ReFS now available in Win 11 24H2 update

Discussion in 'PC' started by taskforce, Oct 3, 2024 at 8:17 PM.

  1. taskforce

    taskforce Audiosexual

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    Yep it's true. In Win11 24H2, users can use this type of file system with any other drive but the main system drive [c:]. This very welcome new feature comes from WinServer and allows for very fast transfers with its Block Cloning technology, an upgrade that ensures improved speeds ranging from 18% to 92%.
    Another plus is file integrity and disk safety as the file system constantly checks drives for errors and corrupted files and automatically removes them from a volume, trying always to leave the rest of data intact. This also -supposedly- eliminates the need for any manual scan.

    Personally i have been waiting for this since effin 2012-13 when i first checked it out on Win Server, and be sure i already had a couple of ssds in my system (Intel 520 and Samsung 840). :winker:
    MS have been taking baby steps into improving their OS technologically while at the same time have exhausted millions in aesthetics/appearance since Win 8 without never getting it exactly right, actually managing for their OS to become a power user's nightmare tbh. Still, this update along with some more features on 24H2, like proper HDR support at last, might be an indication MS is trying to catch up with the times and finally bring some goodies to the mainstream?
    We 've waited long enough, let's see what else is yet to come.
    Cheers mates
    (Source: Toms hardware, WindowsLatest)
    PS: This alone, is a good reason to transition to Win11. Just when i thought i'd wait another year hehehe. I will begin preps shortly. Oh and that Samsung 840 500gb is still alive 12 yrs later hahaha.
     
    Last edited: Oct 3, 2024 at 8:28 PM
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  3. tzzsmk

    tzzsmk Audiosexual

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    not sure what to think,
    benefit of ReFS is with (mirrored) RAID which isn't really supported as target OS pool (?), and with supposedly mandatory system disk encryption in Windows now it looks like recipe for disaster,
    ReFS has been available with Windows for Workstation editions for quite a while, can't remember ever using it in professional environments,

    Microsoft is primarily trying to find enough excuses to pass mass surveillance with Recall (and other) features, and I'm afraid users will succumb
    :deep_facepalm:
     
  4. xorome

    xorome Audiosexual

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    Oh, that's cool. Been a long time coming (anyone remember WinFS?). NTFS is absurdly slow, particularly with small files - it often grinds down to less than 30% the speed of Linux filesystems.

    It's so slow that Microsoft added this crazy band aid for developers (who can't escape small files): https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/dev-drive/

    If you want to play around with ReFS but you're not on an ReFS enabled edition or on Win 10, there's an in-memory patcher available allowing you to format partitions to ReFS: https://github.com/0xbadfca11/mkrefs

    Don't use this unless you've made backups and you've read all the caveats that come with ReFS.
     
  5. taskforce

    taskforce Audiosexual

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    True, it's been out on Win 10 Pro for Workstations for quite sometime now. Never tried this one though.
    Well, this really stands mainly for pre-built systems and there is a way to get rid of it for good, but i will get to that in a moment.
    Users installing their own 24H2 are able to avoid the "mandatory" Bitlocker Encryption installation by making a bootable Win11 image with the most widely used Rufus app on its latest version. Once you start Rufus to make a bootable flash drive with a 24H2 image you will be greeted with this dialog:
    Untitled2.jpg

    Now, by ticking the last option you can prevent Bitlocker from being automatically installed, easy as 123 really.

    Now for the peeps who have already installed Win11 with Device Encryption (Bitlocker) enabled, i guess it can be a pain in the ass for the uninitiated but these are the steps to follow and disable it.
    1. Run regedit as admin
    2. Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\BitLocker
    3. Right-click on the "BitLocker" folder, move the mouse cursor to "New", and Choose "DWORD (32-bit) Value"
    4. Rename it as "PreventDeviceEncryption" (exactly as written)
    5. Double-click the newly created “PreventDeviceEncryption” on the right and set the value data to 1 and you 're done.
    I haven't the slightest idea how you came to this conclusion. The fact that Refs enables you to create volumes that use both mirror and parity resiliencies using Storage Spaces Direct, has nothing to do with Block Cloning. It is another, different aspect of ReFS altogether and mainly to be used on server type machines, virtually combining mirroring and parity for a cost effective, kinda speedier-than-just-mirroring solution. Since Storage Spaces isn't the most reliable soft to use in creating miror/parity vols, i understand your quote but it's irrelevant because it is not what we need ReFS for.
    So to answer this, traditional copy vs block cloning, what gives and how ReFs is better than NTFS as a complementary file system on any or all other non-OS drives on a Windows comp:
    A traditional copy/paste triggers reads and writes to the physical data on the drive(s)'s storage.
    Block cloning in ReFS, performs copies as a metadata operation rather than reading from and writing to file data. Because ReFS enables multiple files to share the same logical clusters (physical locations on a volume), copy operations only need to remap a region of a file to a separate physical location, converting a slow, expensive in resources physical operation to a quick, logical one. This allows copies to complete faster and generate less I/O to the underlying storage.

