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Cannot create dev drive on windows 11

Matthew Paul 90 Reputation points
2023-12-18T08:38:03.0033333+00:00

I'm trying to create a dev drive in Windows 11 on some unallocated space, however when I try I get this error message:

"Unable to format volume. Error: Cannot perform the requested operation when the drive is read-only (8)"

The unallocated space changes to 'RAW' in disk management. The drive itself which is my C: drive, disk 0 is not read-only and doesn't appear as such in disk management.

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  1. Matthew Paul 90 Reputation points
    2023-12-20T09:20:08.2166667+00:00

    I got it to work in the end, I couldn't get it to work through the Windows UI, what I did in the end was:

    1. In disk management I right click on the unallocated space and create a drive but don't format it. So you should see a drive letter assigned to the space with just 'RAW'.
    2. Open an administrative powershell and run 'Format-Volume -DriveLetter F -DevDrive' (where F is your drive letter).
    10 people found this answer helpful.
  2. S.Sengupta 24,476 Reputation points MVP
    2023-12-19T00:23:19.33+00:00

    Open Disk Management

    Right-click on the "RAW" partition and choose Properties.

    Go to the Tools tab and click on Check Error.

    In the "Check disk" window, select both options for Automatically fix file system errors and Scan for and attempt to recover bad sectors and proceed accordingly.

    1 person found this answer helpful.
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  3. Kapil Arya 8,451 Reputation points MVP Volunteer Moderator
    2023-12-19T17:28:24.0333333+00:00

    Make sure you initialize the disk before creating the drive.

  4. Anonymous
    2023-12-20T01:27:04.9133333+00:00

    Hello Matthew Paul

    The error message you’re encountering suggests that the unallocated space you’re attempting to format is marked as read-only. Here are a few steps you can take to resolve this issue:

    Check for physical write protection:

    Some USB drives or external storage devices have a physical switch that can enable or disable write protection. Ensure that the switch is in the correct position to allow writing.

    Use Diskpart utility:

    Press Windows Key + X, then select “Command Prompt (Admin)” or “Windows PowerShell (Admin)”.

    Type “diskpart” and press Enter to open the Diskpart utility.

    Enter the following commands one by one, pressing Enter after each command:

    “list disk” (to display a list of available disks)

    “select disk X” (replace X with the number corresponding to the disk containing the unallocated space)

    “attributes disk clear read-only”

    Try formatting the unallocated space again.

    Check for disk errors:

    Open Command Prompt as an administrator.

    Run the following command: “chkdsk /f X:” (replace X with the drive letter of the unallocated space).

    This command will check and repair any file system errors on the disk.

    Hope it helps.

    Regards.

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