Hard Drive is Locked
Warning: This error happens during the installation of Windows 10 and all Data is erased from the system.
You may get an error, "Hard drive is locked" when you try to install Windows 10 from recovery media. The following steps can be used to resolve this error.
Note: This process works using the Windows 10 download from
Dell.com or a Dell direct Windows 10 USB drive. A Windows 10 recovery key does not allow this process to complete.
Enter the BIOS (F12 key at the Dell logo) and use the following settings:
- Set to UEFI
- Enable legacy ROM under advanced boot options
- Disable secure boot
- Set SATA Operation to AHCI
Boot to the Windows 10 media to get to the Command Prompt.
- Boot to the Windows 10 Recovery Environment.
- Click Troubleshoot.
- Then click Advanced options from the Troubleshoot menu.
- On the Advanced options screen that appears, click the Command Prompt.
- Type "diskpart"
- Type "list disk"
- Type "Select disk #." # is the drive number that they want to install to
- Type "Clean"
- Type "Convert GPT"
- Type "Exit"
Boot to the Windows 10 media and start the install process. Select the keyboard language and select the troubleshoot computer option. Select Recover from a drive.
If you have further questions about this solution, contact Dell Technical Support.