The volume size is too big, Diskpart Virtual Disk Service Error

Some users have reported facing an error where when they try to format an internal or external HDD using the diskpart command, they get an error message that says, “The volume size is too big.”

What is Virtual Disk Service (VDS)?

Virtual Disk Service (VDS) is a one-stop shop for managing all your disk and volume needs. It includes several APIs designed to make disk management more convenient. Users most often encounter this error when they try to format a hard drive larger than 32 GB with the FAT32 file system. NTFS and FAT32 are popular file systems used across different operating systems, and because they serve different purposes, users may need to change their file systems accordingly.

Fix Diskpart Virtual Disk Service Error, The volume size is too big

There are 2 ways to overcome this problem, both of which are discussed below.

Format with DiskPart using the NTFS file system
Use AOMEI Partition Assistant Standard

1] Format with DiskPart using the NTFS file system

If you don’t need to format your drive with the FAT32 file system, you can format it with NTFS using DiskPart. Since Windows lets you format partitions or drives larger than 32 GB with the NTFS file system, this shouldn’t trigger the error. Here’s what you need to do:

Open the Run command prompt by pressing the Windows + ‘R’ key. Here, enter ‘cmd’ and press Ctrl+Shift+Enter to open the elevated Command Prompt
Connect the drive that you want to format and wait till it is initialized
Enter the following command to open the DiskPart utility

diskpart

Enter the following to get a list of all the available drives on your computer

list disk

Now, you have to figure out which drive you want to clean. Disk 0 is the one that contains your OS files, so you are recommended not to interfere with it
Once decided, enter the following command to select the particular drive. Replace X with the drive number

select disk X

Once the disk is selected, type ‘clean’ and press Enter to initiate the process
Create a fresh partition and select it by entering the following commands, one after the other

create partition primary

select partition 1

Type ‘active’ and press Enter to activate this newly created partition
Enter the following command to create a partition using the NTFS system and assign a name to it

format FS=NTFS label=*Your Name* quick

Wait till it is fully done and then, enter ‘exit’ to complete the process

If you need to format a drive larger than 32GB using FAT32, you’ll need a third-party utility. For this tutorial, we’ll use the freeware version of AOMEI Partition Assistant Standard.

2] Use AOMEI Partition Assistant Standard

You can download AOMEI Partition Assistant Standard. Once you’ve downloaded and installed it, follow the steps below to format your drive to the FAT32 system.

Launch the AOMEI Partition Assistant app and locate the disk that you want to format
Having followed the aforementioned process of creating a NTFS partition for your drive, you’ll now see one for the drive that you want to be formatted as per the FAT32 system.
Right-click on this NTFS Partition and select ‘Format Partition’
This will open a separate dialog box. From the File System drop-down, select ‘FAT32’ and click on OK
Preview this new formatting and then select Apply > Proceed

Once the process is complete, you’ll see a new drive partition with FAT32, having successfully avoided the “The volume size is too big” Virtual Disk Service error.

Can I disable Virtual Disk Service?

If you don’t need it and want to disable the Virtual Disk Service altogether, you can do so.

Press Ctrl + ‘R’ and enter ‘services.msc’
Scroll down till you find Virtual Disk
Right-click on it and select Stop.
The process may take a while but once done, your built-in Virtual Disk Service will be disabled

Related:

Diskpart Virtual Disk Service error, The operation timed out
Diskpart Virtual Disk Service Error: The service failed to initialize
Diskpart Virtual Disk Service error, There is not enough usable space
Diskpart Virtual Disk Service error. Delete is not allowed on the current boot, system, pagefile, crashdump or hibernation volume
Diskpart Virtual Disk Service error, The operation is not supported by the object
Diskpart Virtual Disk Service error, The specified disk is not convertible
Diskpart Virtual Disk Service Error: Clean is not allowed on this disk

Can I restart Virtual Disk Service?

Sometimes, users may experience glitches running the Virtual Disk Service, and a workaround it may be to restart the utility. Here’s how you can do that.