Cleaning Disks Previously Used as a FuzeDrive during Windows Setup

Cleaning Disks Previously Used as a FuzeDrive during Windows Setup

When to Use
The following steps are only necessary if re-using FuzeDrive disks from a previous installation in a new installation and you are experiencing difficulties getting Windows to recognize the disks or trouble with getting the FuzeDrive software to correctly recognize the disks during a transform (an issue with earlier releases of the software).

Why
Enmotus places metadata on the raw drives when creating a FuzeDrive. If you end up reusing these disks in a new bootable FuzeDrive installation, then it will be necessary to use the Windows built-in program diskpart to completely clean the disks BEFORE reinstalling Windows and re-fuzing the drives. 

What You'll See
In the Windows installer disk selection screen, for fuzed disks from (1) non-bootable data tiers or (2) legacy MBR bootable tiers, they will NOT be visible at all in the drive selection menu. On the other hand, fuzed disks from (3) UEFI bootable tiers will be visible, however using the Delete option is not sufficient to remove the Enmotus metadata, which can cause issues with future FuzeDrive installations.

For UEFI bootable tiers, the previously used disks will have a partition labeled "EnTier_ESP" in the Windows disk select window. In the example below, Drive 0 is one of the drives in question. Identify the other; you may have to scroll down, and record these drive numbers for later.



We will have to use diskpart to identify the disks from non-bootable data tiers and legacy MBR bootable tiers.

How to Clean the Disks

IMPORTANT: The following steps will completely erase all data from the drives. Ensure you have backed up all important data before using the following commands.

Also ensure that you have selected the correct drive. You could unplug any drives that are not required for the installation if necessary to avoid confusion so that you only have the drives used as a FuzeDrive connected (including removing your Windows Setup USB stick).

If you have a disk that has been cloned with a tool like Macrium Reflect, diskpart will sometimes clean both the original disk and the cloned disk.  It's safest to unplug the cloned disk before proceeding.

STEP 1: Press Shift + F10 keys at the same time to open a command line prompt.

STEP 2: Enter "diskpart", then at the "DISKPART>" prompt, enter "list disk".



For the above example, we have three disks. Disk 0 and 2 were previously used as FuzeDrives. Disk 1 is an extra boot master drive. Disk 3 is the Windows setup USB.

STEP 3: Identify the disks previously used as a FuzeDrive. You can use the Size column to differentiate if necessary, and enter "select disk <#>" then "detail disk" to show the drive description. Confirm the product ID at the top matches. If your FuzeDrive was a UEFI bootable tier, you will see a volume with an "EnTier_ESP" label. Legacy MBR and data tiers will report "There are no volumes." Take special care to NOT accidentally select the Windows setup USB disk (e.g., Disk 3 above) or any other drives you may have left attached. It is highly recommended if you see multiple drives and you cannot clearly identify which were the FuzeDrive raw disks, that you shut down your machine and disconnect any drives you do not want to touch.

STEP 4: Enter "clean" to delete the partition tables and Enmotus metadata.

For the example above, where disk 0 and 2 were the disks needed to be cleaned, you would enter:
X:\>diskpart

DISKPART> select disk 0
DISKPART> detail disk
Compare the product ID and expected volume layout to ensure this is the correct disk, then enter:
DISKPART> clean

DISKPART> select disk 2
DISKPART> detail disk
Compare the product ID and expected volume layout to ensure this is the correct disk, then enter:
DISKPART> clean
Finally, enter:
DISKPART> exit
X:\>exit
STEP 5: Back in the disk selection window, click Refresh to rescan the disks. Any legacy MBR or data FuzeDrives should now reappear, and all fuzed disks should appear as empty "Unallocated" drives.




STEP 6: Proceed to install Windows on your drive of choice.


    • Related Articles

    • Cleaning Drives Using Diskpart

      When trying to create a data FuzeDrive preserving data and the error message "For transform data, only one drive may have a partition" appears, this means you need to clean one of your drives. IMPORTANT: The following steps will completely erase all ...

    • Deleting FuzeDrive and VirtualSSDs

      Important: The following steps deletes the FuzeDrive and ALL DATA that is stored on each of the drives. All data is completely lost on the FuzeDrive and/or underlying drives so only use this option under the following circumstances. (a) you have ...

    • Uninstalling FuzeDrive

      Background Once a disk has been converted to a FuzeDrive, the data begins to be distributed across the two different tiered storage devices. Depending how long you have been using the FuzeDrive, the data may be widely distributed (as is typical in a ...

    • Enabling FuzeDrive in Windows Recovery and Windows PE Environments and Repairing BCD

      Scope The following article provides manual steps for enabling FuzeDrive in a typical Windows recovery (or PE) environment. It also addresses the situation when the BCD (EFI) or legacy boot configuration are no longer functioning correctly for your ...

    • I reinstalled Windows and FuzeDrive. Why does it say I already have a FuzeDrive before I create one?

      You most likely installed Windows on top of the raw disk drives without first cleaning them completely of all metadata. FuzeDrives use hidden parts of the disk that a normal Windows partition erase cycle during setup does not wipe clean properly. ...