Troubleshooting

This section presents possible solutions to common problems that you may run into when using TrueCrypt.
Note: If your problem is not listed here, it might be listed in one of the following sections:


Make sure you use the latest stable version of TrueCrypt. If the problem is caused by a bug in an old version of TrueCrypt, it may have already been fixed. Note: Select Help > About to find out which version you use.


Problem:
Writing/reading to/from volume is very slow even though, according to the benchmark, the speed of the cipher that I'm using is higher than the speed of the hard drive.
Probable Cause:
This is probably caused by an interfering application.
Possible Solution:
First, make sure that your TrueCrypt container does not have a file extension that is reserved for executable files (for example, .exe, .sys, or .dll). If it does, Windows and antivirus software may interfere with the container and adversely affect the performance of the volume.
Second, disable or uninstall any application that might be interfering, which usually is antivirus software or an automatic disk defragmentation tool, etc. In case of antivirus software, it often helps to turn off real-time (on-access) scanning in its preferences. If that does not help, try temporarily disabling the virus protection software. If this does not help either, try uninstalling it completely and then restart your computer.
Problem:
TrueCrypt volume cannot be mounted; TrueCrypt reports "Incorrect password or not a TrueCrypt volume".
Possible Cause:
The volume header may have been damaged by a third-party application or malfunctioning hardware component.
Possible Solutions:
  • If you created your volume using TrueCrypt 6.0 or later, you can try to restore the volume header from the backup embedded in the volume by following these steps:
    1. Run TrueCrypt 6.0 or later.

    2. Click Select Device or Select File to select your volume.

    3. Select Tools > Restore Volume Header.
  • If you created your volume using TrueCrypt 5.1a or earlier, you can try to mount your volume with the command line option /m recovery as follows:
    1. Install TrueCrypt 6.1 or later.

    2. On your keyboard, press and hold the Windows key and then press R. The Windows Run dialog should appear.

    3. Type in the following command (replace the last argument, \Device\Harddisk1\Partition0, with the path to your volume and, if TrueCrypt is not installed in %ProgramFiles%, replace %ProgramFiles% with the path to TrueCrypt):

      "%ProgramFiles%\TrueCrypt\TrueCrypt.exe" /q /m recovery /v \Device\Harddisk1\Partition0

    4. Press Enter to try to mount your volume.

Problem:
After successfully mounting a volume, Windows reports "This device does not contain a valid file system" or a similar error.
Probable Cause:
The file system on the TrueCrypt volume may be corrupted (or the volume is unformatted).
Possible Solution:
You can use filesystem repair tools supplied with your operating system to attempt to repair the filesystem on the TrueCrypt volume. In Windows, this is the chkdsk tool. TrueCrypt provides an easy way to use this tool on a TrueCrypt volume: First, make a backup copy of the volume (since chkdsk might further damage the filesystem), then mount it. Right-click the mounted volume in the main TrueCrypt window and select Repair Filesystem from the context menu.
Problem:
When trying to create a hidden volume, its maximum possible size is unexpectedly small (there is much more free space than this on the outer volume).
Probable Causes:
  1. The outer volume has been formatted as NTFS
  2. Fragmentation
  3. Too small cluster size + too many files/folders in the root directory of the outer volume.
Possible Solutions:
Solution Related to Cause 1:
Unlike the FAT filesystem, the NTFS filesystem always stores internal data exactly in the middle of the volume. Therefore, the hidden volume can reside only in the second half of the outer volume. If this constraint is unacceptable, do one of the following:
  • Reformat the outer volume as FAT and then create a hidden volume within it.

  • If the outer volume is too large to be formatted as FAT, split the volume into several 2‑terabyte volumes (or 16‑terabyte volumes if the device uses 4‑kilobyte sectors) and format each as FAT.
Solution Related to Cause 2:
Create a new outer volume (defragmentation is not a solution, because it would adversely affect plausible deniability – see section Defragmenting).
Solution Related to Cause 3:
Note: This solution applies only to hidden volumes created within FAT volumes.
Defragment the outer volume (mount it, right-click its drive letter in Computer or My Computer, click Properties, select the Tools tab, and click Defragment Now). After defragmentation, exit Disk Defragmenter and try creating the hidden volume again.

