Rufus Error Access To The Device Is Denied

As indicated in the Rufus FAQ there are a lot of applications, typically security solutions, that can prevent software like Rufus from accessing a USB Flash Drive. Bear in mind that the list from the FAQ is far from being exhaustive. Right click on the START icon, select explore all users, navigate to your USB stick in the left column, and you should be able to open it. Alternatively go to RUN type E: and press enter. I have an external drive that now all of a sudden can't be accessed. Windows shows it's icon as a simple blank page. It's still has it's drive name and letter. When I try to open it, I get 'Location.

Cannot access data saved on your hard drive/USB/file folders because of an 'Access Denied' error? The best data recovery software from EaseUS will help you recover data from an 'Access is denied' error on your hard drive, external hard drive, USB or file folders on your PC. Let the software and solutions offered here to help you restore data and fix inaccessible storage devices with an 'access denied' error right now.

The table below gives an outline of the fixes for 'Access Denied' error. Read the content for details.

Workable SolutionsStep-by-step Troubleshooting
Fix 1. Use error checking toolAn Error Checking Tool is a built-in tool in the Windows system for checking and fixing device errors...Full steps
Fix 2. Gain permissions to the driveYou can access the protected hard drive or USB, files, etc.. Right-click the inaccessible hard drive...Full steps
Fix 3. Format hard drive First, restore data from an inaccessible hard drive with a powerful data recovery tool. Then, format...Full steps
Fix 4. Manually check and fix errorRun CHKDSK to repair the inaccessible drive at first. Then, change drive letter and format hard drive...Full steps
Fix 5. Fix command prompt errorThe Command Prompt access denied error usually derives from insufficient privilege or write protection...Full steps

How do I fix Access Denied?

Hi guys, do you know how to get saved data out of the inaccessible external hard drive? This morning, I tried to open my external hard drive but I failed. It won't allow me to open the drive with an error message 'H: is not accessible. Access is denied'. I tried all USB ports on my laptop, but still, no access is available. I cannot format the drive directly since I have quite a lot of important data saved on it. How do I fix hard drive access denied error without losing data?'

When a hard drive failure error occurs or the file system of your storage devices such as hard drive, external hard drive, USB or SD card, etc, becomes RAW, it could block you from accessing the saved data. So, what can you do when your storage devices and important files become inaccessible due to an 'Access Denied' error? Relax! We'll provide you with quick fixes and effective methods to help you fix an inaccessible hard drive with the 'access denied' error without losing any data.

What is Access Denied error?

As for the phenomenon of a USB access denied, SD card access denied, pen drive access denied, or other removable flash drive access denied, it's quite a common problem related to permission, file system, etc. It occurs when you are unable to open a file or folder, a service on your computer fails to start, cannot open a file on a network, unable to access a website, etc.

Other than the error message appearing in the real user story, the relevant error messages are varying from issue to issue, so as the troubleshooting workarounds. Hence, to make you clearly understand what causes access denied and how to fix access denied in various devices, platforms or applications, we'll explain this error in five cases, including most situations you may encounter.

  • HDD/USB/SD card Location is not available, access is denied
  • Folder access denied. Cannot open, delete or move a file folder
  • Command Prompt access denied. Diskpart has encountered an error.

If you're experiencing the access denied error, even with other accompanying error messages, continue reading and try every means to solve it.

How to fix Access Denied error with error checking tool

An Error Checking Tool is a built-in tool in the Windows system for checking and fixing device errors. If you have access problems on your hard drive, USB, SD card or file folders, you can follow the guidelines below to fix the 'Access Denied' error on your device:

  1. 1. Connect an inaccessible device such as a hard drive, external hard drive, USB or SD card to your PC.
  2. 2. Open 'This PC/My Computer' > Right-click on the inaccessible device or file folder and select'Properties'.
  3. 3. Click the Tools Tab> Click 'Check/Check Now'.

If this fixes your problem, you can directly open your drive and continue using data on it.
If this doesn't work, try Quick Fix 2 to continue fixing the 'Access Denied' error on your devices.

How to gain permissions to Access Denied hard drives, USBs or file folders

If you don't have permission to access the protected hard drive or USB, files, etc, you will not be able to open the drive and even get the 'access denied' error message.

So, another choice is to gain permission for the inaccessible hard drive, USB or file folders:

  1. 1. Right-click the inaccessible hard drive, USB or file folder, and select Properties.
  2. 2. Go to Security, click Advanced and navigate to the Owner tab.
  3. 3. Click on Edit, click your username under Group or username.

​​

  1. 4. Check all boxes in the Allow column and click OK, then click Apply to gain permissions to access your inaccessible device.

