Fix: Scanning and Repairing Drive Stuck at 0, 10, 100... in Windows 10

This page includes six solutions to help you get rid of Windows 10 stuck at scanning and repairing drive error. Refer to the manual tutorial and check out how to remove scanning and repairing drive stuck on your own: 

Windows 10 Stuck at Scanning and Repairing Drive

"My Lenovo running Windows 10 is stuck on boot and shows a message 'Scanning and repairing drive (C:): 11% complete'. It has been hanging there for about half a day now! How can I exit out of scanning and repairing drive?"

Getting stuck at scanning and repairing drive is one of the biggest headaches for Windows 10 computer users. It happens when CHKDSK's scanning and repairing hard drive seems to never finish, halting at a certain percentage value and not advancing. Generally, you might see Windows 10 get stuck at scanning and repairing the drive C: or D:. The scan will often partially complete, but then get stuck on a particular percent.

About Scanning and Repairing Drive

Scanning and repairing drive is a disk checking process in Windows Automatic Repair (the same as Startup Repair). When there is a boot issue on the computer, Automatic Repair will start automatically and you will see the computer screen showing Preparing Automatic Repair, Diagnosing your PC, and then Scanning and repairing drive C, D... You may also initiate the Startup Repair by yourself from the Advanced Options in the Windows Recovery Environment (WinRE). If the "Scanning and repairing drive" process gets stuck, it suggests that there is trouble reading the drive, which might result from disk connection issues or disk errors like bad sectors and file system errors.

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

This guide offers six proven methods to fix the scanning and repairing drive stuck issue and enable you to boot the computer again.

Fix 1. Check the Disk Connection

Have you moved around the PC recently or done something familiar that is likely to displace the computer disks? If you have, the cause of the "Scanning and repairing drive" stuck might be the connection issues between the disk and the computer. If possible, recheck the cable and port to ensure the disks have been connected to the PC correctly.

Fix 2. Wait for the Scanning and Repairing Process to Finish

How long should scanning and repairing drive take? That depends. If there is a minor issue on the drive, that process won't take long. However, if the drive is in a bad condition, it may take hours for the "Scanning and repairing drive" process to complete. There are tested and proven cases that indicate being patient and waiting is a workable solution.

Fix 3. Stop Windows from Scanning and Repairing the Drive

As you may know, you can disable the automatic disk checking process in the Automatic Repair. During Windows startup, you will have the chance to bypass "Scanning and repairing drive" by pressing any key. Here are the detailed steps.

Step 1.Since you are now being stuck at "Scanning and repairing drive", you need to press the power button to shut down the computer.

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

Step 3.Before the disk checking starts, you need to press any key, e.g. the spacebar, continuously, and then you will get the chance to disable the disk checking. (You can also press "Ctrl + C" to have a try.)

Fix 4. Disable Automatic Repair

Automatic Repair doesn't always work. It is known to cause troubles like Windows stuck at "Preparing Automatic Repair", Automatic Repair loop, and the one in the discussion, "Scanning and repairing drive" stuck. Therefore, you can disable Automatic Repair to avoid these problems. To get it done, you will need to enter the Windows Recovery Environment or the Windows installation media. Given that most users don't have the Windows installation media available, here I'd like to show you how to get things done in WinRE.

Step 1.Hold down the power button for 10s to shut down the computer.

Step 2.Press the power button to start the computer. Once you see the first sign of Windows has started, e.g. the logo of the manufacturer, hold down the power button for 10s again to turn off the device.

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

Step 4.Press the power button to start the computer and don't interrupt it this time. Then you will see your computer in WinRE.

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

Step 6.Enterbcdedit and remember the values of "identifier" and "recoveryenabled" under Windows Boot Loader, Generally, it's "{current}" and "Yes".

Step 7. To disable Automatic Repair, enter bcdedit /set {current} recoveryenabled no. ("{current}" indicates the current OS and change the value to "no" will abort Automatic Repair.)

