What to Do When Scanning and Repairing Drive is Stuck?

User Query

How Long Does Scanning and Repairing a USB Drive Take?

When you plug a USB drive or external hard drive into your computer and see the "Scanning and Repairing" message, it's typically a sign that Windows is running a Check Disk(CHKDSK) tool to look for issues, such as file system errors, bad sectors, or corruption. This tool scans the drive, checks for any problems, and attempts to fix them automatically. It's an essential feature to help ensure your drive works properly and prevent data loss.

In normal circumstances, this process should take only a few minutes to around 30 minutes. However, several factors can influence the duration:

1. Drive Size: Larger drives will naturally take more time to scan. A 500GB drive may take longer than a 32GB USB stick.

2. Drive Health: A healthy drive with minimal errors will typically scan and repair faster. However, if your drive has a lot of corruption or bad sectors, the process may take longer.

3. File System: Drives formatted with more complex file systems (like NTFS) may take more time than simpler ones (like FAT32).

4. Amount of Data: The more data stored on the drive, the longer it may take to complete the scan and repair.

Why Does "Scanning And Repairing a Drive" Take So Long or Even Stuck?

So, under normal conditions, a typical scan should be quick. However, in some extreme cases, it takes longer than expected or seems to be stuck at a certain percentage (e.g., 0% or 100%). So, why does this happen? Several factors could be causing the delay or stalling the process:

• ⭕Bad Sectors: Physical damage or bad sectors on the drive can slow down or halt the repair process.
• ⭕Aging Hardware: Older drives, especially mechanical ones, may respond slower due to wear and tear.
• ⭕File System Corruption: Corrupted or missing system files can delay or complicate the repair process.
• ⭕Large Drive Size and Data Volume: Bigger drives with more data take longer to scan and repair.
• ⭕Heavy Fragmentation: Fragmented files increase repair time by requiring more effort to scan and fix.
• ⭕External Factors (e.g., USB Port or Cable Issues): Faulty connections or cables can slow down data transfer, causing delays.
• ⭕Background Processes: Other running programs or high system load can interfere with the repair process.
• ⭕Overloaded System Resources: Low RAM or CPU availability can cause slow performance during scanning.
• ⭕Software Glitches or Bugs: Bugs or system conflicts can make the repair tool freeze or take longer.
• ⭕Drive Lock or In-Use Files: Locked files or files in use can delay or block repairs.

 

What to Do When "Scanning and Repairing Drive" is Stuck?

If your "Scanning and Repairing" on USB or other external drive process is taking an unusually long time or seems stuck, it's important to evaluate the above possible factors. Sometimes, waiting it out may resolve the issue, but in other cases, taking further action (like the below methods) may be necessary to fix the underlying problem.

Method 1: Check the Connection

A faulty connection can slow down or freeze the "Scanning and Repairing" process on USB external drives. If so, take the following steps:

✔️Try a Different USB Port: Unplug the drive and plug it into a different port, preferably a USB 3.0 or USB-C for faster speeds.

✔️Use a Different USB Cable: Check if the cable is damaged. Try a different, known-good cable to see if it resolves the issue.

✔️Test on Another Computer: Connect the drive to another computer to rule out issues with your computer's USB port or drivers.

✔️Check for Loose Connections: Ensure the USB connector is securely plugged into both the drive and the computer.

Method 2: Run Error Checking and Repair from Command Prompt Instead

If the standard "Scanning and Repairing" process through File Explorer is stuck, you can try running the Error Checking tool from the Command Prompt. This method provides more control and can often resolve issues that the graphical interface might miss.

Step 1: Open Command Promptas an administrator: Press Win+X, select "Command Prompt (Admin)".

Step 2: Type "chkdsk X: /f /r" (replace "X" with your drive letter) and press Enter.

Step 3: Wait for CHKDSK to finish. If it detects bad sectors, the process may take longer.

Method 3: Run SFC Command (System File Checker)

If the issue persists after using the CHKDSK command, or if your system files are corrupted, running the SFC (System File Checker) command can help repair corrupted system files that might be affecting the drive's scanning and repair process.

Step 1: Open Command Prompt as an administrator.

Step 2: In the Command Prompt window, type the command and press Enter: sfc /scannow

This will initiate a system scan for corrupted files and attempt to repair them automatically.

Method 4: Defragment the Drive

Heavy fragmentationof files on your drive can cause delays during the process or even make the "Scanning and Repairing" stuck. Defragmenting the drive can help improve performance and speed up the scanning process.

Step 1: Right-click the target USB drive and choose "Properties".

Step 2: Access to "Tools" tab and click "Optimize" under "Optimizeand defragment drive".

Step 3: Choose the disk and click on "Optimize".

After optimization, try the "Scanning and Repairing" process again.

