AOMEI Partition Assistant
Chkdsk Cannot Run because the Volume Is in Use by Another Process
How to fix it when you find Chkdsk cannot run because the volume is in use by another process? If you’re bothered by it, don’t worry, as in this post, several practical solutions are given and meanwhile, a multifunctional Chkdsk alternative is introduced to help scan and fix disk errors.
By Michael / Updated on May 12, 2023
Overview of "Chkdsk cannot run because the volume is in use by another process"
Chkdsk, short for Check Disk, is a Windows built-in utility designed to verify the file system integrity of a volume, fix logical file system errors, and scan disk surface for bad sectors and mark them. People need to input corresponding command lines to execute different operations as Chkdsk is running within Windows Command Prompt.
Chckdsk works well and helps users solve most of the disk issues according to many feedbacks. However, over years, there’re still many users complaining about some problems when using this Windows built-in utility. For example, some respond that Chkdsk cannot run because the volume is in use by another process.
"But I have no programs running!" Some users scream.
Yes, they’re right. There’s no running program except Windows itself. Actually, Windows has several files open, including files containing the registry, the system paging files, and the executable files that make up Windows itself.
So, Chkdsk can’t scan, fix, or repair a disk drive on which Windows-related files are running.
How to fix it when Chkdsk cannot run?
As you can see above, Chkdsk may stop running when there’s a running program on the target disk. To let the program work again, here’re 2 solutions you can try.
Solution 1. Run Chkdsk automatically after rebooting the PC
After inputting a command line to fix a disk in Chkdsk, you could be prompted with a notification "Chksdk 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)"
Actually, it’s very apparent what you should do next – type "Y" and reboot your machine. Then, you’ll be immediately notified that the volume will be checked on reboot.
Solution 2. Run Chkdsk in Pre-Boot environment
If Chkdsk cannot run because the volume is in use, you can also execute those repairing commands in Pre-Boot environment. Here, you’ll learn to enter Windows 10 recovery mode from boot.
1. Insert your installation disk.
2. Select a language to install and click on "Next" to proceed.
3. Hit "Repair your computer".
4. Go to "Troubleshoot > Advanced Options".
5. Choose "Command Prompt" on the "Advanced options" window.
6. Once you’ve entered CMD, type a valid parameter, for example, "chkdsk C: /x /r" and hit "ENTER" to fix your disks.
Best alternative to Chkdsk for disk scan & repair
Chkdsk is a good choice to check disk errors and fix them but it’s not the only choice as it sometimes stops working for different reasons. In this case, it’s urgent to find another alternative. This time, I recommend AOMEI Partition Assistant Standard to check bad sectors and fix them on your hard disks thoroughly. As a powerful disk manager, this software can do more than disk checking, other features including SMART status check is also included and meanwhile, if your hard disk is in bad health, you can replace the hard disk with the feature of hard disk clone.
If you find Chkdsk cannot run because the volume is in use by another program, you might as well turn to this efficient freeware for help!
Step 1. Install and run AOMEI Partition Assistant Standard, right-click on the partition you want to check and repair, and go to "Advanced > Check Partition".
Step 2. In the "Check Partition" window, there’re 3 check options. Here, we select the first one "Check partition and fix errors in this partition by using chkdisk.exe" if you want to both check and fix those problematic partitions.
Step 3. Then, a window as what the image below has shown appears. After the progress bar hits 100%, click on "OK".
Thus, the bad sector issue on the problematic partition has been resolved.
Conclusion
What’re you supposed to do when Chkdsk cannot run because the volume is in use by another process. It’s literally annoying as even though you’ve shut down all running programs, the problem still exists. In this post, 2 ways are given to possibly fix the issue. In case they both fail, a powerful third-party disk manager – AOMEI Partition Assistant standard – is also introduced as a better alternative to Chkdsk to check and repair your disks perfectly. More than dealing with bad sectors, this software is capable of doing other things to optimize your disks including schedule defrag and SSD 4K alignment on condition that you’ve upgraded to the professional edition.
