Unable to start Disk Management

[Valantar]

So I've been having one of the strangest issues I've seen in a while with my PC. I'm unable to open Disk Management. When it opens, I get a pop-up telling me "Disk Management could not start Virtual Disk Service (VDS) on [computer name]. This can happen if the remote computer does not support VDS, or if a connection cannot be established because it was blocked by Windows Firewall".
Which, of course, makes very little sense, as this isn't a remote computer at all. I did have a couple of network drives mapped, but removing them made no difference at all.
Clicking 'OK' on the pop-up just gives me a blank Disk Management window with the text "Unable to connect to Virtual Disk Service" at the bottom.

The PC has three drives: an SSD for the OS, an SSD for games, and an HDD for random data storage. The HDD is split into a couple of partitions.

A couple of things happened before I noticed this: I changed the computer's name maybe a month or two ago, and pretty much exactly one month ago a RAM stick failed and convinced me the PC was dead for a while. It's since been resurrected, but this (and a few other odd issues) is still bothering me. When I was diagnosing the PC I also removed two USB controller cards that I haven't put back, though I can't see how that would have anything to do with this.

Any ideas as to what might cause this?

 

[Ketchup]

What AV are you running? Are you running a Windows 10 upgrade?

 

[Valantar]

I'm running Qihoo360 360 Internet Security. I've tried disabling it, to no avail. And yes, this was originally a Windows 7 install. I've pretty much accepted that I have to do a full reinstall anyhow, but I'd like to avoid that for a while still.

 

[Kaido]

Try enabling automatic startup for the Virtual Disk service:

https://raywoodcockslatest.wordpres...-to-start-or-connect-to-virtual-disk-service/

To get into Services, I ran services.msc. I did that by going to Start > Run > services.msc, but I could also have typed “services.msc” at any command prompt, or double-clicked on services.msc in the folder where it was installed. On my machine, that was “C:\Windows\SysWOW64\en-US.” Note: I was running as Administrator; not sure if that would be essential.

In Services, I went down to Virtual Disk. I saw it was set to Disabled. I right-clicked on it and chose Properties > General tab > Startup type > Automatic > OK. That was the solution: now Disk Management ran normally.

 

[Ketchup]

You may need to try uninstalling the Qihoo 360 360 Total Security to fully get the thing disabled. I have had issues with several AV products not working correctly (either not installing or blocking functionality) with windows 10 upgrades. The good news is once you do a fresh install of 10, everything works great and Windows 10 turns into a very enjoyable OS.

 

[VirtualLarry]

Why would you run 3rd-party AV, nevermind some Chinese spyware AV?

 

[Valantar]

Why would you run 3rd-party AV, nevermind some Chinese spyware AV?

Because at the time I started using it it far outperformed every other free AV solution out there (at least according to multiple comparison reviews) (oh, and there's nothing to substantiate the Chinese software=spyware assumption, no matter how tempting it is). From recent comparisons I've seen others seem to have caught up, but it's not nearly noticeable (let alone annoying) enough to remove. I'd much rather have this than Norton, to put it that way.

Now, I haven't had a virus since... Oh, I don't know, high school? But I do get a lot of office documents and pdfs by email for work (sent by everything from 65-year-old professors to fresh-out-of-high-school students), so I prefer to have some protection enabled. I did use Windows Defender (or whatever they call it these days) for a while, but got scared off that after seeing just how badly it compared to other solutions. I guess I'll have to reconsider when I get around to reinstalling.

@Kaido: I've set it to that, but didn't have time to reboot and test it out before work. I'll look into it this afternoon. Thanks! Starting the service manually made no difference (it's listed as running in Task Manager, but starting Disk Management gives the same error), but rebooting is often a magic bullet.

@Ketchup: I'll give that a try if the above doesn't pan out. Thanks! (Oh, btw, I've been running W10 since the preview first launched on my laptop I far prefer it over any previous version of Windows. It is indeed a very enjoyable OS. The desktop hasn't been reinstalled for years mainly because of the associated hassle.)

 

[deustroop]

Because at the time I started using it it far outperformed every other free AV solution out there (at least according to multiple comparison reviews) (oh, and there's nothing to substantiate the Chinese software=spyware assumption, /QUOTE]

https://www.cyberscoop.com/android-malware-china-huawei-zte-kryptowire-blu-products/

http://www.pcmag.com/news/350046/phone-maker-blu-trades-chinese-spyware-for-google-software

https://sputniknews.com/science/201612231048900034-android-devices-preinstalled-chinese-spyware/

 

[Valantar]

*snip*

I'm not saying Chinese spyware doesn't exist, simply that mistrusting any and all Chinese software due to there being bad actors there is ... well, not especially smart. I've not seen anything implicating that Qihoo 360 has even tangential relations to the Chinese government. Should Kaspersky AV and their research lab be distrusted due to there being a lot of malware, spyware and hacking in Russia? Not to mention that North America and Europe has no lack of hackers and cybersecurity bogeymen of their own (although probably a larger percentage of these are "legitimate" companies with various government contracts). People in all kinds of countries wear all kinds of hats, and while it's entirely possible there are more black hats in China than elsewhere, that alone isn't reason enough to entirely distrust all Chinese software. Healthy skepticism is, well, healthy, but unless I want my computer to be air-gapped for its whole lifetime, I need to trust someone.

