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Question
Sunday, August 19, 2018 8:18 AM
I have a HP laptop with w10pro (version 1803 build 17134.228)
This laptop has one SSD with the OS installed and two SSHDs for storage.
I want to use the two SSHDs to create a mirrored Storage Pool formatted as ReFS.
But Storage Pool setup can't create the pool. Error message is: "Can't prepare drives. Close all applications that are accessing the drive, and then try again. Access is denied (0x00000005).
I don't have any programs open when I try to create the pool.
At first I thought the fact that one of the disks had a Recovery Partition created by HP was causing this error.
So I deleted the recovery partition and tried again. But setup displays the same error message.
I disconnected internet and proceeded as follows.
I stopped the following services:
- Bitlocker (I don't use Bitlocker encryption but I stopped it anyway)
- IDrive (file cloud backup)
- Macrium Image Guardian (ransomware protection for local backups)
- Macrium Service (local backup software)
- Malware Bytes
I stopped the following tasks in Task Manager:
- Microsoft OneDrive (32-bit)
- Microsoft OneDriveFile Co-authoring Executable (32-bit)
- 3 IDrive tasks
Then I noticed the SSHD that only had one partition unexpectedly was unformatted (i don't know why).
The SSHD that has the removed recovery partition is still formatted.
But since Storage Pool setup is supposed to format the drives it contains it shall not matter if the drives are formatted or not?
Anyway, I the tried to run Storage Pool setup again.
Here are the results:
- If I select the unformatted SSHD:
"Can't create the pool. Check the drive connections, and then try again. The request is not supported. (0x00000032)" - If I select the still formatted SSHD:
"Can't prepare drives. Close all applications that are accessing the drive, and then try again. Access is denied. (0x00000005)." - If I select both SSHDs:
Same error message as when I select only the formatted drive.
Seems like Storage Spaces setup requires exclusive access to the SSHDs, and I can't find out how to provide it.
Any suggestions are welcome!
By the way, I can't post screenshots as a new user in this forum, my account needs to be verified first.
EDIT:
I stopped the "Print Spooler" service (in services) and "Windows Defender Security Center" in (Task Manager).
And then I could create a storage pool!
But unfortunately, only NTFS is shown in the drop-down box "File system" in Storage Space setup. I want to use ReFS.
Since one of the SSHDs still was formatted at NTFS, I unallocated that drive with AOMEI partition assistant, then both drives was shown in Windows Disk Management so I created a simple volume on both disks without formatting. Since both drives now is unformatted my hope was that ReFS could be choosen in Storage Spaces setup, but I was disappointed to find the NTFS option only despite all my efforts.
The laptop has been restarted a couple of times and now Storage Spaces setup can acces the drives without me stopping services and processes but only as NTFS not as ReFS.
All replies (6)
Monday, August 20, 2018 12:44 PM ✅Answered
Hi,
We can try the following ways to troubleshoot the issue:
1. For Resilient File System (ReFS), creation ability will be available in the following editions only: Windows 10 Enterprise and Windows 10 Pro for Workstations.
- While Windows 10 natively supports ReFS drives, you are not able to format a drive with ReFS by default unless manually enabled. REFS will only be available if previously enabled.
How to Enable or Disable to Format with ReFS File System in Windows 8.1 and Windows 10
The following article explains in great detail about how to create a new pool and storage space in Windows 10, including many considerations we can refer.
How to Create a New Pool and Storage Space in Windows 10
3. For "Can't create the pool. Check the drive connections, and then try again. The request is not supported. (0x00000032)", we can try to disconnect and reconnect the drives as below:
Go go to the Device Manager, find the drive under Disk Drivers, right click on it => Disable, wait for the drive to be disabled, right click => Enable.
I think what might be happening underneath is that Windows has cached something that prevents the drive from being re-added to a pool until it's disconnected/reconnected which forces it to refresh the drive status.
Note: If it involves modifying the registry or formatting the disk, be sure to back up the data in advance to avoid data loss.
Tip: This answer contains the content of a third-party website. Microsoft makes no representations about the content of these websites. We provide this content only for your convenience.
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Monday, August 20, 2018 11:15 PM
Thank you very much! Every time I tried to create a storage pool the disks are unallocated. And I loose all data. Now I have given up trying this, and I restored all may files. I might try this again sometime so I will keep your answer and next time I'm trying this I will now what to do!
Tuesday, August 21, 2018 11:33 AM
Hi,
I am very happy that the information I provided is helpful to you, thank you for your reply and mark my reply as the answer. If you have any further questions, please feel free to ask.
