Mounting a volume takes over 15 minutes since update
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Hello,
I have updated my Windows 10 lately to update 1909.
Before the update Veracrypt worked fine, i was able to mount my external drives within 15 seconds. Now when i mount my external drive it takes over 15 minutes! before i can use the disk.
I use the encryption on external disks that i take with me to my clients, waiting for 15 minutes before i can use the disk is ofcourse unacceptable for them and very unprofessional.
Will this be fixed or can i fix this myself?
Thanks for your help.
Short Answer: It might be Windows antivirus. Turn off whole disk check option or turn off antivirus fully until you can set controls on the Antivirus properly.
After many hours of diagnosis, I noted 1909 Windows 10 Home performs a whole disk scan for Veracrypt volumes inserted into a USB port as default, and the scan has to complete before the disk is released to Veracrypt to mount. This is new prior to 1909.
I found this by searching for what the OS was doing that suddenly made it take so long to mount the drives. Task Manager showed that normally quiet Windows Defender suddenly was so busy far longer than normal, > 30 min non-stop without me doing anything on the PC, no programs running, and disconnected from the Internet, and no past malware found as per the logs.
There are no options to turn off whole disk scans , abort scan in progress and not restarted, in controls for Windows Defener in Win10 Home, nor notifications as to what the antivirus is doing; in Win7, there was a bar graph of status., In Win10, you have to be a detective in Task and Resource manager to reveal its activity.
In Win10 Home, Windows Defender can only be controlled fullest via command line:
https://www.tenforums.com/tutorials/70503-enable-windows-defender-scan-removable-drives-windows-10-a.html
Last edit: Robert iXj Smith 2019-11-26
Works like a charm again (after disabling as described above). THANK you, Zinn.
regards
Last edit: Kasper Hansen 2019-11-26
Awesome! Thank you so much. I used option one from the link. Open a powershell with admin rights and enter Set-MpPreference -DisableRemovableDriveScanning 1
Now it mounts almost instantly as before.
Thanks!
Last edit: Wannaplay 2019-11-26
For me that option was already set (Windows 10 Pro, 1909 edition) and I still had the long waiting time. For me it was/is necessary to (just temporarily) disable Windows Defender.
Hi,
I am facing the exact same after installation of KB4523205 (https://support.microsoft.com/en-gb/help/4523205/windows-10-update-kb4523205) last week. Seen on multiple installations. Tried to enable "Don't show wait message dialog when performing operations". No effect.
Regards.
Kasper
@wannaplay & @kasperhansen
I am running Windows 10 64-bit 1909 upgraded from 1809 without any abnormal mount delays to my external HDD via USB3 ports directly on my PC.
Maybe there is a commonality between your two systems that would help the developer troubleshoot the issue.
Last edit: Enigma2Illusion 2019-11-25
Hi again
Thank you for reply.
1) I use different SSD in different enclosures - so far problem with them all - and problem on 2 different laptops (almost identical, though) - started right after Windows update of the mentioned KB4523205
2) Via USB3 - And also a problem on a partition on the laptops internal SSD
3) Direct in the laptop
4) Sorry, don't understand - please be more explicit
5) same
6) AES
Regards
Kasper
ah, sorry, mixed up the numbering between your edits. Trying again.
1) Lenovo W530
2) Different SSDs all Samsung 750, 850, 860, in different enclosures
3) USB3 (also a problem on non-system internal partition)
4) No
5) Sorry, don't know
6) Same
7) AES
regards
I have the problem with all my encrypted disks. 1 is a transcend 1tb, a toshiba 3tb, western digital 6tb and microsd of 64gb. All connected directly via USB. It worked for like years without problems.
So it has definitely nothing to do with the drives i'm using.
My PC is a MSI i7-6700
I also used AES.
No problem on internal partition on other laptop, only on external USB-connected storage. I Might have been fooled regarding internal partition on previous mentioned laptop.
K
@kasperhansen
If you do not know which hash, cascade encryption and encryption you are using, you can check by mounting the volume, in the VeraCrypt GUI, right click on the mounted volume and select Properties.
Look for Encryption Algorithm (this will show encryption algorithm and if cascade will show all the encryption algorithms) and the hash is called PKCS-5 PRF.
thanks, for clarification. Properties here:
Location \Device\Harddisk1\Partition2
Volume ID -
Size 249923633152 bytes
Type Normal
Read-Only No
Hidden Volumne Protected No
Encryption Algorithm AES
Primary Key Size 256 bits
Secondary Key Size (XTS Mode) 256 bits
Block Size 128 bits
Mode of Operation XTS
PKCS-5 PRF HMAC-SHA-512
Volume Format Version 2
Embedded Backup Header Yes
Data Read since Mount 2.2 GB
Date Writen since Mount 2.0 GB
Same properties for the internal partition, which mounts fast (as usual) (just another location, volumne id and size).
