Problem creating encrypted volume - Access is denied - Source: volTransformThreadFunction:2769

[Wayne Groenendaal]

Hi,

When trying to create an encrypted volume on a freshly installed server 2016 virtual machine; I am getting the foollowing error:

Can anyone advise on how to resolve this?

Things I have tried:
Deleting disk and creating a new one.
Not creating and formatting a partition and letting VeraCrypt do this.
Upgrading to the latest release of VeraCrypt
Rebuilding the machine completely

Thanks in advance

Wayne

[Mounir IDRASSI]

As the error implies, something has blocked VeraCrypt from accessing the disk/partition. Normally VeraCrypt asks for administrative privileges in order to get highest possible privileges but sometimes there can be policies deployed forbidding low level access.

In order to be sure, can you please launch "VeraCrypt Format.exe" manually with administrative privileges by right-clicking on it in Explorer and choosing "run as an administrator"? After that, choose "Encrypt a non-system partition/drive" and follow usual steps.

If the error still happens, then either something is explicitely forbidding low level write access to the disk or there is something special about the disk you are trying to encrypt.

[Wayne Groenendaal]

Thanks Mounir

I can confirm that I had been running the application as administrator and also that I have tried it as the local administrator as well as my domain admin account.

I too thought that it could be machine specefic and re-created it based on other working machines to be sure. Unfortunately this has not resolved the issue.

Wayne

[Mounir IDRASSI]

Thank you for the feedback.
I'm out of clues...is there something special about the disk? what is its type?
Are you able to encrypt other disks? For example, if you connect a USB pendrive to the VM, are you able to encrypt it?

One thing you can do is to check Windows Event Viewer to see if there is any error or warning message logged when VeraCrypt error happens.

[Wayne Groenendaal]

Thank you Mounir

Adding an additional drive to replace the original and allowing VeraCrypt to format it (without initializing within windows etc) resolved this issue.

Thanks again for your help.

Wayne :)

[Joao]

Same error here, with external hardrive, on the Windows 10, the problem (in my case) was in the Windows Defender "protection against ransomware", I disable it, and the VeraCrypt was able to perform the action without problem (create a new encrypted volume on the new external hard drive).
Maybe some sort of test can be added to see if Windows Defender "Ransomware" protection is active and is going to interfere with the operation.

[Stefan]

I totally agree, the same thing happened to me: https://sourceforge.net/p/veracrypt/discussion/technical/thread/d31144ccd1/

VeraCrypt should perform a check of some kind and/or give a better error message. Windows didn't show a warning for the blocked access - it did in the past. Now that I've allowed access for VeraCrypt Format.exe, it is finally formatting the new drive. :)

[Enigma2Illusion]

You should be able to whitelist VeraCrypt Format and VeraCrypt in Windows Defender Ransomware.

Controlled Folder Access whitelist

[Preining Moritz]

Today VeraCrypt stopped duirng an ecryption of a 1TB SSD. The windows event viewer shows a Hardware error at a exact adress. My windows defender is always turned off at encryption processes. Every idea of how to fix this error failed because windows cannot access the drive because it is still being "encrypted". I also can't decrypt the drive because it's not fully encrypted.

[Stefan]

Did you try to reboot Windows and then start with "Create Volume" again from scratch?

Are you using Windows 10?

[Preining Moritz]

Yes, I tried it several times but the same error all the time.

Yes I'm using Windows 10

[Stefan]

Hmm... then the only remaining idea I have is this: even though you said Windows Defender is turned off, check if ransomware protection (press Windows key, type "ransomware") is still enabled.

Good luck! If that's not it, hopefully someone else has an idea for you.

[Preining Moritz]

unfortunately didn't help either, thanks anyway

[Nick Elliott]

To anyone still having this issue here is a more complete guide to fixing the error:

1.Turn off all Windows Defender Ransomware Protection/Controlled Folder Access in settings (or whitelist all the processes as described above). I just turned absolutely all Windows Defender protection off to be certain.
2. Go to Volumes>Resume Interrupted Process>Encrypt and follow the prompts
3. You'll likely get the same error so defer the process and instead go to Volumes>Resume Interrupted Process>Decrypt and you should be able to decrypt all your progress and get access to your originally unencrypted files.
4. Encrypt the drive again from scratch with Windows Defender Ransomware Protection/Controlled Folder Access turned off (make sure files are comletely backed up first!)

This worked for me. I'm not an expert so results may vary and there may be other solutions.

[raywood]

Kind of a puzzling situation. I encounter the same problem (i.e., "Access is denied") but with a different error code (i.e., "MountVolume : 8382"). The error code seems tangential: for me, as for others (above), the problem seems to be due to access blocked by antimalware software.

I suspect that Bitdefender has denied access to the drive, or has otherwise left VeraCrypt unable to access it, because Bitdefender has rendered repeated false positives for files on that drive. VeraCrypt mounts another drive (to which Bitdefender has offered no objections) with no problem.

But I could be wrong about that. Another thread states the same error code (i.e., "MountVolume : 8382") due to a different problem (i.e., "Device is not ready"). Solutions that worked there do not seem to involve antimalware (e.g., disable and re-enable the drive, or reboot).

Something like that worked for me too. In my case, it's an internal HDD mounted in an external dock. VeraCrypt mounted the drive without objection when I shut down that dock and tried the same drive in a different dock. VeraCrypt also mounted a different drive in the first dock - all without rebooting or disabling anything. For an internal drive mounted internally, possibly connecting to a different SATA port would suffice.

These results raise the question of whether the error messages would be better redesigned, where possible, to just state the problem (e.g., "Access is denied") and briefly offer suggestions (e.g., point to the location of the VeraCrypt log; examine antivirus log; try mounting the drive on a different port or in another machine). It is not clear that the detailed error messages (e.g., "Source: volTransformThreadFunction:2769") are helpful.

[hosa]

After too much research to reach such a basic piece of info I learned that in order to create NTFS volumes you need to run as administrator..But Veracrypt warns against that I might not be able to have write access after im done.. I am not sure what to do next, Ill just do it and hope for the best..