Forum Discussion
ReFS volume inaccessible after update from Windows 10 22H2 to Windows 11 23H2
Since opening this thread in December, I'd like to share two "solutions" (workarounds):
1) As mentioned before, I attached the ReFS 3.4 volume which wouldn't read on Windows 11, to a Windows Server 2022 system, which auto-updated it to ReFS 3.7. Moving the disks back to the Windows 11 system, I can confirm that they now work fine. Storage Spaces on Windows 11 prompted to upgrade the pool, but the data was readable both before and after this upgrade. The ReFS version remained unchanged at 3.7. This solution does not require purchasing new disks, but it does require access to a Windows Server 2022 system.
2) The other method is to get new disks and copy the data, using an OS version like Windows 10, which can read the ReFS 3.4 volume which became unreadable after the upgrade to Windows 11.
MicrosoftUse of ReFS on Windows11/client is, or was, non-typical.
But there is now a new 'Dev Drive' feature that uses ReFS
https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/dev-drive/
Could this be our scenario (if it means that 3.4 has been dumped from the latest Windows 11/Server 2022), and if so why is it not documented anywhere?
Per the original post, I am unable to mount a 3.4 volume (which mounts fine on Windows 10) after an upgrade to Windows 11, and it seems like this is not an isolated case.
Because I saw it mentioned in the linked GitHub post, I'd like to add that the affected system does not have RefsDisableVolumeUpgrade set. The volume also is not read-only.
Thanks stephc_msft RajDas_FS
Update... Out of curiosity, I attached the same ReFS 3.4 (mirrored storage space) volume which won't mount on Windows 11 (but works fine on Windows 10), to a Windows Server 2022 system. Not only it mounts fine, but it auto-updated to ReFS 3.7 (per fsutil fsinfo refsinfo x:)
Right now I can't power off the Windows 11 box to see if the disks mount fine there as well after the update to 3.7, but I will post an update. There is some hope that the updated volume can now be seen by Windows 11 without requiring the lengthy copy process. Still a waste of money and time on new disks and troubleshooting before Christmas, while there has been no official answer here in more than two weeks...
Since opening this thread in December, I'd like to share two "solutions" (workarounds):
1) As mentioned before, I attached the ReFS 3.4 volume which wouldn't read on Windows 11, to a Windows Server 2022 system, which auto-updated it to ReFS 3.7. Moving the disks back to the Windows 11 system, I can confirm that they now work fine. Storage Spaces on Windows 11 prompted to upgrade the pool, but the data was readable both before and after this upgrade. The ReFS version remained unchanged at 3.7. This solution does not require purchasing new disks, but it does require access to a Windows Server 2022 system.
2) The other method is to get new disks and copy the data, using an OS version like Windows 10, which can read the ReFS 3.4 volume which became unreadable after the upgrade to Windows 11.I made the mistake of upgrading the *storage pool* in Windows 11, BEFORE connecting the drives to Windows Server 2022 to try to upgrade ReFS 3.4. Now Windows Server 2022 (nor does Windows 10) doesn't recognize the disks as belonging to any storage pool, Windows 11 recognizes the storage pool but can't deal with ReFS 3.4! I'm stuck...
- I am having a similar issue with two 4 TB mirrored drive (formatted as RefS) that I moved from a windows 10 to windows 11 machine. In eventvwr I get the error: Volume 😧 is formatted as ReFS but ReFS is unable to mount it; ReFS encountered status The file system encountered a metadata file with inconsistent data.
I can see the drive in storage spaces but cannot view files.Using fsutil fsino I get the error: A local REFS volume is required for this operation. IN partition manager, the drive D shows as RAW.
Have you had any success solving this issue?I solved my issue by creating a new Hyper-V virtual machine with Win10 on the existing Win11 machine and connected the storage pool to the virtual machine. Interestingly, the storage pool shows as a simple drive machine. Previously, I had to take the pool drive offline from the main Win11 machine in order to connect it to the virtual machine. Now I can backup the data and no longer use RefS on a storage pool. Simply not reliable to me.