    So, i don't see at all, how this is a recipe for disaster. As i understand it, it sort of rocks and is much more resilient than NTFS anyway. There are still a lot of restrictions in how ReFS works, like for instance best speeds occur when copying onto the same ReFS volume (perhaps this is what you meant?), but nothing that makes using it prohibited. And with Pci-e Gen.4 being the norm and Gen.5 Nvme SSDs keep falling in price, this can actually help reaching lightning speeds at most times when copying/transfering files in comps with current hardware.
    Cheers
     
    Last edited: Oct 4, 2024 at 12:54 AM
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  6. saccamano

    saccamano Rock Star

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    The problems with all microshit OS's past windows 7 is that there's too much garbage loaded into them to make them readily viable and SAFE for users and/or their applications. For users of my paranoia level ("paranoia" here being used as a safe word for good-common-sense) and further, the sheer amount of crap-ware loaded into 22H2 and beyond, staggers the imagination. When working with a OEM based build it takes weeks to completely remove/secure all the spy/mal and covert-ware stuffed into a single iso of win10 22H2+. I know this because I deal with these harsh realities on a daily basis having to break down the barriers that mickeysoft puts in the way of users who absolutely MUST HAVE CONTROL OVER THEIR OWN SYSTEMS. It's getting next to near impossible to combat against. This latest "ReFS" bullshit is just another toy in the box that microshit is using to reel more suckers into participating in their ongoing marketing/testing/forced-advertising phases of their corporate profit agenda.

    Close to 90% of the processes that are running on win 22H2+ are geared to SVCHost to make an internet connection - WHY? The "Storage Service", "Storage Space Manager" or "Storage Spaces Direct" processes are ones I remember distinctly removing (being completely useless to me) because they all attempt to forge some sort of connection to the internet. Please remind me why the FUCK a local storage/file management service/process needs internet connectivity? For number one, I don't see the specs of that ReFS "file system" being viable in a heavily working application environment. Just like software RAID which also has no real benefits compared to hardware RAID. As well, "windows file encryption" is a dark black hole that no one should fall into... There are tons more processes JUST LIKE THESE where at one point or another they will try to connect to the internet when they have absolutely no business doing so...

    It's user beware and in the cases of these later winblows OS's it couldn't be more true. If you are thinking that the plain jane OEM build sitting on your desktop or laptop is just fine for your safe and most importantly PRIVATE use guess again. Unless you take steps to secure it (at least it's possible to be secured) and shut down all the crapware, you're just another unwitting employee of the mickeysoft corporate testing, marketing, and advertising department - and you're not even getting paid for it. Just to be clear, I use these systems myself because in comparison to apple OS/hardware the limitations are at least conquerable, but only after applying sufficient amounts of reverse engineering.
     
    Last edited: Oct 4, 2024 at 1:52 AM
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  7. taskforce

