How can I install Windows 10 onto a partition which uses ReFS? Likewise, for Windows 11?

Question

I have been unable to install Windows 10 onto a partition which I formatted with ReFS. I had to erase the partition and/or to reformat it to use NTFS. I want to be able to install Windows 10 and Windows 11 onto separate partitions on separate storage devices HDDs/SSDs in separate computers.

How can I successfully do that?

Answer 1

Hi Jay Schmoll,

Thank you for posting in Microsoft Q&A.

Unfortunately, it's not supported to install Windows on a ReFS partition because ReFS is not currently bootable.

The following features are unavailable on ReFS at this time:

Functionality	ReFS	NTFS
File system compression	No	Yes
File system compression	No	Yes
File system encryption	No	Yes
Transactions	No	Yes
Object IDs	No	Yes
Offloaded Data Transfer (ODX)	No	Yes
Short names	No	Yes
Extended attributes	No	Yes
Disk quotas	No	Yes
Bootable	No	Yes
Supported on removable media	No	Yes

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-server/storage/refs/refs-overview#the-following-features-are-unavailable-on-refs-at-this-time

Best Regards,

Ian Xue

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