 

[Ketchup]

I am not sure what deustroop was trying to say, as his links don't quite cover the topic at hand (except to imply that it's Chinese, so it must suck, which I really hope is not what he meant).

As to real data, your product seems to be good with features, but poor at detection:
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2422024,00.asp
https://malwaretips.com/threads/qihoo-360-total-security-essential-8-6-pcmag-review.60437/

 

[Valantar]

I am not sure what deustroop was trying to say, as his links don't quite cover the topic at hand (except to imply that it's Chinese, so it must suck, which I really hope is not).

As to real data, your product seems to be good with features, but poor at detection:
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2422024,00.asp
https://malwaretips.com/threads/qihoo-360-total-security-essential-8-6-pcmag-review.60437/

That was my takeaway from what he said. Oh well.

Thanks for the links, btw. At the time I started using it, every review I found placed it close to the top (i.e. not the best, just not at all far behind) for detection, while winning on features and effect on system performance/resource use. I guess I should reconsider when I get around to reinstalling.

Unfortunately setting the service to run automatically didn't change anything. I'll see if I can be bothered to uninstall the AV software some time later this week. Thanks for the help anyway!

 

[deustroop]

I am not sure what deustroop was trying to say, as his links don't quite cover the topic at hand (except to imply that it's Chinese, so it must suck, which I really hope is not).
/

This is OT but I am responding to the nonsense of the OP who says " (oh, and there's nothing to substantiate the Chinese software=spyware assumption, no matter how tempting it is)" . I show several instances where chinese software placed spyware in global phone platforms. More relevant, there was a massive spyware problem over the years with Lenovo software. The country has this history.

http://www.breitbart.com/tech/2016/...use-of-lenovo-computers-over-chinese-spyware/.

The OP has an issue at the firewall and uses AV software from that country? My sense of humour says you gotta think about it which is likely what VL was thinking.

 

[BonzaiDuck]

I'd say one should cross-verify that "news-source" with any others in the spectrum without its "fake-news" reputation.

And kick any further discussion to P&N.

 

[VirtualLarry]

I've not seen anything implicating that Qihoo 360 has even tangential relations to the Chinese government.

Well then, you're hopelessly naive. ALL Chinese companies have ties to their gov't. That's how things work over there.

 

[Valantar]

Well then, you're hopelessly naive. ALL Chinese companies have ties to their gov't. That's how things work over there.

And how many American cybersecurity firms haven't been served secret FISA warrants and the like and been forced to hand out personal data that they either collect or that simply passes through them? China isn't the only country with an opaque system of seemingly extrajudicial spying implemented, after all. And "ties to their gov't" might not amount to more than bribing the relevant officials to leave them alone, after all. Again: until I see evidence otherwise, I see no reason to mistrust them.

At the core of this is a simple fact: AV companies and AV researchers test each other's product continuously, thoroughly and harshly. If there was any sign this software was spying on me, someone would have found sign of it.

This is OT but I am responding to the nonsense of the OP who says " (oh, and there's nothing to substantiate the Chinese software=spyware assumption, no matter how tempting it is)" . I show several instances where chinese software placed spyware in global phone platforms. More relevant, there was a massive spyware problem over the years with Lenovo software. The country has this history.

http://www.breitbart.com/tech/2016/...use-of-lenovo-computers-over-chinese-spyware/.

The OP has an issue at the firewall and uses AV software from that country? My sense of humour says you gotta think about it which is likely what VL was thinking.

Oh, wow. You honestly don't know the difference between generalization and not, do you? As I said above (that you curiously haven't yet responded to): There are bad actors everywhere. Might there be more in China than most other places? Sure. But one of the most respected AV companies/Cybersecurity research labs, Kaspersky Labs, is based in Moscow. Isn't that also a country notorious for its spying, totalitarian government, hacking and huge cybersecurity black market? Are they also not to be trusted? Pulling out examples of companies implicated in something doesn't mean that all (remotely) comparable companies are implicated in similar things. Or do you want me to assume that every single US company is in cahoots with the NSA?

And back to the topic: I have an issue "at the firewall"? What makes you say that? I have an issue starting a local Windows service on a local machine. How does VDS interact with any firewall at all? This makes it sound like you know/suspect something that could potentially help explain and/or understand the problem, rather than just spout Breitbart-sourced software xenophobia. Care to share?

 

[PliotronX]

I've seen unexpected devices affect the opening of diskmgmt, usually a failing disk (whether SATA or USB) is the cause. Samsung Magician caching did it to my office computer (never enabling that crap again). One time a PCI serial AIB did it. This is going to sound kind of unorthodox but you might try disabling system restore (and re-enabling it) if it is running, disabling the page file, rebooting, and running the following commands in an elevated CMD:

sfc /scannow
dism /online /cleanup-image /restorehealth
chkdsk c: /f

And then after the reboot, re-enable the page file (if desired). I would not spend too much time on this and just reload if diskmgmt is still a B.

 

[BonzaiDuck]

Yes, I would pursue what Pliotronix suggests there. Just off the top of my head, I'm imagining that this could have something to do with drive enumeration. Maybe I'd enter the BIOS just to check out the status of drives to make sure they're all "there."