Translation: Solution: Fix for "Scanning and Repairing Drive" Stuck at 0, 10, 100... in Windows 10

This page provides six solutions to assist you in fixing the "Windows 10 stuck at scanning and repairing drive" error. Follow the step-by-step guide to learn how to消除 "scanning and repairing drive stuck" issue on your own:

Translate into English

Windows 10 Stuck at "Scanning and Repairing Drive"

"My Lenovo computer with Windows 10 is stuck during boot, displaying the message 'Scanning and repairing drive (C:): 11% complete'. It's been frozen for almost half a day! How can I exit the scanning and repairing process?"

Getting stuck at "Scanning and Repairing Drive" is a major annoyance for Windows 10 users. This issue occurs when the CHKDSK utility's scanning and repair process of the hard drive appears to be indefinitely in progress, pausing at a specific percentage and not progressing further. Typically, you might encounter this problem with Windows 10 while it's stuck scanning and repairing the C: or D: drive. The scan may partly finish but then become stuck at a particular percentage point.

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About Scanning and Repairing Drive Scanning and repairing a drive refers to the process of checking a storage device, such as a hard disk or USB drive, for errors and fixing any issues that it may have. This is typically done when the system detects potential problems or when users encounter difficulties accessing files on the drive. Here's a step-by-step explanation in English: 1. **Disk Utility**: Most operating systems, like Windows and macOS, provide a built-in tool called Disk Utility (or similar) for scanning and repairing drives. In Windows, it's known as "chkdsk" (Check Disk), while on macOS, it's accessible through the Utilities folder in Applications. 2. **Initiating a Scan**: To initiate a scan, you would typically right-click on the problematic drive in File Explorer (Windows) or Finder (macOS) and select "Properties" (Windows) or "Get Info" (macOS). Then, navigate to the "Tools" tab in Windows or click on the "First Aid" option in macOS. 3. **Checking for Errors**: The scanning process checks for bad sectors, file system inconsistencies, and other potential issues. It can be set to run quickly for surface-level checks or thoroughly for a more in-depth analysis. 4. **Repairing Errors**: If errors are found during the scan, the utility will attempt to repair them automatically. This might involve fixing file system errors, realigning bad sectors, or recovering lost data. 5. **Rebooting**: Depending on the severity of the issues, the system may require a restart to complete the repairs or apply changes. 6. **Backup**: Before performing any scans or repairs, it's highly recommended to back up important data. While the process is designed to be safe, there's always a small risk that data could be lost or corrupted during the repair. 7. **Regular Maintenance**: Regularly scanning and repairing drives can help maintain their health and prolong their lifespan. It's especially important if you notice signs of degradation, such as slow performance or frequent crashes. Remember, if the drive has severe issues or is physically damaged, professional assistance or data recovery services might be necessary.

"Scanning and repairing drive" is a disk checking process within the Windows Automatic Repair feature (also known as Startup Repair). When your computer encounters a boot issue, Automatic Repair will kick in, displaying messages such as "Preparing Automatic Repair," "Diagnosing your PC," followed by "Scanning and repairing drive C, D, etc." You can also manually trigger Startup Repair from the Advanced Options in the Windows Recovery Environment (WinRE). If the "Scanning and repairing drive" process becomes stuck, it indicates a problem with reading the drive. This could be due to issues with the disk connection or disk errors like bad sectors and file system corruption.

6 Solutions for Fixing "Scanning and Repairing Drive C/D" Stuck at 0%, 10%, 11%...100%

This guide presents six effective solutions to resolve the stuck scanning and repairing drive issue, allowing you to restart your computer successfully.

Solution 1: Check the Disk Connection

Have you recently moved the PC around or performed any actions that could potentially dislodge the computer disks? If so, the issue of "Scanning and repairing drive" being stuck might be due to connectivity problems between the disk and the computer. If feasible, kindly recheck the cable and port connections to ensure the disks are properly connected to the PC.

Solution 2: Seek Assistance from Third-Party Boot Repair Software

Please note that when a computer becomes stuck during the scanning and repairing process, it is likely that the system is unable to load the operating system (OS) file or disk information required for starting up the PC. You can either opt to wait patiently or seek assistance from a reliable boot repair software tool.

In such a scenario, we recommend using a second healthy computer to create a bootable USB drive with the assistance of a trustworthy partition manager software - tools Partition Master. The recently introduced feature called Boot Repair enables you to boot your PC into the tool's WinPE desktop environment and utilize the Boot Repair function to fix all boot errors on the disk, ensuring your system runs smoothly without any errors.

Here's how to do it:

Step 1. After connecting the external drive/USB to your computer, launch AOMEI Partition Assistant, and go to "Bootable Media." Click on "Create Bootable Media."