If you have important data, you can try to get all the problems fixed without losing any data; If you don't need the data at all, you can directly format the access denied drive to fix the inaccessible problem at once.

How to fix Access Denied without losing data

First. Restore data from an inaccessible hard drive

In order to avoid any data loss trouble on the inaccessible hard drive, it's a wise choice for you to restore data from the inaccessible hard drive first. Powerful data recovery software - EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard, will help you to restore deleted, lost or formatted data on storage devices with a few simple clicks. You can directly download and apply this software to retrieve data from an inaccessible hard drive, USB or other devices with the steps below:

Step 1. Launch EaseUS hard drive recovery software.

Run EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard on your PC and select the drive on your hard disk where you lost or deleted files. Click 'Scan' and let this program scan all lost data and files on the selected hard drive.

Step 2. Check and preview all lost hard drive data.

Find lost hard drive data from 'Deleted Files', 'Lost Files' or use 'Filter' to quickly navigate the lost data. Check and double-click to preview these found files.

Step 3. Restore lost hard drive data to a safe location.

After the preview, select wanted files that you lost on the drive and click 'Recover' to save them. Browse to choose a safe location on your PC or other external storage devices to store these restored hard drive data.

Second. Format and reset the inaccessible hard drive to factory settings

After recovering the data from the inaccessible hard drive or storage devices, you can directly format the inaccessible drive to factory settings now:

  • Right-click on the inaccessible device - internal/external hard drive, USB or SD card etc and select 'Format'.
  • Reset the file system, label name etc on inaccessible devices and click 'Start'.
  • Click OK to reset the inaccessible devices to factory settings and solve 'Access Denied' error.

How to manually check and fix the 'hard drive is not accessible' error

Note: If you have important data saved on the inaccessible drive, do remember to let professional data recovery software to export data in the first place.

Step 1. Run CHKDSK to repair the inaccessible drive

  1. 1. Open a Command Prompt and type:chkdsk /f c: (replace c with the drive letter of your inaccessible hard drive).
  2. 2. Hit Enter to let the checking process to run.
  3. 3. When it's finished, type: exit and hit Enter to finish the process.

This will check and fix file system errors that block you from accessing storage devices.

If you don't have any technical know-how and want to minimize data risks, using third-party software could be a better choice. The Command line is suitable for computer professionals since wrong commands can cause severe problems. Therefore, we strongly recommend you try an automatic command line alternative.

EaseUS Tools M is a practical computer fixing tool that is safe and light-weighted. It's a perfect alternative to CHKDSK command. Use this one-click tool to solve your computer issues.

To fix file system error or disk error:

Step 1: DOWNLOAD EaseUS Tools M for Free and install it.

Step 2: Open the software and select the 'File showing' option.

Step 3: Choose the drive and wait for repairing. After the operation completes, click the 'View' button to check the drive.

Step 2. Change drive letter and format hard drive on the inaccessible storage device

  1. 1. Right-click the inaccessible hard drive or devices and select 'Rename' > Enter a new drive letter for your inaccessible device to see whether you can open the device or not.
  2. If it doesn't work, continue with the below tips.
  3. 2. Right-click 'This PC/My Computer' > Select 'Manage'.
  4. 3. Click 'Disk Management' and right-click on the inaccessible devices and select 'Format volume'.
Access

Reset and rename the drive to clean up all the data on the drive and make it accessible for saving data again.

How to Fix Command Prompt Access Denied

The Command Prompt access denied error usually derives from insufficient privilege or write protection on the awaiting executing disk partition. For example, Diskpart has encountered an error, access is denied'.

Fix 1. Run Windows Command Prompt as Administrator

  • Press Windows + X keys to bring up a black context menu.
  • Choose Comand Prompt (Admin) to open the Command Prompt.
Rufus error access to the device is denied yet

Fix 2. Remove write protection on the hard disk, external hard drive, USB flash drive or SD card

  • Press Windows + R keys to open up the Run box.
  • Type regedit into the box.
  • Navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESYSTEMCurrentControlSetControlStorageDevicePolicies
  • Now double click the 'WriteProtect' key and change the value to 0.

