While creating a drive partition on a hard disk via the Diskpart utility, some users have experienced the “The operation timed out” error. They have also tried creating the new partition on their hard disk via the Disk Management console but received the “The operation failed to complete” error. Both of these errors prevent users from creating a new partition on their hard disks. If you see the same error messages on the Disk Management console or the Diskpart, the solutions described in this post may help you fix the problem.

The complete error message that users received in the Disc Management console is as follows:

The operation failed to complete because the Disk Management console view is not up-to-date. Refresh the view by using the refresh task. If the problem persists, close the Disk Management console, then restart Disk Management or restart the computer.

The complete error message displayed by Diskpart while creating a new partition on a hard disk is as follows:

Virtual Disk Service error:
The operation timed out.

DiskPart has referenced an object which is not up-to-date.
Refresh the object by using the RESCAN command.
If the problem persists exit DiskPart, then restart DiskPart or restart the computer.

Fix Diskpart Virtual Disk Service error, The operation timed out

The cause and solution of the above two errors are the same. The Disk Management console and Diskpart utility display these errors when your computer shuts down suddenly due to a power failure or due to any other reason immediately after creating a partition. After you create a new partition or volume on a hard disk, Windows writes appropriate registry entries for the newly created volume. But if your system shuts down unexpectedly before Windows completes the process of writing the registry entries for the newly created volume, the volume remains partially installed on your system. In this case, when you try to create a new volume, the incorrectly installed volume interferes with the creation of the new volume. Due to this, you receive an error message in the Disk Management console and the Diskpart.

In addition to the above error messages, you may also see the following popup message:

Found New Hardware
Windows needs to install driver software for your Unknown Device

The following solutions may help you fix this issue.

1. Restart the computer and try again
2. Refresh the object by using the RESCAN command
3. Delete the Unknown device from the Device Manager
4. Check if the volume.inf file is missing

Below, we have described both of these solutions in detail.

1] Restart the computer and try again

If you read the error message carefully, you are told to restart the Diskpart utility or restart the computer if the problem persists. Hence, close Diskpart and launch it again, and then check if you can create a new partition. If not, restart your computer, then run the Diskpart again and check if the issue persists. If restarting the computer does not help, try the next solution.

2] Refresh the object by using the RESCAN command

The Rescan command in a Diskpart utility is used to locate newly added disks to a computer. You can run the rescan command to detect the changes in your disk configuration. On running this command, the Diskpart utility will scan all the attached disks for configuration changes and also update other information, like basic volumes, file systems, and drive letters. According to the error message, refreshing the object by using the rescan command can fix the problem. The steps to run the rescan command via the Diskpart utility are written below:

1. Launch Comand Prompt as administrator.
2. Type Diskpart and hit Enter.
3. Type rescan and hit Enter.

After the completion of the above command, check if you can create a partition using the Diskpart utility. If you receive the same error message while creating a partition via Diskpart, try the next solution.

Related: Diskpart Virtual Disk Service error, The operation is not supported by the object

3] Delete the Unknown device from the Device Manager

The number of volumes created on your hard disk is also shown in the Device Manager under the Storage Volumes branch. If Windows encounters an error with a particular storage volume, you will see a warning sign for that storage volume, or that volume is labeled as an “Unknown device” in the Device Manager. Open the Device Manager and uninstall the volume labeled as “Unknown device.” The steps for the same are explained below:

• Press the Win + X keys and select Device Manager.
• When the Device Manager opens up, expand the Storage Volumes branch. If you do not see the Storage Volumes branch, go to “View > Show hidden devices.”
• Right-click on the device labeled as “Unknown device” and select Uninstall device.
• Close the Device Manager.

Now, you should be able to create a new partition using the Disk Management console or the Diskpart utility. If this does not work, restart your computer and try again. If the problem persists, try the next solution.

4] Check if the volume.inf file is missing

Another cause of the problem is the missing volume.inf file from the Inf folder. To check this, open the Run command box and type the following command. After that click OK.

%Systemroot%inf

The above command will open the Inf folder. Now, check if the volume.inf file is present there. If not, follow the instructions explained below.

Open an elevated Command Prompt. Click Yes if you receive a UAC prompt. When the Command Prompt appears on your screen, type the following command and press Enter.

sfc /verifyonly

If you see the “problems were found” message after the above command is executed successfully, type the following command and press Enter.

sfc /scannow

Now, open the Inf folder by using the Run command box as explained above. Your system should show the volume.inf file. If you do not find the volume.inf file in the Inf folder, you have to copy it from another healthy computer and then paste it into the Inf folder. This should fix the issue. Do note that, the computer from which you copy the volume.inf file should be running on the same version of Windows OS and have the same CPU architecture as yours.

Read: Diskpart has encountered an error, The parameter is incorrect.

How do I fix Diskpart Virtual disk service error?

Diskpart is a powerful command-line tool that lets you manage hard disks installed on your computer. While performing different actions on your hard disks via the Diskpart tool, you may receive different virtual disk service errors, like “Delete is not allowed on the current boot, system, pagefile, crashdump or hibernation volume,” “The operation timed out,” etc. Different Diskpart virtual disk service errors require different troubleshooting methods.

For example, the virtual disk service error “Delete is not allowed” prevents you from deleting a particular partition on your hard disk. To resolve this error, you can try the following fixes:

• Disable the paging file,
• Launch the Command Prompt from Windows RE, etc.

Can I restart the Virtual disk service?

If the Virtual disk service is not running on your system, you can start it via the Services app on your computer. Open the Services Manager, then locate the Virtual Disk service. Once you find it, right-click on it and select Start (if it is stopped), and select Restart (if it is already running).

Hope this helps.

Read next: DiskPart error, Data error cyclic redundancy check.