If that does not help, delete all files and folders on the outer volume by pressing Shift+Delete (do not format), ensuring that the Recycle Bin and System Restore are disabled for that drive, then try creating the hidden volume on the completely empty outer volume (for testing only). If the maximum possible size still does not change, the problem is likely due to an extended root directory. If you did not use the Default cluster size in the Wizard, reformat the outer volume and leave the cluster size at Default.
If it still does not help, try reformatting the outer volume while progressively reducing the number of files/folders in the root. If unacceptable or if the problem persists, reformat and select a larger cluster size—or try creating a hidden volume within an NTFS volume.
Problem:
One of the following problems occurs:
  • A TrueCrypt volume cannot be mounted.
  • NTFS TrueCrypt volumes cannot be created.
In addition, the following error may be reported: "The process cannot access the file because it is being used by another process."
Probable Cause:
This is probably caused by an interfering application. Note that this is not a bug in TrueCrypt; the operating system reports that the device is locked for exclusive access by another application.
Possible Solution:
It usually helps to disable or uninstall the interfering application (commonly antivirus utilities or disk management tools).
Problem:
In the TrueCrypt Boot Loader screen, I'm trying to type my password and/or press other keys, but the boot loader is not responding.
Probable Cause:
You have a USB keyboard (not a PS/2 keyboard) and pre-boot support for USB keyboards is disabled in your BIOS settings.
Possible Solution:
Enable pre-boot support for USB keyboards in your BIOS. Restart your computer, press F2 or Delete as soon as the BIOS screen appears (press repeatedly if necessary). When the BIOS configuration screen appears, navigate to Advanced > USB Configuration > Legacy USB Support (or USB Legacy) and set it to Enabled. Save the settings (typically with F10) and restart. For further details, refer to your BIOS/motherboard documentation or contact technical support.
Problem:
After the system partition/drive is encrypted, the computer cannot boot after it is restarted (and it is also impossible to enter the BIOS configuration screen).
Probable Cause:
A bug in the BIOS of your computer.
Possible Solutions:
Follow these steps:
  1. Disconnect the encrypted drive.
  2. Connect an unencrypted drive with an installed operating system (or install one).
  3. Upgrade the BIOS.
  4. If that does not help, report the bug to your computer’s manufacturer or vendor.
OR
  • If your BIOS/motherboard/computer vendor does not provide updates that resolve the issue and you use Windows 7 or later—with an extra boot partition (less than 1 GB) on the drive—you can try reinstalling Windows without this extra boot partition. For details, see: ../../knowledge-base/extra-win-boot-partition
Problem:
When trying to encrypt the system partition/drive during the pretest, the TrueCrypt Boot Loader always reports that the pre-boot authentication password is incorrect (even though I'm sure it is correct).
Possible Causes:
  • Different state of the Num Lock and/or Caps Lock keys.
  • Data corruption.
Possible Solution:
  1. When setting the pre-boot authentication password, note the state (on/off) of Num Lock and Caps Lock (the keys may be labeled differently such as Num LK). You can change their state as desired before setting the password, but remember the state.
  2. When entering the password in the TrueCrypt Boot Loader screen, ensure the key states match those when the password was set.
Note: For other possible solutions to this problem, see the other sections of this chapter.
Problem:
When the system partition/drive is encrypted, the operating system "freezes" for approx. 10–60 seconds every 5–60 minutes (with 100% CPU usage sometimes).
Probable Cause:
A CPU and/or motherboard issue.
Possible Solutions:
  • Try disabling all power-saving features (including any special CPU enhanced halt functions) in the BIOS and in Windows Power Options.
  • Replace the processor with a different one.
  • Replace the motherboard with a different one.
Problem:
When mounting or dismounting a TrueCrypt volume, the system crashes (a blue screen appears or the computer abruptly restarts).
OR
Since installing TrueCrypt, the operating system has been crashing frequently.
Possible Causes:
  • A bug in a third-party application (e.g. antivirus, system tweaker, driver, etc.)
  • A bug in TrueCrypt
  • A bug in Windows or a malfunctioning hardware component
Possible Solutions:
  • Try disabling any antivirus tools, system tweakers, or similar applications. If that does not help, try uninstalling them and restart Windows.

    If the problem persists, run TrueCrypt and select Help > Analyze a System Crash shortly after a crash or restart. TrueCrypt will analyze any available crash dump files and may identify a third-party driver as the cause. In that case, updating or uninstalling the driver might resolve the issue. You will also have the option to send essential crash information to the TrueCrypt team.

Problem:
On Windows 7/Vista (and possibly later versions), the Microsoft Windows Backup tool cannot be used to backup data to a non-system TrueCrypt Volume.
Cause:
A bug in the Windows Backup tool.
Possible Solution:
  1. Mount the TrueCrypt volume to which you want to back up data.
  2. Right-click a folder on the volume (or right-click its drive letter in Computer) and select an item from the Share with submenu (on Windows Vista, select Share).
  3. Follow the instructions to share the folder with your user account.
  4. In the Windows Backup tool, select the shared folder (network location/path) as the destination.
  5. Start the backup process.
Note: The above solution does not apply to the Starter and Home editions of Windows 7 (and possibly later versions).
Problem:
The label of a filesystem in a TrueCrypt volume cannot be changed from within the 'Computer' window under Windows Vista or later.
Cause:
A Windows issue causes the label to be written only to the registry, not to the filesystem.
Possible Solutions:
  • Right-click the mounted volume in the Computer window, select Properties, and enter a new label for the volume.
Problem:
I cannot encrypt a partition/device because the TrueCrypt Volume Creation Wizard says it is in use.
Possible Solution:
Close, disable, or uninstall all programs that might be using the partition/device (for example, an antivirus utility). If that does not help, right-click the Computer (or My Computer) icon on your desktop and select Manage > Storage > Disk Management. Then right-click the partition you want to encrypt, click Change Drive Letter and Paths, click Remove and then OK. Restart the operating system.
Problem:
When creating a hidden volume, the Wizard reports that the outer volume cannot be locked.
Probable Cause:
The outer volume contains files being used by one or more applications.
Possible Solution:
Close all applications that are using files on the outer volume. If that does not help, try disabling or uninstalling any antivirus utility and then restart your system.
Problem:
When accessing a file-hosted container shared over a network, you receive one or both of the following error messages:
"Not enough server storage is available to process this command." and/or "Not enough memory to complete transaction."
Probable Cause:
The IRPStackSize in the Windows registry may be set to a value that is too small.
Possible Solution:
Locate the IRPStackSize key in the Windows registry and set it to a higher value. Then restart your system. If the key does not exist, create it at HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\LanmanServer\Parameters and set its value to 16 or higher. For more information, see: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/285089/ and http://support.microsoft.com/kb/177078/


See also: Known Issues & Limitations, Incompatibilities