Top 10 Solutions To Fix Inaccessible Partitions

According to one recent survey, “the access denied error” is one of the most common errors that many users including you may have received at some point of time.

When it triggers, the only thing that strikes you is how to fix it as the lost or missing partition includes your critical data irrespective of whether it is due to virus infection or malware, human error, power outage, etc.

Before we look into how to find missing partitions, let us understand what exactly a Partition is and their importance.

What is Partition?

In simple words, Partition is a region on a hard disk that allows the Operating system to manage information separately.

What is the Importance of Partition?

A Partition brings multiple benefits –

Partition Loss Reasons

Below we have explained the top 10 inaccessible partitions types and their recovery solutions. However before we go deep in them lets understand that for an all-in one recovery approach to all types of partition inaccessibility a specialized data recovery software solution is a must-have as this will be completely free from manual approaches, thus preventing data loss.

Stellar Data Recovery Professional for Windows is one such award winning software trusted by millions of customers worldwide. The best thing about this software is its trial version by which you can view its important functionalities. Besides this, the software also provides 100% Data Integrity. Regardless of whether you are a beginner or advanced, you can easily use it, thanks to its easy-to-use GUI.

Now, let us take a step forward and analyze & understand 10 different inaccessible partitions types with their recovery solutions.

Partition Inaccessible Type 1: Partition Turned into RAW State

RAW Partitions are those disk partitions that you have not formatted using a Windows NT file system like NTFS and FAT. So, when we open a Raw Partition, it indicates two types of an error message.

Message 1: You Need to Format the Disk Before using it

Message 2: Volume is Missing in Recognized File System

The point to consider here is that don’t format the partition immediately as this may cause permanent data loss.

Solution:

First recover the data from the RAW Partition and then reformat it.

Wondering, how? Try Stellar Data Recovery Professional for Windows. It has a RAW Recovery option using which you can easily restore your data. After recovering the data, you can then format it.

Steps to Format are as follows:

• Select the Partition and right-click on it.
• Select Format.
• Specify File System and Allocation unit size.
• Click Start.
• There will be a popup indicating a warning message: Formatting will erase All data on this disk.
• Click OK to Continue.

Partition Inaccessible Type 2: Partition Turn into Unallocated Space

Imagine a situation where everything was working smoothly. Then, all of a sudden there is a blackout, and you are forced to put your System to Sleep. The very next moment the Power came back, the hard drive turns inaccessible. When you accessed the Disk Management to verify the list of the drive, you found that Disk 1 is in an un-allocated state.

Solution:

Recover Lost Partition. For this, you can again trust on Stellar Data Recovery Professional software to regain access to your lost, deleted, or inaccessible partition with 100% data integrity.

Partition Inaccessible Type 3: Partition Is Not Accessible. The Parameter Is Incorrect

Suppose you need to access the data that have been stored on the external hard drive and when you are attempt to do so, you are receiving an error message displaying: “The parameter is incorrect”.

It is one of the most common error which inhibits you from accessing the partition on the external hard drive, SD Card, or USB flash drive. The reason for this error can be anything including Bad sectors, Power Failure, Virus Attack, to File System gone wrong.

Solution:

Format the Drive

Steps to do so are as follows:

• Connect your Drive to the System.
• Next, right-click on the Computer.
• Select Manage followed by Disk Management.
• Next, right-click on the Corrupt Drive.
• Click Format.
• Select OK on the pop-up dialog box.
• Next, set File System and Volume Label.
• Search Perform a Quick Format option.
• Click OK.

Note: Formatting will remove all the data stored on it; therefore, use a secure, efficient, and powerful data recovery tool at first to recover all stored data on this inaccessible partition.

Partition Inaccessible Type 4: Partition cannot be accessed. The File or Directory Is Unreadable and Corrupt.

Think of a scenario where you attempt to open the Windows Partition and you are unable to open due to the error—The File or Directory is Unreadable or Corrupt.

When a situation like this happens, the consequence is data loss as you cannot access the files stored in the partition. The reason for this error can be due to Master File Table (MFT), File, Folder, or FAT damage.

Solution:

Check and Repair file system error using “chkdsk”

Steps are as follows:

• Launch Run
• Type cmd command
• Press Enter
• Type “chkdsk /f drive letter:”
• Press Enter

Note: The Chkdsk can over-repair items which make file recovery difficult at a later stage. Thus recovering the data first prior to using it is an ideal choice. For this, you can rely on an efficient and powerful data recovery tool like Partition Recovery Software, i.e. safe, secure, dependable, and easy-to-use!

