdsk /r* and hit enter.
-You will be prompted and choose *Y* and reboot.
-It will run on restart and do all the necessary checks/repairs needed tp your HDD.

On a side note, in Command Prompt this is how to lock unlock a drive.

LOCK [drive:]

Hit enter and choose Y. Its locked now. For instance drive C: would be:

LOCK C:

For unlocking

UNLOCK [drive:]

The same as before, you would type unlock followed by drive location.

Let us know how that goes.


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## Puppet-Master (Jun 12, 2006)

Hey

I chkdsk/r thing 
But it didn't work

The usual CMD.Exe box came up
and it included the following text within it:

The type of file system is FAT32.
Cannot lock current drive.

Chkdsk cannot run because the volume is in use by another process.
Would you like to schedule this volume to be checked the next time
the system restarts? <Y/N> _

I chose yes, and when I restarted my computer the blue screen
that normally appears when someone turns off the computer the wrong way
(By holding down the power button) appeared and ran a rather long scan
of my C: Drive.

Is there any possible way I could allow this Chkdsk/r program to lock my computer? As it said in the CMD box that it was un-able to lock it. Hence it was unlocked.

Any help would be greatly appreciated


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## hwm54112 (Oct 10, 2005)

The long scan when you rebooted was chkdsk running

When you said yes to the question, chkdsk started upon reboot before windows starts using the drive


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## Puppet-Master (Jun 12, 2006)

Ok
So the scan worked?

Because theres been a virus running on my Hard-Drive for quite a while now
But I can't access the C: Drive that it exists on to remove it.

Can anyone suggest a way I can access the C: Drive and remove this nuisance? It seems to be hidden from ALL virus-scans.


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## Kalim (Nov 24, 2006)

Puppet-Master said:


> Ok
> So the scan worked?
> 
> Because theres been a virus running on my Hard-Drive for quite a while now
> ...


Why is it you can't access the C drive? Is it a bootable drive with an OS on it? Is it your main OS drive?

The lock error? (which I gave the command to unlock above)


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## hwm54112 (Oct 10, 2005)

I agree with kalim, plus -how do you know there's a virus if it's hidden from all virus scans?

seems like there's a piece of the puzzle missing


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## Puppet-Master (Jun 12, 2006)

I know there is a virus running on my C: Drive
because the symptoms of this virus are:

- Slowed down performance and program startup. 
(My computer lags a lot and take 5 minutes to start-up)
- Virus scans disabled.
(my McAfee and AVG Scans are frequently cancelled)
- Reduces system security 
(Windows security updates fail to download frequently)

I have experienced all of the above problem over the last 6 months.
And I thought If I could repair the damage this virus has done to my C: Drive
It could possibly help to detect and remove it.

I can access the C: drive through 'My Computer' so does that mean its Un-Locked? Because at the moment I'm not really sure if its locked or not.


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## Puppet-Master (Jun 12, 2006)

Also
In CMD.exe

Whenever I type in: 

LOCK/UNLOCK C: 
Or LOCK/UNLOCK [drive:C]

It either said 
'UNLOCK' is not recognised as an internal or external command,
operable program or batch file

Or 

The filename, directory name, or volume label syntax is incorrect.

What is the exact way to execute this command?


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## hwm54112 (Oct 10, 2005)

I’m not aware of a lock/unlock command in XP, though some programs have the command. win98 had a “lock” command and I’m sure there are xp tweaking utilities that have it but I don’t think it’s an available xp command. Basically, a lock command locks other users or programs from opening a file or using a drive.

I suspect system mechanic can’t fix the drive because windows has the drive “locked” when it is running. when you want to run chkdsk the command won’t work on the system drive (the drive windows is installed on) while windows is running (windows has the drive locked), therefore chkdsk runs after you reboot the computer and before windows starts. Chkdsk would probably fix whatever system mechanic can’t. Another possibility is that SM6 has a boot disk (floppy or cd-rom) to repair problems without booting into windows. 

I would suggest you follow the first steps and return hear after an all clear from security


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## Kalim (Nov 24, 2006)

I agree with hwm54112. You'll only be able to unlock it before booting as once its used, it won't be unlockable until you reboot.

If a drive is locked, it'll be in use. I was thinking XP had it but was using an older Win so that was a confusion I apologize for. The drives that are locked be mostly the ones with the pagefile (aka swap file). A lot of applications keep open files on the harddrive especially C: and services lock your HDD too.

If system mechanic can't access a sector, it seems a totally different problem to a simple lock/unlock.

See how the security analysis goes.


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## VBMan (Jan 4, 2007)

*CHKDSK doesn't complete on XP*

Hi, First Post. I found this thread while searching for basically the same problem. I try using Norton Utilities and it won't scan the c drive. Asks if I would like to schedule a scan on next reboot. I do. On reboot...starts the scan with blue screen as mentioned above. Gets through the first 4 scans just fine. On the file scan, the 5th scan of CKDSK, it stops at 55%. Can't do anything. No message. I reboot and blue screen comes up again and says Cannot open Volume for Direct Access. Then goes on to start Windows.

What caused me to do a scan in the first place....I wanted to use Norton GHOST to clone my Drive for a backup. But GHOST burped and showed a read error on the Source drive (c so I figured CHKDSK would fix it and I could run GHOST.

Any thoughts on the CHKDSK problem would be greatly appreciated!


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## Naveed88 (Mar 16, 2009)

Hi :wave::wave:

I downloaded a "Easy drive Lock" software form hihisoft.com

and tried to lock my drive and it worked

immediately after i did Unlock my drive and 

this rubbish software says "Unlock Successed"

and when i go to try open my drive it says its locked

s/w provides 5 time usage on trial version
but it cheats me at first time 

what can i do to get my data back
and unlock my Drive


thanks
==
Naveed Anjum [091-9867374437]
[email protected]


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