Errors can appear on your Windows device, no matter how well you maintain your device. Errors related to your computer’s drive can prevent your system from booting properly and restrict access to your files and applications.
Let’s look at different methods to fix disk problems on your Windows device.
When your Windows computer starts showing drive errors, you can take some initial steps before moving on to more advanced solutions. Here’s what you should do:
If the solutions above didn’t work for you, it’s time to start with advanced troubleshooting methods.
The Startup Repair tool is a built-in Windows feature that fixes problems that prevent your computer from starting properly. This tool can be a lifesaver if your system keeps crashing on startup.
Note : Once the repair process begins, avoid interrupting or shutting down your computer. Doing so may further damage Windows.
If the startup fix tool doesn’t work, it’s time to use the Command Prompt to run the System File Checker and CHKDSK tools.
The System File Checker (SFC) tool checks your computer for any corrupted system files and then tries to fix them. Most of the time, this solves drive failure and other boot problems on Windows.
Note : If these commands help, make sure Windows’ built-in tools to fix corrupted system files.
“Disk Controller Driver” often appears under various names, such as “Standard SATA AHCI Controller”. This is the Windows driver that establishes communication between the operating system and the hard drive. If the Disk Controller Driver is outdated, it can lead to drive-related errors.
Follow these steps to update the Disk Controller Driver on your PC:
1. Press Win + X and click Device Manager from the menu.
2. Expand IDE ATA/ATAPI controllers category. Right click on your Disk Controller Driver (in our example Standard SATA AHCI Controller ) and select Update driver .
3. Select Search automatically for drivers > Search for updated drivers on Windows Update . Windows will then search for necessary updates for your Disk Controller Driver.
4. When it installs the driver update, restart the computer. If the black screen error does not appear, it means your problem is solved.
Sometimes the built-in Windows tools for troubleshooting just don’t work. So you have to depend on third party tools to deal with the problem. The article will use a free tool called Macrorit Partition Expert for this tutorial.
Note : Third-party drive repair tools are not a surefire fix. Sometimes they work, but other times also create more problems with the system. So, before using any tools, create a restore point on Windows for backup.
Here’s how to use the Macrorit Partition Expert tool on Windows:
1. Download the tool from the Macrorit website and install the application.
2. Click dm.exe to run Macrorit Partition Expert.
3. On the application window, select your current Windows drive or volume. For example, in this case it is in Disk 0 .
4. Once selected, click Check Volume from the left sidebar.
5. Select Fix found errors , Try to fix found bad sectors and click OK.
Macrorit Partition Expert will now analyze your selected drive to check for any bad sectors and try to fix them.
If none of the fixes help, your last resort is to reinstall the Windows operating system. This will erase all data from your computer, so make sure to back up the important ones.
Once you’ve backed up your files, see how to factory reset Windows. Once the reinstall is complete, you should have a “clean” device to work with and restore all backed up files.