How To Recover Data From Microsoft Storage Spaces [2024]

Microsoft Storage Spaces is a handy software solution for managing and protecting your storage devices. You can merge multiple partitions, delete content, and connect two or more storage devices into one unit.

This software creates data pools by combining multiple drives into one. These pools will store multiple copies of your data, protecting them from hard drive failure.

However, as with any other software, Microsoft Storage Spaces may encounter issues. Today, we will discuss some common issues of this tool and teach you how to perform Storage Spaces recovery successfully on your Windows device.

Failed Storage Spaces Recovery - Error Messages You Can Expect

You can receive different error messages during the Storage Spaces recovery, indicating different issues. We will name some common error messages and their meanings below:

• "The storage pool is inaccessible" - this error message may pop up if the disks or data have become corrupted or damaged. It may also be the case if your hard drives have failed.
• "A driver has issues" - you won't be able to access a drive's content if it has bad sectors or is beginning to fail.
• "Drives have been disconnected" - whether you have disconnected your drives or are experiencing power issues, you won't be able to recover data with this error message.
• "An unexpected error occurred" - this is one of the most common error messages you can encounter. The program won't tell you the exact reason why you can't access your drives or recover data.

If you come across these messages, don't panic. You can still get the best recovery experience with the solutions we will present in a minute.

Types of Microsoft Storage Spaces

Since Microsoft Storage Spaces has advanced immensely, you can now find different types of spaces you can use. Here's an overview of these types:

• Simple - as the name suggests, simple storage is similar to storing data on a hard drive, except that you can merge multiple drives into one pool. It is ideal for storing non-sensitive data as you won't get data redundancy. It's only good for increasing the capacity of your hard drives.
• Mirror storage - this type will provide copies or mirrors of your data, protecting you and your valuables from disk failure. It'll store your copies on a separate drive, saving them from other drives' influences. It's ideal for increasing drive capacity and protecting sensitive data.
• Parity - this type uses striping to protect your data. However, it is slower than the mirror version, making it better for older data you want to archive. This type of Space will save copies of your data across multiple devices, and you also won't get data redundancy.

These are the basic types of Microsoft Storage Spaces. However, you can find subcategories, such as two-way mirrors, if you need extra protection and more features.

Reasons Why Storage Spaces Get Corrupted and Data Lost

If you want to find out why your storage spaces got corrupted, check out the table below:

These are just some of the issues you can come across. However, the solutions we will present below should fix all issues regarding your Storage Spaces.

How To Recover Storage Spaces Data

Way 1: Use a Data Recovery Tool

Since you may have accidentally deleted your data, you may want to recover your valuables with a recovery tool. Since numerous tools are available, choosing the best one may be like finding a needle in a haystack. You may not know which tool is reliable, successful, and safe to use.

Some recovery tools can even expose your data, so you must choose wisely if you have sensitive files that shouldn't come close to the public eye. One of the best tools you can use for this quest is Wondershare Recoverit. It is an all-in-one tool that will protect your valuables and recover them successfully.

Wondershare Recoverit

• Recovers data from 2000+ storage media, including HDDs, SSDs, USB drives, SD cards, etc.
• Enables recovery of data lost due to formatting, disk corruption, virus attack, and more.
• It works with all popular file systems, such as NTFS, FAT, HFS+, and APFS, among others.

Free DownloadFree DownloadLearn More

Recoverit has one of the highest success rates on the market (around 95%) and can recover any file type in most data loss scenarios. If you want the best recovery experience, download Wondershare Recoverit from the official website and follow the steps below:

1. Open Recoverit and head to Hard Drives and Locations.
2. Choose the hard drive you want to recover data from.

   

3. Once you choose the drive, the program will automatically start scanning it. You can pause this process if necessary.

   

4. After scanning, you can preview the files and select the ones you want to recover. Click the Recover button to continue.

   

5. Choose where you want to save your valuables.

The whole process only takes a few minutes, and you will get all your data back from Storage Spaces.

Way 2: Reconnect All Drives Again

Power issues or other external factors may influence the Storage Spaces' performance. Before you jump into more complex solutions, you should try the simple method of disconnecting and reconnecting your drives to fix minor problems.

Remember to safely disconnect your devices to avoid physical damage and other issues. After reconnecting the drives, you should restart your Windows PC to make sure the computer will recognize them. Try out your Storage Spaces again, and if they don't work, you can jump into some of the solutions below.

Way 3: Repair Disks With CMD

Command Prompt is an excellent, built-in feature for Windows devices that allows you to control and manage most of your computer's features and devices. You can completely customize your experience thanks to this tool.

Since hard drive issues will affect your Microsoft Storage Spaces performance and experience, repairing them is crucial and essential.

However, it may not be beginner-friendly since Command Prompt lacks a graphical user interface. If you are new to using CMD, we advise you to stick to the script and follow the guides you find.

Command Prompt may be the best solution for repairing your hard disks. You can run the CHDSK command that will thoroughly scan your drives and fix any issues it finds. The best part is that you can run this command several times to ensure no problems are left behind.

Here's how to repair your disks using CMD:

1. Head to Command Prompt and select Run as Administrator.

   

2. Type in the chkdsk command and press Enter.

   

After this, CMD should find and resolve all issues with your drive. Depending on the number of issues and complexity, it may take a while.

Way 4: Initialize Disks

Initializing a disk means preparing it for use by your operating system. If you have experienced OS crashes or hardware issues, you may have to do this process to make your drive recognizable again. You can do this through the Command Prompt by following the guide below:

1. Open Command Prompt and select Run as Administrator.

   

2. Type the diskpart command and press Enter.
3. Type the list disk command and press Enter.
4. Type select disk x and press Enter. Replace x with the letter of your drive.
5. Type convert gpt (or if you want to initialize in MBR, type convert mbr), and press Enter.

   

If your operating system still doesn't recognize the drive, you can try the method below.

Way 5: Enable Drive in Disk Management

Enabling a drive in Disk Management is similar to initializing the disk in Command Prompt. However, the Command Prompt version doesn't allow you to control the online/offline aspects, as you will see below. Follow this guide to enable your drive.

1. Open Disk Management.

   

2. Find the drive you want to initialize and right-click on it.
3. If the disk is listed as Offline, select Online to enable it.
4. Select the Initialize Disk option from the drop-down menu.

   

Conclusion

Using Microsoft Storage Spaces can be highly beneficial. However, you may experience some issues with the program, leading to data loss and corruption.

We have discussed the topic of data loss and error messages in the text above and presented some of the best solutions to help you fix issues with your drives. The best thing you can do is recover your data before trying the fixes to preserve your valuables.