Issue to Optimize volume

Jonathan 380 Reputation points
2026-09-30T03:56:56.7366667+00:00

Hi,

How to resolve it below? To run Optimize volume well?

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Windows for business | Windows Server | Storage high availability | Other
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  1. Hoang Le 6,275 Reputation points Independent Advisor
    2026-09-30T05:36:59.4733333+00:00

    Hello Jonathan,

    Based on the screenshot, the ReTrim operation actually completed successfully (100%), but Windows then attempted an additional optimization operation that the underlying storage device or storage controller does not support. The key message is: "The volume optimization operation requested is not supported by the hardware backing the volume." This commonly occurs when the C: drive is presented through certain RAID controllers, SAN storage, virtual disks, Storage Spaces, or SSD firmware/drivers that do not fully expose all optimization capabilities to Windows.

    To verify the storage type, run Get-PhysicalDisk | Select FriendlyName, MediaType, BusType, HealthStatus and Get-Disk | Select Number, FriendlyName, BusType. If the drive is an SSD, also run fsutil behavior query DisableDeleteNotify; a result of 0 indicates that TRIM is already enabled and functioning correctly. In your screenshot, the ReTrim phase completed successfully, so there is generally no corrective action required unless performance issues are present.

    I also recommend checking Device Manager for storage controller drivers and updating the SSD firmware and storage controller driver from the hardware vendor. If the volume is hosted on a virtual machine, RAID array, or Storage Spaces configuration, this behavior can be expected because some optimization functions are intentionally unsupported by the underlying storage layer.

    If my answer is useful for you, please hit Accept the answer to support me.

    Thank you,HL.

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  2. AI answer

    2026-09-30T03:57:11.26+00:00

    Optimize-Volume supports different operations depending on the drive type. The command shown uses -Retrim, which is supported for SSD with TRIM support. If the hardware backing the volume does not support that operation, PowerShell returns the error shown.

    Use the cmdlet according to the volume type:

    1. To check the current optimization state only:
    Optimize-Volume -DriveLetter C -Analyze -Verbose
    1. If the volume is an HDD, Fixed VHD, or Storage Space, use defragmentation:
    Optimize-Volume -DriveLetter C -Defrag -Verbose
    1. If the volume is a tiered Storage Space, use tier optimization:
    Optimize-Volume -DriveLetter C -TierOptimize
    1. If the volume is a thinly provisioned Storage Space, SAN virtual disk, Dynamic VHD, or Differencing VHD, the supported operations are analysis, slab consolidation, and retrim.

    If no parameter is specified, Optimize-Volume performs the default operation for the detected drive type:

    • HDD, Fixed VHD, Storage Space: -Analyze -Defrag
    • Tiered Storage Space: -TierOptimize
    • SSD with TRIM support: -Retrim
    • Thinly provisioned Storage Space, SAN virtual disk, Dynamic VHD, Differencing VHD: -Analyze -SlabConsolidate -Retrim
    • SSD without TRIM support, Removable FAT, Unknown: no operation

    A practical way to proceed is:

    Optimize-Volume -DriveLetter C -Analyze -Verbose

    Then run the operation that matches the reported storage type. If drive C: is not backed by hardware that supports TRIM, -Retrim will not run successfully.

    If this is a Failover Cluster environment, Storage module cmdlets operate at the cluster level across all servers in the cluster.

    AI-generated content may be incorrect. Read our transparency notes for more information.

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