Step 2. Choose an available USB drive or CD/DVD and click "Create." You can also burn the Windows ISO file onto the storage medium.

Step 3. Connect the created bootable drive to the new computer and restart it by pressing and holding F2 or Del to enter the BIOS. Once in the BIOS, set the WinPE bootable drive as the first boot device and press F10 to exit and initiate the boot process.

Step 4. Restart the computer and enter the WinPE interface. Next, open the Partition Master tool and click on "Boot Repair" under the "Toolkit" option.

Step 5: Choose the system you want to repair and click "Repair."

Step 6. Wait for a moment, and you will receive a notification that the system has been successfully repaired. Click "OK" to finish the boot repair process.

Click "OK" to complete the repair.

修复 3：等待扫描和修复过程完成

How long should scanning and repairing a drive take? It depends on the severity of the issue with the drive. For minor problems, the process might not take very long. However, if the drive is in a poor state, the "Scanning and repairing drive" procedure could take hours to finish. There are numerous instances where it has been demonstrated that patiently waiting for the process to complete is an effective solution.

Fix 4: Prevent Windows from Scanning and Repairing the Drive

As you might be aware, you can disable the automatic disk checking process in the Automatic Repair feature. When starting up Windows, you will have the option to skip the "Scanning and repairing drive" step by pressing any key. Here are the detailed steps to do so:

Step 1. Since you're stuck at "Scanning and repairing drive," you'll need to press the power button to turn off the computer.

Step 2. Start the computer, and you will see the "Preparing Automatic Repair" screen followed by "Diagnosing your PC."

Step 3. Before the disk check begins, keep pressing any key (such as the space bar) and you will get the option to stop the disk check. (You can also try pressing "Ctrl + C".)

This image shows the "Bypass Scanning and Repairing drive" option.

If you're stuck on the "Diagnosing Your PC" screen, refer to the following article for guidance on how to fix it.

How to Fix Windows Stuck on Diagnosing Your PC

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Fix 5: Disable Automatic Repair

Automatic Repair doesn't always prove effective and can lead to issues such as Windows getting stuck at "Preparing Automatic Repair," an endless Automatic Repair loop, or the problem at hand, the "Scanning and repairing drive" process being stuck. As a result, disabling Automatic Repair can prevent these issues from occurring. To do this, you'll need to access the Windows Recovery Environment (WinRE) or the Windows installation media. Since many users don't have the Windows installation media readily available, I'll guide you through the process of accomplishing this in WinRE.

Step 1. Press and hold the power button for 10 seconds to turn off the computer.

Step 2. Press the power button to turn on the computer. As soon as you see the first indication that Windows is starting, such as the manufacturer's logo, hold down the power button for 10 seconds to shut off the device.

Step 3. Press the power button to start the computer. Once Windows has restarted, hold down the power button for 10 seconds to shut off the computer.

Step 4. Press the power button to start your computer and don't interrupt it this time. You'll then see your computer in WinRE.

Step 5. On the "Choose an option" screen, select "Troubleshoot" > "Advanced options" > "Command Prompt".

Step 6. Type bcdedit and take note of the values for "identifier" and "recoveryenabled" under Windows Boot Loader. Typically, these are set to "{current}" and "Yes," respectively.

Step 7. To disable Automatic Repair, type bcdedit /set {current} recoveryenabled no. ({current} refers to the current operating system, and changing the value to no will disable Automatic Repair.)

Step 8. Restart the computer.

Fix 6: Enter Safe Mode and Run CHKDSK

Since the issue of "Scanning and repairing drive" being stuck is most likely due to disk errors such as bad sectors and file system issues, you can opt to boot into Safe Mode and run CHKDSK to rectify these errors. Safe Mode starts your computer with only essential services and drivers, functioning as a diagnostic mode that allows you to perform troubleshooting steps.

Step 1. Press and hold the power button for 10 seconds to turn off the computer.

Step 2. Press the power button to turn on the computer. As soon as you see the initial sign of Windows starting, such as the manufacturer's logo, hold down the power button for 10 seconds to shut off the device.

Step 3. Press the power button to start the computer. Once Windows restarts, hold down the power button for 10 seconds to turn off the computer.

Step 4. Press the power button to start your computer and don't interrupt it this time. You'll then see your computer in WinRE.

Step 5. On the "Choose an option" screen, select "Troubleshoot" > "Advanced options" > "Startup Settings" > "Restart".

Step 6. Upon restarting, you will see a list of options displayed as shown in the image below. Select "5" or press "F5" to enable Safe Mode with Networking.

Step 7. Open "This PC", right-click on the drive that Windows is stuck scanning and repairing, and then select "Properties".