K.
Except from the size and data info my settings are exactly the same as Kasper. I think it's the standard.
Last edit: Wannaplay 2019-11-25
Just wanted to chime in and state that I have the very same problem since a few days – extremely long delays during the mount operations.
I'm on Windows 1909 for some time now, but the problem appeared only recently. I assume it's related to the latest patch day and some update there…
I use the same settings/properties as shown above for my external drive. I can confirm that turning off Windows Defender makes the mounting happen almost instantly again, so the described "full drive scanning" indeed seems to be the culprit here.
Last edit: engelhro 2019-11-26
Yes, it worked for me to open a powershell with admin rights and enter Set-MpPreference -DisableRemovableDriveScanning 1
Thanks for the solution!
That's strange. For me this was already set (the option being shown as "True" with Get-MpPreference) and I still had the long waiting time. For me it was/is necessary to (just temporarily) disable Windows Defender.
@kasperhansen reported the issue was due to MS patch KB4523205 which is Windows 10 1809 version released November 12th and not the 1909 version being reported by other forum users.
EDIT: I did apply MS patch KB4523205 to my 1809 Windows 10 before I upgraded two days later to 1909 version.
Therefore, my theory that MS patch KB4523205 is the root cause when people upgraded to 1909 is not true for my system which does not experience the abnormal delays when mounting external HDD partition connected directly to my PC's USB port.
I removed my speculation that 1909 users had applied MS patch KB4523205 on 1809 before upgrading.
End of edit.
Using both Group Policy editor and Powershell, my Group Policy is for "Scan removable drive" is Not Configured which is the default. Powershell as Administrator:
Strange. I don't remember setting this option in the past due to I document my Windows 10 setup and custom settings.
Did Windows 10 1809 version with KB4523205 patch change the setting of DisableRemovableDriveScanning?
Last edit: Enigma2Illusion 2019-11-26
The issues fixed in KB4523205 are in KB 4524570 for home users, such as the Intel vulnerability fixes, but this was sent only on ~ 11/13/2019 and the actual total payloads could be different overall as while different flavors of Windows are very similar, but not identical.
Updates are not supposed to over write user settings, such as policy or privacy settings but then again, it could be mistaken or as a bug, so one cannot always be sure except to be viligant and check after updates.
What is vital for this episode is to keep mindful to review Task and Resource Manager with Win 10 updates when abnormal behavior occurs. It may not be Defender the next time, as a solution may be unique to VC users and not found elsewhere on the whole Internet. There are other tools that are better, these two are included in all versions of Windows so its a good app to use to share findings.
The issue regarding mounting VC volumes affects any disk inserted into the USB port, as this would trigger a full disk scan, however, Defender runs in the background, so any recognized format would load and be available immediately, but if not the port could appear damaged, or Windows defective if an unrecognized volume or unformatted disk would cause a hang and there is no feedback to the user. Its quite rare to get any disk unformatted that Windows can't read, so this event could go poorly reported. Win10 removed the annunciators on the Home Defender screen, so there are no notifications that it is doing something, until it has found something.
Many discussions on other forums, as well as Microsoft' own, are not helpful, regarding the symptoms of this issue, from possible issues with hardware of USB ports, USB drivers, Virtual Disk Service error [VDS] that loads with "Disk Management", services file corruption, update package corruption, and most issues the Microsoft MVP recommend are fairly useless as being too general, even to traditional problems causing long loads of Microsoft formatted disks, and this is going back many years. So we here on Veracrypt must assume we are on our own, as standard Microsoft based help is barely helpful, at best.
VDS loading is vital to the checking the status of volumes. If VDS startup is delayed, it takes < 1min for any size of volumes on your PC, Veracrypt will hang until it does even if it shows the device is available from the menu under "Select Device" , and Device Manager shows all the drivers are loaded, and the volume is ready to mount. When VDS finally shows the RAW volume, the volume almost always is truly ready to be mounted by VC.
In this event, the VDS does not show any abnormal actions on Task manager or sends notification, it wasn't doing anything simply because there was no error, the volume was hung up by a legitimate process, malware checking holding off a handoff to another application.
Last edit: Robert iXj Smith 2019-11-27
Agreed. MS OS upgrades (not patches) have reset some of my customized settings back to defaults. Examples are the privacy settings for various items like Calendar, Microphone, Camera, etc.
The two Windows 10 machines that I own both had the latest patches on 1809 that were released on 11/12/2019 and then I upgraded both to the 1909 version on 11/14/2019 with latest patches.
Since both of the my machines do not experience the abnormal delay when mounting the external HDD, there must be some other issue that is the root cause.