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Virtual Disk Service keeps hanging

Anonymous
2010-09-22T06:33:00+00:00

Greatings.

I'm having some issues with the Virtual Disk service in Windows 7. I'm attempting to do something quite simple, which is creating a VHS drive (NTFS formatted).

The creation procedure works fine if I try to create a FAT or FAT32 image, but hangs on the formatting stage if I try to create an NTFS image. If I use quick format, it will hang right then and there, if I don't use quick format, then the nice window will count from 0 to 100%, and then the whole thing will hang. The size or type of the created disk (dynamic / fixed size) has no effect, it would seem.

It's worth mentioning that the problem is clearly the Virtual Disk service; the Computer Management window remains responsive. However, because the VDS is all locked up, I can't even reboot (system will be shutting itself down endlessly).

I was able to get things working in Safe Mode, and for my current limited needs, this would be a solution, however I see this as a symptom of potentially more serious problems in the system. Especially since the VDS locked up in other scenarios as well, such as putting a virtual disk offline (one that I had created in safe mode).

What can I do to fix this issue, and get the VDS to work properly?

Windows for home | Previous Windows versions | Performance and system failures

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  1. Anonymous
    2010-09-23T12:16:12+00:00

    I've tried all possible drivers in the Device Manager. There are two drivers connected with VDS: Msft Virtual Disk SCSI Disk Device, which is just a standard SCSI drive and is created when a new VHD is attached, and this device locks up along with the VDS and Microsoft VHD HBA, which was installed automatically the first time I tried creating a VHD, this device seems to work fine.

    However, since everything works fine in Safe Mode, I really don't know what else I could possibly try. Aside from these devices, I've tried everything else, along with disabling AC adapter drivers. So unless I'm doing something wrong (I was just using the disable button on devices where applicable), I really don't know what else I can do, and this problem is really driving me crazy, like an itch I can't scratch; not serious, but annoying all the same.

    If anyone has any more ideas, I'm all ears.

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  2. Anonymous
    2010-09-22T10:26:22+00:00

    To completely clear the services and applications that are running on the system, I used MSCONFIG to perform a diagnostic startup, and once the system was up and running I manually started the VDS. Despite such a minimal startup, I could not create a 10MB fixed-size NTFS formatted drive; like before, the process couldn't complete past the formatting step.

    I am a bit unclear as to what I should do with the Hardware Manager. Is there a way to tell which drivers are disabled in safe mode (so I could try those one by one)?

    Well, the one driver that is troublesome is the MS Virtual SCSI Disk drive itself (once the VDS locks up, that device cannot be deleted or unmounted), but since it works in Safe mode, then it has to be something else.

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  3. Anonymous
    2010-09-22T09:04:09+00:00

    This leaves drivers which you can enable or disable with the Hardware Manager (hdwwiz.cpl).

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  4. Anonymous
    2010-09-22T09:00:04+00:00

    I have tried that.

    I disabled all non-Microsoft services and all startup items, but the problem persists. It would be helpful if there was an easier way to pinpoint the source of the problem.

    BTW, I've found that the service (or perhaps the MS Virtual Disk SCSI device?) also hangs when trying to change virtual drive letters.

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  5. Anonymous
    2010-09-22T08:47:25+00:00

    Since the service works in Safe Mode, you have a startup program, a service or a driver that interferes with VDS. You can use msconfig.exe to isolate the culprit.

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