Drive is not accessible, The parameter is incorrect on Windows 11/10

If when you attempt to access your external hard drive, USB drive, or SD memory card on Windows 11/10 and you receive the error message The parameter is incorrect, then this post is intended to help you. In this post, we will identify the possible causes, as well as provide the appropriate solutions you can try to help you resolve the issue.

When this issue occurs, you’ll receive an error prompt that looks like the following:

Location is not available
Drive is not accessible.
The parameter is incorrect.

The parameter is incorrect error usually happens and makes your device inaccessible because of file system corruption & disk errors, bad sectors or viral damage.

Drive is not accessible, The parameter is incorrect

If you’re faced with this issue, you can try our recommended solutions below in the following order and see if that helps to resolve the issue.

1. Run CHKDSK to repair disk errors
2. Run SFC and DISM scan
3. Reformat the drive

Let’s take a look at the description of the process involved concerning each of the listed solutions.

1] Run CHKDSK to repair disk errors

CHKDSK is a native Windows tool for checking and repairing logical file system errors or bad sectors on a hard drive as well as its partitions. The Parameter is incorrect error is primarily derived from those logical errors.

This solution requires you to run CHKDSK and see if the issue will be resolved.

Here’s how:

To run CHKDSK, do the following:

• Press Windows key + R.
• In the Run dialog box, type cmd and then press CTRL + SHIFT + ENTER to open Command Prompt in admin/elevated mode.
• In the command prompt window, type the command below and press Enter.

chkdsk /x /f /r

You will receive the following message:

Chkdsk cannot run because the volume is in use by another process. Would you like to schedule this volume to be checked the next time the system restarts? (Y/N).

• Press the Y key on the keyboard and then reboot your computer to let CHKDSK to check and fix the errors on the computer hard drive.

If you’re running the CHKDSK on an external drive, use the command below instead. Here you should replace E with the drive letter of your external hard drive or USB device.

chkdsk E: /f /x /r

If the issue is still unresolved, continue with the next solution.

2] Run SFC and DISM scan

If you have system file errors, you may encounter The Parameter is incorrect error.

The SFC/DISM is a utility in Windows that allows users to scan for corruptions in Windows system files and restore corrupted files.

For the purposes of ease and convenience, you can run the scan using the procedure below.

• Press Windows key + R to invoke the Run dialog.
• In the Run dialog box, type notepad and hit Enter to open Notepad.
• Copy and paste the syntax below into the text editor.

@echo off
date /t & time /t
echo Dism /Online /Cleanup-Image /StartComponentCleanup
Dism /Online /Cleanup-Image /StartComponentCleanup
echo ...
date /t & time /t
echo Dism /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth
Dism /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth
echo ...
date /t & time /t
echo SFC /scannow
SFC /scannow
date /t & time /t
pause

• Save the file with a name and append the .bat file extension – eg; SFC_DISM_scan.bat and on the Save as type box select All Files.
• Repeatedly run the batch file with admin privilege (right-click the saved file and select Run as Administrator from the context menu) until it reports no errors.
• Restart your PC.

On boot, see if the issue is resolved. If not proceed with the next solution.

3] Reformat the drive

This final solution requires you to format the problematic drive. Backup your data and then do the needful.

NOTE: If you need more help, then this post offers some additional suggestions – Location is not available, Access is denied.

All the best!