Member Avatar for BlackFireGeisha

I bought a new hard drive from newegg and it arrived today. My boyfriends the computer guy, and he installed it for me. However, after we turned it back on it is telling us it "is not accessible access is denied."

I googled it, and I tried both going to the security tab and giving taking ownership. However, as soon as I hit ok, it says it cannot be completed because it "is not accessible access is denied."

I also tried going the the sharing tab, as another site suggested to tell the computer to share the files with the network, I guess? But the share button is greyed out. We went into the advanced and it let us do it there, but again as soon as ok was hit it told us it cannot be completed because it "is not accessible access is denied."

So, I really don't know what else to do. Have any of you come across this, or know what i need to do to fix it?

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This thread shows a common outcome: saw "Access is denied" on a brand‑new drive and ’s Disk Management approach fixed it. That fix is typical because Windows will not let you change permissions or share a volume that doesn't actually have a usable filesystem, letter, or is marked offline/read‑only.

Why that happens: new drives often arrive uninitialized or unallocated (no partition/Table), or they are flagged Offline or Read‑Only. GUI ownership/sharing tools fail because there is no NTFS/FAT volume for Windows to apply ACLs to. Initializing, creating a volume, assigning a drive letter and formatting creates a proper filesystem and resolves the error in most cases.

For advanced fixes or when Disk Management refuses to act, an administrator can use diskpart (use with care — picking the wrong disk will erase data). Example workflow:

diskpart
list disk
select disk <n>       <- confirm by size
attributes disk clear readonly
online disk           <- if offline
clean                 <- WARNING: removes all partitions
create partition primary
format fs=ntfs quick
assign
exit

If the drive already contains data and you must not destroy it, stop before using destructive commands. Instead check for BitLocker (locked volumes show a padlock/recovery key requirement) or permission problems on an existing NTFS volume — those require taking ownership or supplying the recovery key rather than formatting. Also verify the drive is seen by the motherboard (BIOS/UEFI) and try a different SATA/data cable or port and a different power connector before assuming hardware failure. If the disk remains locked after these checks, contact the seller/manufacturer for support or RMA.

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Member Avatar for Rik_

Did he format the drive?

Member Avatar for BlackFireGeisha

It won't let us do that either. Same message.

Member Avatar for Rik_

Try right click on "My Computer", Select "Manage", then "Disk Management" and see if you can re-partition it from there. If that doesn't work, you will have to get in touch with the hard drive supplier and ask them why they have sent you a locked drive!

Member Avatar for BlackFireGeisha

Ok, whatever all that means, he did it and it seems to have worked! Thank you SO much for helping me!

Member Avatar for Rik_

No problem, glad my advice helped! :)

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