Method 5: Stop Background Programs from Interfering with Drive Repair

Other programs using your system's resources may delay the repair process. Under this situation, you can close all possible programs that are running in the background and might cause "Scanning and Repairing" USB drive stuck issue.

Step 1: Open Task Manager (Ctrl + Shift + Esc) and check for any unnecessary processes that are consuming CPU or RAM.

Step 2: End all non-essential programs that might be using system resources.

Step 3: Temporarily disable antivirus or other security software that could be scanning the drive in parallel.

Method 6: Check Locked Files That Are Preventing Drive Repair

Sometimes, locked files (due to being used by other programs or processes) can prevent the scanning and repair process from completing properly. Consequently, you can boot your computer in Safe Mode to minimize the number of programs running, which may be locking the files.

To boot into Safe Mode, press "Win + R" to open the Run box. Type "msconfig" and press Enter.

In the System Configuration window, go to the "Boot" tab. Under "Boot options", check the box labeled "Safe boot". You can choose "Minimal" for basic Safe Mode or "Network" if you need internet access in Safe Mode. Click "OK", then restart your computer. It will boot into Safe Mode automatically. Once you're in Safe Mode, try running the "Scanning and Repairing" process again.

Method 7: Format the Drive (Last Resort)

If the "Scanning and Repairing Drive" is still stuck at 100% or seems to take forever, the final option is to format the drive. Be sure to back up any important data before proceeding with this step, as formatting will erase everything on the drive.

Step 1: Right-click the USB drive in File Explorer.

Step 2. Select "Format" and choose the file system (usually NTFS or exFAT for larger drives).

Step 3. Check or uncheck the "Quick Format" option according to your needs (quick format vs full format), then click "Start" to begin formatting.

[Optional] Recover Data Lost During the Scanning and Repairing USB Drive Troubleshooting

If data has been lost or corrupted during the "Scanning and Repairing" process or troubleshooting steps, you can try to recover it using the following methods:

Method 1. Check and Restore from Backup

If you have a backup of the files on the drive using File History or Windows 7 Backup and Restore, two of the most commonly used backup tools built into the Windows system, you can easily restore the data from the backup to the drive after repairing it.

Method 2. Use Data Recovery Software

If no backup exists and important data is lost during the "Scanning and Repairing" process, you can turn to free data recovery software like MyRecover. It can scan the drive and retrievefiles even after formatting or errors during the repair process.

Step 1. Download the freeware and install it on your computer, ensuring that it's not installed on the drive you're trying to recover data from (this avoids overwriting lost data).

Step 2. Open MyRecover. In the main interface, you'll see a list of all available drives. Select the USB drive (or external drive) that was stuck in the "Scanning and Repairing" process and click "Scan".

Step 3. Let the software run the scan. It will typically search for deletedor lost files. Once the scan is complete, the software will display a list of recoverable files. You can use the filter or search option to find specific files you’re looking for (such as Word documents, images, etc.).

Step 4. Check the files you want to recover, then click the "Recover" button.

Step 5. Choose a destination folder (ensure it's not the same drive from which you're recovering files) to save the recovered data.

Once the recovery process is finished, navigate to the folder where the recovered files are saved to ensure the data is intact.

FAQs about "Scanning and Repairing"

Q: How to Skip "Scanning and Repairing a Drive"?

A: When the "Scanning and Repairing" screen appears, try pressing Esc, Enter, or Ctrl + C to cancel the process.Or perform a force restart: hold the power button to force a shutdown, then restart your computer. This may skip the process.

Q: How to Disable "Scanning and Repairing"?

A: To disable the automatic chkdsk (disk check) that triggers the "Scanning and Repairing" process, just Open Command Prompt (Admin) and type the command and press Enter: chkntfs /x D:

• chkntfs: This is a command-line utility used in Windows to manage chkdsk behavior. It can be used to configure which drives should be checked for errors at startup.
• /x: This switch excludes a drive from automatic checks. It tells Windows not to check the specified drive during the next system boot.
• D:: This is the drive letter you want to exclude from automatic disk checks. In this example, it’s the D: drive.

Q: Does "Scanning and Repairing Drive" Delete Files?

A: No, "Scanning and Repairing Drive" does not directly delete files. However, the process can lead to data loss in certain situations:

• Corrupted files: chkdsk may remove or fix corrupted files.
• Bad sectors: Data in damaged sectors may be lost.
• Interrupted repairs: If the process is stopped, data can become disappearing.
• Severe corruption: In extreme cases, Windows may suggest formatting the drive, which erases everything.

If that happens, you can use MyRecover to restore files deleted by chkdsk.

Summary

If your "Scanning and Repairing" process on a USB or external drive is stuck, don't panic. This article covers 7 methods to help you resolve the unusually long repair process. If formatting the drive becomes necessary, resulting in the loss of important data, data recovery software like MyRecover can assist in recovering files that may have been lost during the repair process.