How to Resolve “Cannot Open Volume for Direct Access” Error Message in Windows 10



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If you find the error message “Cannot open direct access drive” on your SD card or other storage devices, this article is for you. In this piece, you will learn more about this error, its causes, and effective solutions to fix it. Before we get to the details, we first want to know more about the error.

What causes the “Disk cannot be opened for direct access” message?

  • The disk is corrupt.
  • The disk has bad traces.
  • The hard disk’s file system is corrupt.
  • The hard disk has a physical error or is damaged.
  • The drive is blocked by a third-party application or service.

How can I solve the “Disk cannot be opened for direct access” problem?

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Format the corrupted drive

  1. Open This Computer.
  2. Find the device or partition you want to format and right-click it.
  3. Select Format.
  4. Select a new file system and specify other options.
  5. Wait till the process is finished.

Running CHKDSK in a clean boot environment

  1. Press “Windows + R” and type MSConfig.
  2. In the system configuration window, switch to the “Services” tab.
  3. Check “Hide all Microsoft services” and click “Disable All” -> “Apply” -> “OK”.
  4. Then switch to the Autorun tab and click Open Task Manager.
  5. Click each item and select Disable.
  6. Restart your computer and run CHKDSK again.

Disable suspicious third-party applications

  1. Go to the Start menu and type “Services.”
  2. In the search results, select the “Services” application.
  3. Here you can see all the services on your computer.
  4. Right-click on the suspected service and select “Properties.”
  5. Under “Startup Type” in the drop-down menu, select the “Disabled” option.
  6. Click “OK” and stop the services.



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