Step 8. Navigate to the "Tools" tab and select "Check." (This functions similarly to running CHKDSK through the Command Prompt.)

Fix 7: Recover Data

In most cases, one of the solutions above will resolve the "Scanning and repairing drive C, D..." issue in Windows 10. However, there might be exceptional scenarios where the C drive (the system drive) is severely corrupted, and you're unable to boot into Windows even after attempting all the fixes. In such situations, you will require bootable data recovery software like Data Recovery Wizard with Bootable Media to retrieve all files from the non-functional PC and subsequently reinstall Windows.

To create a bootable USB or CD/DVD:

Step 1. Create a bootable disk

Launch the Data Recovery Wizard, select "Crashed PC Recovery" and click "Go to Recover".

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选择一个空的USB来创建可启动驱动器，然后点击“创建”。

Warning: Creating a bootable disk will erase all data saved on the USB drive. Back up important data beforehand.

Step 2. Boot your computer from the bootable USB Insert the USB drive into your computer's USB port. Next, restart your computer. While it's booting up, you'll need to access the Boot Menu to select the USB as the boot device. The method to access this menu varies depending on your computer's manufacturer, but commonly, you can do this by pressing F12, F2, F10, or Del keys immediately after turning on your PC. Once you're in the Boot Menu, look for an option like "USB Device," "Removable Devices," or something similar, and use the arrow keys to highlight it. Then press Enter to boot from the USB drive. The computer will now load the installation process from the USB drive. Follow the on-screen instructions to install the operating system or perform the desired action.

Connect the bootable disk to the PC that won't start up, and then alter your computer's boot sequence in the BIOS. For most users, restarting their computer and pressing F2 concurrently to enter BIOS typically works effectively.

Set the PC to boot from "Removable Devices" (bootable USB drive) instead of the Hard Drive. Press "F10" to save the changes and exit.

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Step 3. Recover Data from a Crashed System/PC

Upon booting from the Tools Data Recovery Wizard bootable disk, select the drive you wish to scan to locate all your lost files. Preview and subsequently recover the required files to a secure location.

Step 4. Reinstall Windows.

Whenever you face a boot issue, you can utilize bootable data recovery software to recover your data. However, re-installing Windows should be a last resort for resolving the stuck "scanning and repairing drive" situation. If feasible, it's also advisable to have the PC professionally repaired manually.

Additional Tip: How to Activate Disk Checking or Automatic Repair

You might consider enabling disk checking or Automatic Repair when the computer is able to boot properly, as these features could potentially help resolve some boot-related issues.

To enable disk checking:

Step 1. Press "Windows + R" and type in regedit.

Step 2. Click "Yes" to permit the app to make modifications.

Step 3. Navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager.

Step 4. Find and double-click "BootExecute".

Step 5. Change the value from autocheck autochk * to autocheck autochk * /r\DosDevice\C: to enable disk checking.

To enable Automatic Repair:

If you've followed Fix 4 to disable the feature, it'll be straightforward for you to enable it again.

Step 1. Type "cmd" in the search bar, right-click "Command Prompt," and select "Run as administrator."

Step 2. Type bcdedit and take note of the values for "identifier" and "recoveryenabled" under Windows Boot Loader. Typically, these are "{current}" and "No," respectively.

Step 3. Type bcdedit /set {current} recoveryenabled yes to enable Automatic Repair in Windows.

底线

"Scanning and repairing drive C" being stuck typically indicates disk problems. The remedies are straightforward: either rectify the disk errors or instruct Windows to bypass them. Tailor the solution to your specific circumstances and execute the most appropriate one. Hopefully, one of the methods outlined above will prove effective in resolving the "Scanning and repairing drive" deadlock issue.

Here are some additional questions related to scanning and fixing a stuck drive. Feel free to review the answers if you're interested.

1. How long should the scanning and repairing process for a drive take?

If your computer is in the process of scanning and repairing a hard drive, this procedure can take well over two hours, depending on the size of your drive and the number of errors detected. It usually stops displaying updates around 10 or 11% and then abruptly jumps to 100% when the process is completed.

2. Can I stop the scanning and repairing process of the drive?

You can disable the automatic disk checking process in Automatic Repair.

Step 1. Press the power button to turn off the computer.

Step 2: Turn on the computer, and you will see the "Preparing Automatic Repair" screen, followed by "Diagnosing your PC."

Step 3. Before the disk check begins, press any key to cancel the disk check.

3. What does "scanning and repairing drive" mean?

"Scanning and repairing drive" is a disk checking process in the Windows Automatic Repair feature. When there is an issue with booting the computer, Automatic Repair will kick in automatically, and you will observe the computer screen displaying "Preparing Automatic Repair," "Diagnosing your PC," followed by "Scanning and repairing drive C, D, etc."