EWFMGR Returns an Invalid File Handle

5/10/2007

Learn what to do when this error message is displayed.

Resolution

When it is running FBA, if EWF is unable to create the EWF volume, EWF Manager returns this error. There can be several reasons for this:
- An existing EWF volume is already present on the system. If you already ran FBA and configured the EWF volume, subsequent attempts to run FBA and create the EWF volume may fail.
  Resolve this problem by deleting the EWF volume and re-deploy the run-time image. You can use Diskpart For more information, see Configuring a Hard Drive with Diskpart and Windows PE.
- The EWF volume can only be configured on a hard disk immediately after a primary partition, or within an extended partition. The EWF volume cannot be created immediately after an extended partition.
  Resolve this problem either by configuring all partitions on the disk as primary, or by configuring additional space within an extended partition for the EWF volume.

When it is running FBA, if EWF is unable to create the EWF volume, EWF Manager returns this error. There can be several reasons for this:
- An existing EWF volume is already present on the system. If you already ran FBA and configured the EWF volume, subsequent attempts to run FBA and create the EWF volume may fail.
  Resolve this problem by deleting the EWF volume and re-deploy the run-time image. You can use Diskpart For more information, see Configuring a Hard Drive with Diskpart and Windows PE.
- The EWF volume can only be configured on a hard disk immediately after a primary partition, or within an extended partition. The EWF volume cannot be created immediately after an extended partition.
  Resolve this problem either by configuring all partitions on the disk as primary, or by configuring additional space within an extended partition for the EWF volume.

EWF fails to start. In the C:\Windows\FBA\FBALOG.txt file the following error message is displayed:

ewfmgr returned an invalid file handle