    taskforce Audiosexual

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    @saccamano I can agree Ms OS's are bloated with crap and telemetry is on almost everything. But since you are kinda new, i was among the first to blow the privacy whistle in this very forum. Ergo, you can't lecture the lecturer lol. Thing is your point about Storage Spaces is irrelevant to ReFS. And what you say here:
    Now this is what ? A specialist's opinion ? What the heck is a "heavily working environment" please. Because ReFS on the spec you don't see viable, can handle much more than an exabyte of data. Which is a million terabytes. But from what you say your work probably deals with astronomical figures?
    And most importantly hardware raid? Nobody serious enough about their data does it anymore. Simply put, hardware raid is crap by today's standards and not a failsafe because any raid controller doesn't actually check parity unless a disk reports an error or dies. Where ever it is still used, smart admins know it is just the necessary evil, reminiscent of the past. The real benefit of soft raid is it prevents you from every (aware) user's nightmare which is bitrot. Because, software raid on ZFS, will check parity regularly. And so will on BTRFS. And so will on... ReFS. And REFS could be the very last on my list for something like a NAS comp which would be at its best running any of the mentioned Linux file systems but for Windows it's the best we can have so far for storage volumes, even with all its limitations. Plus if i had need for Storage Spaces i wouldn't give a dime if it tried to connect to the internet. I would just not allow it access and that would be the end of it. And it would actually be the last from a ton of services and policies in WinOS's i would go on and disable or just regedit out when possible. Yes it is annoying but so is my neighbor's dog lol. I can't do anything about the dog barking but i can do lots with my OS installation. More work but kinda worth it.
    Surely, with every new Win Os after Win7, we are facing a new embedded invasion of the corporates that we have to reverse engineer. But hey, this is now the new normal. And most of us here, are ready for this shit and we manage. So while i agree on your post's main idea, i do disagree on the execution because your tech facts are not always correct and on a personal note, i refuse to be schooled on this as i feel i am quite aware, thanks a lot.
    Cheers
     
    Last edited: Oct 4, 2024 at 4:17 AM
  8. shahab7131

    shahab7131 Newbie

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    Sorry for this question in this thread
    Do we need to install Windows 11 ltsc to work with music production ?
     
  9. tzzsmk

    tzzsmk Audiosexual

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    you don't have to,
    and if you do want W11 LTSC, then wait for final 24H2 release indeed
     
  10. Unirorm

    Unirorm Producer

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  11. xorome

    xorome Audiosexual

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    Given how old Windows 11 is at this point, I'd probably just wait and see what 12 is like. There's no guarantee 12 will be any better than 11 though, or that it'll mature faster than 11 - which managed to nuke people's drives once again with last week's preview patch.
     
  12. tzzsmk

    tzzsmk Audiosexual

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    @Unirorm oh it is, I'd just give it few patches after initial launch :yes:
     
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  13. Unirorm

    Unirorm Producer

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    Alright, good to know . I might as well move to this when it's ripe, since the latest update almost turned my PC useless.
    I will set it up, freeze it and call it a day. I have found that i spend more time troubleshooting things than working.
    well, it's a heavily modified system anyway.
     
  14. Will Kweks

    Will Kweks Platinum Record

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    Wasn't the future filesystem going to be the default for Longhorn? :bleh: Oh wait, that was WinFS wasn't it?

    But seriously, block-level snapshots and cloning are great features, even in a standard user desktops.
     
  15. Kate Middleton

    Kate Middleton Producer

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    i have issues updating my windows 11.. i could update last year. something strange it reboots and it shows 20 % then it gives error that there was a fault in updating. i tried update but the updates dont work. any help for this maybe?
     
  16. xorome

    xorome Audiosexual

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    Since you haven't been able to update for a long time anyway, because 24H2 has been out for a couple days now and I don't think you're super deep into tech & tinkering anyway, you might as well just reinstall with the 24H2 Media Creation Tool: https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?linkid=2156295

    Almost certainly faster than trying to unfuck your current installation with such a broad problem and then updating to 24H2 afterwards.

    If you absolutely must preserve the current installation, you can try starting cmd.exe as admin and pasting this into it:

    dism /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth

    Takes ages though and might not fix your problem.
     
  17. Will Kweks

    Will Kweks Platinum Record

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    This is the mantra every Windows admin learns, because looks like they're doing something and after which they raise their hands and go "it needs a reinstall done everything I can".

    Don't do this unless you know what you're doing, same goes for all of the bcdedit commands you might encounter online.
     
  18. midi-man

    midi-man Audiosexual

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    From what I have read NTFS does not mark blocks on the hard drive like EXT3, EXT4 or other Linux file systems. So unlike the Linux file system which is more efficient when you set it up.Windows has always been way behind on many things that other file systems do better and faster.
     
  19. tzzsmk

    tzzsmk Audiosexual

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    do you have at least 100GB free space on system drive?
     
  20. mpd7130

    mpd7130 Noisemaker

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    This release use large space on disk
    97gb used without install anything ...
     
  21. DiRG3

    DiRG3 Kapellmeister

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    Don't worry about him, he likes to barge in anytime someone posts something even remotely positive about windows 11 to cry "new thing baaaaaad".
     
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