DISKPART Request could not be performed because of IO device error

DISKPART is a go-to command for Windows users to make partitions in a Drive. But for some of them, it fails to work. According to these users, when trying to do some task on a disk with this command, they see the following error message.

DiskPart has encountered an error: The request could not be performed because of an IO device error. See the System Event Log for more information.

This error code can be resolved with some easy solutions and that’s what we are going to prove. So, if you are seeing DISKPART has encountered an error, The request could not be performed because of an IO device error, then check this article to resolve the issue.

As clearly mentioned in the error message itself, this is an Input-Output device error. This means the command is unable to access, command or partition the drive. There are ways to tackle this issue we will be seeing solutions in a particular order that will help you in fixing the problem. First of all, we should see the checking the permissions of your drive to its help and everything in between. So, without wasting any time let us hop into it.

DISKPART has encountered an error, The request could not be performed because of an IO device error

If you are seeing this error message, then try the following solutions to resolve the issue.

Restart your computer, check the cable and USB
Change Write-protect key in Registry Editor
Run CHKDSK, SFC, and DISM
Reinstall or Update the Disk Drivers
Check if Hardware is at fault

Let us talk about them in detail.

1] Restart your computer, check the cable and USB

Restarting the computer can stop any or all services and processes that can run in the background and stop the DISKPART command from completing its task. What we are going to do is restart the system, wait for a minute or two and then check if the issue persists. Also, if you have an external drive, you should check the cables that are connecting your system and the disk. Check if the connections are tight, also, if you have an extra cable try swapping the old one with it and see if it is making any difference.

If restarting the computer and checking the connection is to no avail, try using a different USB port. This is something that will work for you if any of your ports is a malfunction. So, try all the ports and if the issue is because of the USB port, this solution will work for you. If none of this works, then we need to deploy big guns.

Read: Diskpart failed to clear disk attributes.

2] Change Write-protect key in Registry Editor

As mentioned earlier, in this error, the command is unable to write to the disk. So, we are going to change a key in Regedit and see if that works. So, open Registry Editor and go to the following location.

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control

Then check if you are able to find the StorageDevicePolicies key (folder) from the left side of the window. If the key is absent, right-click on Control, select New > Key, and name it “StorageDevicePolicies”.

Then, right-click on StorageDevicePolicies and select New > DWORD (32-bit) Value. Name the newly created value WriteProtect and set the Value data to 0.

Finally, restart your computer and check if the issue persists.

3] Run CHKDSK, SFC, and DISM

DISKPART can encounter an error because of the corrupted disk. That’s why we are going to run some commands that will not only help you in resolving the issue but will also resolve any other corrupted that your computer may have.

Open Command Prompt as an administrator and run the following command.

chkdsk /f /r /x <letter of your drive>

Note: Replace <letter of your drive> with the actual drive letter, for example: chkdsk /f /r /x C:

Let the command run.

Now, we are going to the DISM command. So, type the following command in Elevated Mode of CMD and see if it works.

DISM /online /cleanup-image /restorehealth

If it doesn’t work, then we will deploy System File Checker or SFC. So, run the following command in Command Prompt.

sfc /scannow

Hopefully, these commands will resolve the issue for you.

Related: DiskPart has encountered an error: Data error Cyclic redundancy check

4] Reinstall or Update the Disk Drivers

If there is an external disk that’s giving you trouble then maybe its driver is at fault. First of all, we are going to reinstall the driver and see if that works. Follow the given steps to do the same.

Unplug the external device.
Open Device Manager.
Expand Disk drives, right-click on your external drive, and click Uninstall device. Do not uninstall your main drive drivers.
Then, replug the driver, and your computer will automatically detect and install the suitable driver for you.

If this doesn’t work, then you should try updating the drivers, following are the ways to do the same.

Check for Windows updates to automatically update the drivers
Update your Disk Driver from the Device Manager
Download the latest version of the driver from your manufacturer’s website.

5] Check if Hardware is at fault

If nothing works, then, unfortunately, your hardware is at the fault here. You should contact the manufacturer and ask them to replace the product if it is the warranty period. Otherwise, ask them to repair your device.

Hopefully, these solutions will work for you.

Unrelated reads:

System repair disc could not be created, Error Code 0x8007045D
Fix Windows Backup Error Code 0x8078012D, The backup operation failed

Can I recover a corrupted hard drive?

The data on the corrupted hard drive can be recovered. There are some data recovery software that can help you recover your data from a corrupted hard drive. These software can be free or paid. Before purchasing data recovery software, you should try some fixes that can help you. You can run Chkdsk scan to repair bad sectors on your hard disk. The SFC and DISM scans can also help. Another way to recover data from a corrupted hard disk is to take data recovery services (if you can afford them).

Can hard drive failure be repaired?

A failed hard drive can be repaired. If there is a hardware fault in the hard drive, it can be repaired by repairing or replacing the damaged component, like the hard drive head or other components. On the other hand, if the hard drive is corrupted due to software issues, like bad sectors, it can be repaired by using a repair utility like CHKDSK. It is suggested to take professional help when it comes to repairing the hard drive, otherwise, you can lose your data.

Also check: Diskpart failed to clear disk attributes.