5 Ways to Fix Invoke this Utility Running in Elevated Mode

Follow our steps in order to resume your Command Prompt work

by Ivan Jenic
Ivan Jenic
Ivan Jenic
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Passionate about all elements related to Windows and combined with his innate curiosity, Ivan has delved deep into understanding this operating system, with a specialization in drivers and... read more
Reviewed by Vlad Turiceanu
Vlad Turiceanu
Vlad Turiceanu
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Passionate about technology, Windows, and everything that has a power button, he spent most of his time developing new skills and learning more about the tech world. Coming... read more
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  • The You have to invoke this utility running in elevated mode and make sure the disk is unlocked error occurs when you don't have the necessary privileges to run a command.
  • Certain Command Prompt commands will not run unless you are logged in as an administrator.
  • This is a security measure that makes sure strangers can't change your important files and data.
invoke-utility you have to invoke this utility running in elevated mode and make sure the disk is unlocked

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The You have to invoke this utility running in elevated mode and ensure the disk is unlocked error message is not new to experienced Windows users who regularly use the Command Prompt.

This is how one user on the Microsoft Answers forum described the problem:

I have received this message:

“Access denied as you do not have sufficient privileges or the disk may be locked by another process You have to invoke this utility running in elevated mode and make sure the disk is unlocked”. How can I resolve this problem. Thank you

If you’ve encountered (or you’re encountering) this error and are in the dark about how to fix it, this post will show you practical solutions.

What does You have to invoke this utility running in elevated mode and make sure the disk is unlocked mean?

The functionality of the Command Prompt changes significantly depending on whether it is run typically or with administrator privileges; thus, specific commands won’t be able to run with regular user privileges.

It explains why you need to launch the CMD program in elevated mode, which translates to having administrator capabilities on the system. The error message can also appear as You do not have sufficient privileges to run system configuration.

As you can see, a clear solution is to run Command Prompt as an administrator so that you can gain the privileges needed.

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This is because doing so would mean that a guest user on your computer would be able to make significant changes to your computer, which is not recommended.

How do I fix the You have to invoke this utility running in elevated mode error?

1. Run Command Prompt as an administrator

  1. Press Windows, enter cmd, and select the Run as administrator option under the result on the right side.cmd-run-admin 0x80070002 windows update
  2. After that, try running the desired commands and check if the problem still appears.

2. Repair your PC’s registry

  1. Shut down your computer and boot into Safe Mode. Even though the guide linked is for Windows 11, the steps are similar in Windows 10.
  2. Once your PC has booted, press the Windows key, then enter cmd and open the Command Prompt result as an administrator by selecting this option under the result on the right side.cmd-run-admin 0x80070002 windows update
  3. Next, enter the following command and press Enter: sfc /scannow scannow 0x80070002 windows update
  4. Wait for the scanning process to complete, and then restart your computer. All corrupted files will be replaced on reboot. The You have to invoke this utility running in elevated mode and make sure the disk is unlocked error will be solved.

3. Run the CHKDSK command

  1. Press the Windows keyboard button, enter cmd and choose the Run as administrator option from the right panel.cmd-run-admin 0x80070002 windows update
  2. When Command Prompt opens, enter the Command below, but replace the X with your drive (it’s usually C), then hit the Enter key: chkdsk /f X:chkdsk-f-x you have to invoke this utility running in elevated mode and make sure the disk is unlocked
  3. Follow the prompts and then restart your computer.

4. Take ownership of the drive partition

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Editor’s tip
This solution can cause problems if you take ownership of the system drive, so be extra cautious while performing these steps.
  1. Press Windows + E to open File Explorer, then go to This Pc.this-pc turn off indexing windows 10
  2. Next, right-click the target drive partition and select Properties.c-prop turn off indexing windows 10
  3. Go to the Security tab, then click Advanced.security-advanced you have to invoke this utility running in elevated mode and make sure the disk is unlocked
  4. Click the Change link beside the Owner label.change-link you have to invoke this utility running in elevated mode and make sure the disk is unlocked
  5. Type your user account under the Enter the object name to select pane, then click OK.enter-ok you have to invoke this utility running in elevated mode and make sure the disk is unlocked
  6. Go back to the Security tab. Click the Edit button. Select your user, set the permissions to Full control, then click OK to apply the changes made.user-full-ok you have to invoke this utility running in elevated mode and make sure the disk is unlocked

5. Change the current user to an administrator account

  1. Press Windows + I, then go to Accounts.accounts settings app User profile won't load
  2. Go to Family and other users. Then, select the account owner name, and click Change account type.
  3. Under Account type, select Administrator and click OK.
    account type administrator You have to invoke this utility running in elevated mode and make sure the disk is unlocked
  4. Afterward, sign in with the new administrator account.

How do I fix CHKDSK Access Denied?

To fix access denied issues, you will need to execute Command Prompt as an administrator, just as we did previously. To do this, stick to our instructions, which are laid out above and are pretty easy to understand.

Check out our guide on what to do if you can’t run Command Prompt as admin, so you can also fix this issue.

Alternatively, we have prepared an article on how to fix Access denied in Windows 10/11 that you can visit for more potential solutions.

We hope you resolved the You have to invoke this utility running in elevated mode and make sure the disk is unlocked error message. If so, you can share your experience with us by commenting below.

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