veracrypt
Unable to create encrypted partition on Windows 11 with Storage Spaces
Expected behavior
Encryption of a NTFS partition from a Storage Spaces drive (RAID)
I was using veracrypt with Storage Spaces on Windows 10 x64 on my previous computer without any issue. I can't remember the exact version of veracrypt maybe around 2-3 years old
Observed behavior
It failed, whether it's a new encrypted volume or encrypt partition in place
Steps to reproduce
- Create a new virtual drive with Windows 11 Storage Spaces
- Veracrypt : Volume : create new volume
- New encrypted partition / Encrypt the partition
- Filesystem : NTFS
Screenshots
Your Environment
Please tell us more about your environment
VeraCrypt version:
1.26.10 x64 Operating system and version: Windows 11 22H2 System type: 64 bits
Hello I ran into this same error message today, I have 2 x 2tb ssds and Storage spaces set them to make one large 4tb drive.
Veracrypt latest build (as off May 2024) on Windows 11 64bit 23H2 (as off May 2024)
When I attempt to encrypt my 4tb storage space single drive, VC promps with an error message: "Windows formatEX API failed to format the volume as NTFS/Exfat/REFS Failure status = format_finished"
Anyhow I noticed VC auto ask if you wish to try FAT instead which then works fine, but naturally one can't use bigger files so I investigated this error and found its due to Storage spaces using GPT system. So I switched the new Storage Space drive to Dynamic disk and re-tested it and VC now completes with ntfs file system without the error.
You will have to do the above with aomei partition assistant or Windows Disk management built in tool, just convert the Storage Space new drive to Dynamic disk. If you are stuck google : how to convert to Dynamic disk then run the VC program and it will work.
Expected behavior
Encryption of a NTFS partition from a Storage Spaces drive (RAID)
I was using veracrypt with Storage Spaces on Windows 10 x64 on my previous computer without any issue. I can't remember the exact version of veracrypt maybe around 2-3 years old
Observed behavior
It failed, whether it's a new encrypted volume or encrypt partition in place
Steps to reproduce
- Create a new virtual drive with Windows 11 Storage Spaces
- Veracrypt : Volume : create new volume
- New encrypted partition / Encrypt the partition
- Filesystem : NTFS
Screenshots
Your Environment
Please tell us more about your environment
VeraCrypt version:
1.26.10 x64 Operating system and version: Windows 11 22H2 System type: 64 bits
Please check my message above since I found a solution to it, it should hopefully fix things for yourself or anyone in the future.
Thanks for the update, yes I noticed it works with FAT but it's too limited for practical use.
Anyway, it seems your workaround isn't that great : Dynamic disk is deprecated and can be hard to restore on another computer contrary to Storage Space. What's even more concerning is that you are basically running 3 volumes on top of each other : VC volume -> Dynamic Disk (at least a simple volume) -> Storage Space.
Such a shame the dev doesn't seem interested in fixing this issue...
I will probably end up with just a dynamic disk (I suppose it should work even without Storage Space) but it's far from ideal.
Ok, tested with just dynamic disks (no storage space), it's working with NTFS (but not with ReFS)
Hi its good you tested it out I just tried a quick fix, tbh I am in-between systems and this was my first time trying Storage space.
I didnt bother with VC in the end since I tested windows bitlocker instead and it still retained disk read/write speeds like no encryption was even in place compared to VC speeds at least which was much slower so ended up sticking with bitlocker for now.
Yeah its possible other raid or similar software may do another job or hardware raid enclosure/devices may work better just not tried or tested anything.
Storage spaces saves both my 2x nvmes in raid mode info though so if i move them to a different PC it still works and all data shows which was another worry.