Please remember to mark the replies as answers if they help.
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Friday, September 7, 2018 5:42 AM
I have now successfully employed ReFS, this is how:
- Backed up Windows with Macrium Reflect
- Ran this command from an elevated command prompt:
Cscript.exe c:\windows\system32\slmgr.vbs /ipk NPPR9-FWDCX-D2C8J-H872K-2YT43
As described here:
https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/deployment/upgrade/windows-10-edition-upgrades
This command will upgrade Windows to Enterprise version - Connected two USB 3.0 harddrives through a powered 3.0 USB hub
- Configured Storage Pool on these two harddrives as described here:
https://www.techrepublic.com/article/how-to-set-up-storage-spaces-in-windows-10/
The process took only a few minutes despite the fact that the drives are 8 TB each. I didn't format as ReFS before running Storage Pool setup since that would take days... - Restored Windows from the backup made before starting this process.
- Configured Windows File History to backup all my files to my new Storage Space.
- Backup is now running
Thank you!
EDIT 2018-09-19
Don't use a storage pool with ReFS as a target for File History backup.
A few days ago Windows reported a problem with Storage Spaces. Turns out one of the disks needs to be replaced. Unfortunately I couldn't access the files stored on the healthy disk. The drive letter for the storage pool was gone in File Explorer.
Since I have a two-way mirror configured during Storage Spaces setup the files should be accessible from the healthy drive.
If I shut down the PC, and connected only one of the drives, and restarted the PC, Storage Spaces reported that the connected drive is healthy. This happened no matter which one of the drives I connected. Storage Spaces only reported one of the drives as faulty when both drives where connected. Somehow the mirror between the drives where broken, and this can be my own fault, since I started to use Windows File History and configured this storage pool as the target for File History backup. It's better to do some thorough research before you start using new features...now I have read this:
https://www.ctrl.blog/entry/adventures-in-refs
After reading that, I disabled File History.
Then I tried some fancy PowerShell commands to repair the storage pool but most of them did not work on my PC (probably because it’s a not Enterprise or Pro Workstation version of Windows 10). I was now considering an upgrade to Windows 10 Pro Workstation, maybe that would have increased my chances to get storage spaces working.
But I wanted to try the Manage Storage user interface on Windows, without upgrading, one more time. I connected booth drives and then the PC and went to Manage Storage user interface and to my surprise both disk were OK! I clicked on a link called "bring online" and then optimized the drives which only took a few seconds, checked File Explorer and there the drive letter for my storage pool was back!
So the lesson is, don't use a storage pool with ReFS as a target for File History backup!
And if there is a problem with a storage pool don’t give up after only a few restarts, try several times.
EDIT 2018-09-20
Today storage spaces ui reported reduced recilliancy, and stated one of the disk having a faulty copy of the files stored in the pool. I clicked on the "Reset"-link beside that disk. After a few seconds this disk got an OK checkmark. Then I clicked on another link, I think it was called "Repair" or something similar. The repair took almost an hour to complete. Finger crossed, hoping this will work from now on!
Tuesday, September 11, 2018 1:46 AM
Hi,
Thanks for your updating and sharing. I am very glad that your issue has been solved.
As always, if you encounter any other problems in the future, you are welcome to post at any time. We are happy to assist you!
I wish you a smooth working life!
Best Regards,
Daisy Zhou
Please remember to mark the replies as answers if they help.
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Wednesday, December 25, 2019 4:52 AM
I solved this same error by using the powershell cmdlet Reset-PhysicalDisk (/en-us/powershell/module/storage/reset-physicaldisk?view=win10-ps).
- If you run "Get-PhysicalDisk", there's a property called "CanPool". For me, this was false for the drives I wanted to make a storage pool out of.
- I then ran "Get-PhysicalDisk | Select FriendlyName, UniqueId" to view the UniqueIds of the drives I wanted to reset. Note that these UniqueIds can take many different forms (strings, guids with or without brackets, hex), so be sure to copy the full string (including any dashes or brackets) for this next part.
- Finally, execute "Reset-PhysicalDisk -UniqueId 'value from previous step'". This clears/resets any metadata related to Storage Spaces. It's not clear from the documentation for this cmdlet whether it deletes any data on the drive if the disk is not already part of a storage space (if it is, it does, so be careful). I only ran it on already-empty drives.
- If you run "Get-PhysicalDisk", hopefully that "CanPool" value that was false before is now true. It was for me, and I was able to proceed in creating a storage space with these drives.