Dynamic disks are marked as "Invalid" on a computer that is running Windows Server 2008 or Windows Vista when you bring the disks online, take the disks offline, or restart the computer if Data Protection Manager is installed

Consider the following scenario:

• You create more than 99 volumes on one or more dynamic disks on a computer that is running Windows Server 2008 or Windows Vista.
• The size of one of the volumes is larger than 2 terabytes.
• You bring all dynamic disks online, take all dynamic disks offline, or restart the computer.

In this scenario, you cannot access the volumes. In the Disk Management snap-in of the Microsoft Management Console (MMC) window, all the dynamic disks are marked as "Invalid." Additionally, if you try to make these disks active, you receive the following error message:

Volume manager incorrectly flags a Logical Disk Manager (LDM) record as incomplete if its size is the same size as of the size of a block on the disk. After the LDM record is flagged as incomplete, it is cleaned up. Therefore, all dynamic disks are marked as "Invalid," as described in the Symptom section.

Update information

Note This update does not resolve the problem that is described in this article after this problem occurs. This update only prevents the problem if this update is installed in advance. Apply this update to systems that will probably experience the described problem in the future. Applying this update to systems that are experiencing the described problem does not resolve this problem.

The following files are available for download from the Microsoft Download Center:

Download the Update for Windows Server 2008 for Itanium-based Systems (KB962975) package now. (http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=087ebdfd-6dd9-4550-b59a-431952e3e12a&DisplayLang=en)

Download the Update for Windows Server 2008 (KB962975) package now. (http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=90805222-bf2e-4530-ad4a-1f8d8a8338b7&DisplayLang=en)

Download the Update for Windows Vista (KB962975) package now. (http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=278ea54f-ef1b-4c86-bb6f-9d61b854b0a3&DisplayLang=en)

Download the Update for Windows Vista for x64-based Systems (KB962975) package now. (http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=d6ca0470-2934-4dfb-b339-4c7a4458cf9d&DisplayLang=en)

Download the Update for Windows Server 2008 x64 Edition (KB962975) package now. (http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=1380e4f9-4bbb-4681-874f-70a296539192&DisplayLang=en)

Prerequisites

To apply this update, your computer must be running one of the following operating systems:

• Windows Server 2008
• Windows Server 2008 Service Pack 2
• Windows Vista Service Pack 1
• Windows Vista Service Pack 2

Restart requirement

After you install this update, you must restart the computer if the Failover Cluster Management console (Cluadmin.msc) is open on the computer. Otherwise, you do not have to restart the computer or the cluster services.

File information

The English version of this update has the file attributes (or later file attributes) that are listed in the following table. The dates and times for these files are listed in Coordinated Universal Time (UTC). When you view the file information, it is converted to local time. To find the difference between UTC and local time, use the Time Zone tab in the Date and Time item in Control Panel. The MANIFEST files (.manifest) and the MUM files (.mum) that are installed for each environment are listed separately . MUM and MANIFEST files, and the associated security catalog (.cat) files, are critical to maintaining the state of the updated component. The security catalog files (attributes not listed) are signed with a Microsoft digital signature.

For all supported x86-based versions of Windows Server 2008 and of Windows Vista SP1

For all supported x86-based versions of Windows Server 2008 SP2 and of Windows Vista SP2

For all supported Itanium-based versions of Windows Server 2008

For all supported Itanium-based versions of Windows Server 2008 SP2

For all supported x64-based versions of Windows Server 2008 and of Windows Vista SP1

For all supported x64-based versions of Windows Server 2008 SP2 and of Windows Vista SP2

If you did not install this update, assign drive letters to all volumes that are larger than 2 terabytes to prevent this problem.

Note This workaround has to be applied before this problem occurs.

Microsoft has confirmed that this is a problem in the Microsoft products that are listed in the "Applies to" section.

For more information, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

Additional file information

Additional file information for Windows Server 2008 and for Windows Vista

Additional files for all supported x86-based versions of Windows Server 2008 and of Windows Vista

Additional files for all supported x64-based versions of Windows Server 2008 and of Windows Vista

Additional files for all supported IA64-based versions of Windows Server 2008