[SOLVED] - Can't Create New Storage Pool in Windows 10 (2024)

Hi all!

I recently purchased this docking station and two 4TB hard drives for my PC. I want to put these drives into RAID 1 so I can create an additional back up for my editing footage (and have some redundancy, along with performance increase). I've set up a storage space in Windows 10 before but when I go to set up a new pool with these two drives, I get the error "can't prepare drives close all applications that are accessing the drive, and then try again" (0x00000057). I quick-formatted these drives in NTFS and they both show up on my PC (so I assume they're functioning fine).

NOTE: I mention the docking station because I'm not sure if it has anything to do with the error. In addition, the docking station is connected to a USB 3.0 extender, rather than directly into my computer. However, my other storage space is comprised of 4 SSDs, two of which are connected via USB 3.0 so I'm not sure if the way the drives are connected is the problem.

Here are the steps I've taken to troubleshoot this issue...
1. Restart my computer and try to set up a pool immediately.
2. Reseat the drives on the docking station, move them to different ports, and try again.
3. Disable and re-enable the drives in Device Manager, restarting in-between.
4. Tried using Windows Powershell to set up RAID according to these instructions but every time I pressed enter, the command would go in but return nothing (ie. it just goes onto the next line and shows no results). Example Screenshot

I'm at a loss here. I suppose I can technically backup my data to both of these drives individually but I lose the benefit of increased performance and it's also such a bother. I've thought about setting up RAID in MSI bios but I A) don't know if they will show up because they're connected via USB 3.0 and B) I'm scared it will screw up the storage space I have already.

Please let me know if you have any ideas. Thank you in advance for your help!

Best Regards,
Erin Joan

SO, I fixed it.

Evidently, there must be something running in the background on my computer that prevents the storage space from being created - I have absolutely no idea what it could be. However, I can create a storage space on another computer and when I reconnect it to mine, it retains the storage space (ie. it shows up in my storage spaces and can be used). Hopefully this helps someone who has the same problem.