Partition Inaccessible Type 5: Data Error (Cyclic Redundancy Check), Partition Is Not Accessible

Typically, “Drive is not accessible, data error (Cyclic Redundancy Check)” is defined as a data verification technique designed for error checking. Using it, you can easily check the data that you have saved in the Hard Drive or Optical Media. The major reason for this type of error is Power Loss or corrupt OS.

Solution:

In this, the best practice is to count on a dedicated data recovery software like Stellar Data Recovery Professional for Windows to recover the lost data.

Partition Inaccessible Type 6: Device Not Recognized

You may connect a device to the system and at one instant of time, it works smoothly, and at another moment of time, it shows you a message indicating that the device cannot be recognized.

The reason for this error can be anything such as BIOS setting issue, USB data line issue, USB interface voltage variability, drive hidden issue, or compatibility issue, etc. Whatever may be the reason, the end result is data inaccessibility.

Solution:

• Establish a connection between another system and USB Data Line to verify whether it is broken or not.
• Make sure the system and motherboard are compatible with each other.
• Verify whether the USB interface voltage is up to the mark or not.
• Use Disk Management to unhide the drive.
• Ensure USB is enabled in Operating System as well as in BIOS.

Partition Inaccessible Type 7: Drive Letter Is Missing

Symptom: My Computer is not showing Partition but Disk Management indicates the space consumption for the same.

When a letter to a partition is not given in the Disk Management, it remains in an invisible state in Windows Explorer as well as My Computer. The reason for letter missing can be anything ranging from accidental letter removal, virus attack, to the system does not allocate letter to special partitions.

Solution:

Get the Missing Drive Letter.

Steps are as follows:

• Right-click on the Partition.
• Select Change Drive Letters and Paths option.
• Click on Add option.
• Click Ok.

Partition Inaccessible Type 8: Partition Is Not Accessible. Access Is Denied

Let’s consider it via an example. Picture this. You have a large data on an F Partition. Till yesterday, everything was working smoothly; now today, when you attempt to access the same, you will not able to access it and encounter an error message.

Solution

This error is related to Partition Corruption. To fix it, you need to consider Ownership.

Steps are as follows:

• Right-click on the Partition.
• Select Properties.
• Click on Security tab.
• Select Advanced.
• Select Owner tab.
• Under Name list, select User Name, Administrator, or Administrators group.
• Next, checkmark “Replace owner on sub-containers and objects”.
• Click OK.
• A dialog box will pop up with message (You do not have permission to read the contents of directory folder name. Do you want to replace the directory permissions with permissions granting you Full Control?), click Yes.
• Click OK to reapply the security settings and permissions for the drive and its contents.

Partition Inaccessible Type 9: Shared Partitions Are Not Accessible From Other PCs

Let us consider a situation where you have two Windows in your Home environment and you wish to share the Folders and Partitions between them. You made a connection to the Shared Folders and attempt to open the Shared Partition; however, instead of opening the partition, it generates an error message: \ComputerName\Partition is not accessible.

Solution

Steps are as follows:

• Open Windows Explorer.
• Right-click on the Shared Partition.
• Next, click Properties.

• Under Properties window, select Security.
• Add a group called Everyone and set its permission to Read & Execute.

• Click OK. A window titled Windows Security will pop up. Wait for it to disappear.

Partition Inaccessible Type 10: Partition is in a Hidden State

Hiding a partition to avoid access to files without permission is very common. But, once it is done, the Windows Explorer does not show it and even the feature “Change Drive Letter and Paths” also grays out and won’t help you in problem tackling.

Solution

Unhide the Partition.

The Bottom Line

You are now aware of the top 10 inaccessible partitions types and their recovery solutions. However, if you ask for an all-in-one recovery approach for all types of partition inaccessibility, then a specialized third-party solution like Stellar Data Recovery Professional for Windows is a must-have as this will be completely free from manual approaches, thus preventing data loss; What’s more! They do not demand any technical expertise and your data stays safe and secure!

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About The Author

Isha Rikhi

Isha is a technical blogger and data recovery expert. She has experience in Windows data recovery. She writes about technical tips and tutorials.