Step 8.Restart the computer.

Fix 5. Enter Safe Mode and Run CHKDSK

Since the cause of "Scanning and repairing drive" stuck is highly likely to be disk errors like bad sectors and file system errors, you can choose to enter Safe Mode and run CHKDSK to fix the errors. Safe Mode starts the computer with minimal required services and drivers and thus is a diagnostic mode in which you can perform fixes.

Step 1.Hold down the power button for 10s to shut down the computer.

Step 2.Press the power button to start the computer. Once you see the first sign of Windows has started, e.g. the logo of the manufacturer, hold down the power button for 10s again to turn off the device.

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

Step 4. Press the power button to start the computer and don't interrupt it this time. Then you will see your computer in WinRE.

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

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

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

Step 8.Go to the "Tools" tab and choose "Check". (This works the same as running CHKDSK in Command Prompt.)

Fix 6. Recover Data

In most cases, one of the solutions above will fix the "Scanning and repairing drive C, D..." stuck issue in Windows 10. But there may be exceptions that the C drive (the system drive) is severely damaged and you can't boot into Windows even after you try all the fixes. In such a situation, you will need bootable data recovery software like Deep Data Recovery with Bootable Mediable Media to rescue all the files from the non-working PC and then reinstall Windows. 

To create a bootable USB or CD/DVD:

Note: To guarantee a high data recovery chance, install Qiling data recovery software on another disk instead of the original disk where you lost files. 

Step 1: Select file types that you want to recover

Step 2. Launch Deep Data Recovery on your Windows 11, Windows 10, Windows 8, or Windows 7 computer. Select the disk partition or storage location where you lost data and click "Scan".

Step 3. Preview and restore lost Windows files. You can double-click to preview the scanned files. Then, select the target data and click the "Recover" button to save them to another safe spot in the PC or an external storage device.

Step 4.Reinstall Windows.

Whenever you encounter a boot issue, you can apply the bootable data recovery software to perform data recovery. However, reinstalling Windows is the last resort to solve the scanning and repairing drive stuck. You can also send the PC for manual repair if possible.

Extra Tip: How to Enable Disk Checking or Automatic Repair

You may want to enable disk checking or Automatic Repair when the computer can boot properly considering the feature might help to solve some boot related issues.

To enable disk checking:

Step 1. Press "Windows + R" and enter regedit.

Step 2. Click "Yes" to allow the app to make changes.

Step 3. Go 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 have followed fix 4 to disable the feature, it'll be easy for you to enable it again.

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

Step 2.Enter bcdedit and remember the values of "identifier" and "recoveryenabled" under Windows Boot Loader, Generally, it's "{current}" and "No".

Step 3.Enter bcdedit /set {current} recoveryenabled yesto turn on Automatic Repair in Windows.

The Bottom Line

"Scanning and repairing drive C" stuck always suggests disk issues. The solutions are clear: either fix the disk errors or let Windows skip them. Specify your situation and carry out the solution best suited to your needs. Hope one of the methods above could be useful to remove the "Scanning and repairing drive" stuck issue.

Next are some other questions related to scanning and repairing drive stuck. Check the answers if you're interested.

1. How long should scanning and repairing drive take?

If your computer is in the process of scanning and repairing a hard drive, that process will take in excess of 2 hours depending on the size of your drive and errors found. It typically stops updating around 10 or 11% and suddenly jumps to 100 when done.

2. Can I stop scanning and repairing the drive?

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

Step 1. Press the power button to shut down the computer.

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

Step 3. Before the disk checking starts, you need to press any key to disable the disk checking.

3. What does scanning and repairing drive mean?

Scanning and repairing drive is a disk checking process in Windows Automatic Repair. When there is a boot issue on the computer, Automatic Repair will start automatically and you will see the computer screen showing Preparing Automatic Repair, Diagnosing your PC, and then Scanning and repairing drive C, D... 

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