You can activate an early beta of a new feature that allows you to construct Dev Drives using the ReFS file system on Windows 11 build 25324 (Canary Channel).
Microsoft is testing a new feature that lets you use the Resilient File System (ReFS) to construct drives. The feature was initially noticed by @PhantomOfEarthon on Twitter and is now hidden on build 25324. After turning it on, the For developers page will have a new Dev Drives entry that will direct you to the Disks & volumes page, where you can use ReFS to create a Dev Drive.
ViveTool, a third-party tool developed by Rafael Rivera and Lucas on GitHub, can be used to activate the new feature on your PC if you want to get your hands dirty.
This tutorial will show you how to activate this new Windows 11 function.
Enable new ReFS Dev Drive creation settings on Windows 11
Follow these procedures to activate Windows 11’s new disk creation settings with ReFS:
The website of OpenGitHub.
To activate the Dev Drive creation settings, download the ViveTool-vx.x.x.zip file.
To open the zip folder in File Explorer, double-click on it.
To extract all, click the button.
To extract, click the button.
Make a copy of the folder’s path.
LaunchStart.
Look up “Command Prompt,” then right-click on the first result and choose “Run as administrator.”
To access the ViveTool folder, type the following command and hit Enter:
Remember to update the path to the folder with your path in the command.
To activate the new settings to create disks using ReFS, use the following command and hit Enter:
Restart the computer.
After completing the procedures, you will notice new Dev Drives settings on the For developers page. These settings will allow you to visit the Disks & volumes pages and build a new Dev Drive using ReFS.
You can undo the changes using the same steps if you change your mind, but in step 10, be sure to use the vivetool /disable /id:42866187 command before restarting the computer.
Updated on April 10, 2023:In the most recent Canary Channel preview of Windows 11, the feature seems to be functional. You must have a drive that is at least 50GB in size in order to use this feature.