Ask questionsError: Access to the device is denied

Hello i have a problem with Rufus, every single time i try to make my USB Flashdrive bootable using rufus i get this Error: Access to the device is denied. A while ago i used Rufus without any problems(i used it on the same computer) i don't know how i can fix this error

Log

Rufus Format Error Access To The Device Is Denied

Rufus x86 v3.9.1624Windows version: Windows 8.1 64-bit (Build 9600)Syslinux versions: 4.07/2013-07-25, 6.04/pre1Grub versions: 0.4.6a, 2.04System locale ID: 0x0409 (en-US)Will use default UI locale 0x0409SetLGP: Successfully set NoDriveTypeAutorun policy to 0x0000009ELocalization set to 'en-US'Notice: The ISO download feature has been deactivated because 'Check for updates' is disabled in your settings.Found USB 2.0 device 'Generic USB Flash Disk USB Device' (3538:0901)1 device foundDisk type: Removable, Disk size: 8 GB, Sector size: 512 bytesCylinders: 984, Tracks per cylinder: 255, Sectors per track: 63Partition type: SFD (Super Floppy Disk) or unpartitionedScanning image...ISO analysis:Image is an UDF imageDisk image analysis:Image does not have an x86 Master Boot RecordISO label: 'ESD-ISO'Size: 4.0 GB (Projected)Note: File on disk is larger than reported ISO size by 570 KB...Uses: EFIUses: Bootmgr (BIOS and UEFI)Uses: Install.esd (version 0.14.0+)Using image: Windows.iso (4.0 GB)

Access Denied Error

Format operation startedRequesting disk access...Will use 'H:' as volume mountpointDeleting partitions...Deleting ALL partition(s) from disk '?PhysicalDrive1':● Partition 1 (offset: 0, size: 7.5 GB)Opened .PhysicalDrive1 for exclusive write accessI/O boundary checks disabledAnalyzing existing boot records...Drive has an unknown Master Boot RecordClearing MBR/PBR/GPT structures...Erasing 128 sectorswrite_sectors: Write error [0x00000005] Access is denied.StartSector: 0x00000000, nSectors: 0x1, SectorSize: 0x200Retrying in 5 seconds...write_sectors: Write error [0x00000005] Access is denied.StartSector: 0x00000000, nSectors: 0x1, SectorSize: 0x200Retrying in 5 seconds...write_sectors: Write error [0x00000005] Access is denied.StartSector: 0x00000000, nSectors: 0x1, SectorSize: 0x200Retrying in 5 seconds...write_sectors: Write error [0x00000005] Access is denied.StartSector: 0x00000000, nSectors: 0x1, SectorSize: 0x200Could not reset partitionsRe-mounted volume as H: after error

Found USB 2.0 device 'Generic USB Flash Disk USB Device' (3538:0901)1 device foundDisk type: Removable, Disk size: 8 GB, Sector size: 512 bytesCylinders: 984, Tracks per cylinder: 255, Sectors per track: 63Partition type: SFD (Super Floppy Disk) or unpartitionedFound USB 2.0 device 'Generic USB Flash Disk USB Device' (3538:0901)1 device foundDisk type: Removable, Disk size: 8 GB, Sector size: 512 bytesCylinders: 984, Tracks per cylinder: 255, Sectors per track: 63Partition type: SFD (Super Floppy Disk) or unpartitioned

Format operation startedRequesting disk access...Will use 'H:' as volume mountpointDeleting partitions...Deleting ALL partition(s) from disk '?PhysicalDrive1':● Partition 1 (offset: 0, size: 7.5 GB)Opened .PhysicalDrive1 for exclusive write accessI/O boundary checks disabledAnalyzing existing boot records...Drive has an unknown Master Boot RecordClearing MBR/PBR/GPT structures...Erasing 128 sectorswrite_sectors: Write error [0x00000005] Access is denied.StartSector: 0x00000000, nSectors: 0x1, SectorSize: 0x200Retrying in 5 seconds...write_sectors: Write error [0x00000005] Access is denied.StartSector: 0x00000000, nSectors: 0x1, SectorSize: 0x200Retrying in 5 seconds...write_sectors: Write error [0x00000005] Access is denied.StartSector: 0x00000000, nSectors: 0x1, SectorSize: 0x200Retrying in 5 seconds...write_sectors: Write error [0x00000005] Access is denied.StartSector: 0x00000000, nSectors: 0x1, SectorSize: 0x200Could not reset partitionsRe-mounted volume as H: after error

Found USB 2.0 device 'Generic USB Flash Disk USB Device' (3538:0901)1 device foundDisk type: Removable, Disk size: 8 GB, Sector size: 512 bytesCylinders: 984, Tracks per cylinder: 255, Sectors per track: 63Partition type: SFD (Super Floppy Disk) or unpartitionedFound USB 2.0 device 'Generic USB Flash Disk USB Device' (3538:0901)1 device foundDisk type: Removable, Disk size: 8 GB, Sector size: 512 bytesCylinders: 984, Tracks per cylinder: 255, Sectors per track: 63Partition type: SFD (Super Floppy Disk) or unpartitioned

Rufus Failed

pbatard/rufus