What is ReFS
When reading this article, it is assumed that you already understand the basic concepts of ReFS and its pros and cons. If not, refer to ReFS Overview. This article only discusses the notes for using ReFS on my own; for command parameters etc., please refer to the official docs linked in this article. Also, this article’s summary of ReFS is not exhaustive — please consult the official documentation.
ReFS notes
The following only discusses using it as a data drive; it’s not recommended as a system drive. Although newer versions of Windows support booting from ReFS, the community has still found issues with basic problems like system restore.
WARNINGIt is strongly recommended to disable automatic ReFS version upgrades before use. Otherwise, when rolling back a Windows version, you won’t be able to access the data drive — it becomes a RAW partition. ReFS version upgrades are irreversible; once upgraded, you cannot downgrade!!!
Daily maintenance
Disable automatic upgrade (recommended)
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\FileSystem]"RefsDisableLastAccessUpdate"=dword:00000001;"RefsDisableVolumeUpgrade"=dword:00000001 不用这种方法，似乎会阻止手动升级Manual upgrade (recommended)
When you are sure you don’t need to downgrade, upgrade the ReFS version manually. Newer ReFS versions offer better performance and stability.
# 查看版本fsutil fsinfo refsinfo z:
# 升级文件系统版本fsutil Volume Upgrade <C:>Data compression (recommended)
This one is quite useful. Data compression documentation
Data deduplication (recommended)
Data repair (a must-read)
Analyzing and repairing file system corruption Performing recovery on a RAW (corrupted volume) to retrieve data.
Advanced features
ReFS integrity streams (recommended)
Integrity streams are a ReFS feature that ensures the integrity of file data. It uses CRC32 checksums to verify the integrity of file data. Once integrity streams are enabled, ReFS computes a CRC32 checksum every time a file is read and compares it with the checksum stored in the file. If the checksums don’t match, ReFS attempts to repair the file. Integrity streams documentation
Get-FileIntegrity
To check whether integrity streams are enabled for file data, use the Get-FileIntegrity cmdlet.
Get-FileIntegrity -FileName 'C:\Docs\TextDocument.txt'Get-Item -Path 'C:\Docs\*' | Get-FileIntegrityYou can also use the Get-Item cmdlet to obtain the integrity stream settings of all files in a specified directory.
Set-FileIntegrity
To enable/disable integrity streams for file data, use the Set-FileIntegrity cmdlet.
Set-FileIntegrity -FileName 'H:\Docs\TextDocument.txt' -Enable $TrueYou can also use the Get-Item cmdlet to set the integrity stream settings of all files in a specified folder.
Get-Item -Path 'H\Docs\*' | Set-FileIntegrity -Enable $TrueThe Set-FileIntegrity cmdlet can also be used directly on volumes and directories.
Set-FileIntegrity H:\ -Enable $TrueSet-FileIntegrity H:\Docs -Enable $TrueAdvanced data deduplication
Advanced data deduplication commands I could never tell the difference between ReFSDedupSchedule and ReFSDedupScrubSchedule. In any case, I’ve always used ReFSDedupScrubSchedule.
But basically these are the ones commonly used
Disable-ReFSDedup Z:refsutil dedup z: /dEnable-ReFSDedup -Volume "Z:" -Type DedupAndCompressSet-ReFSDedupScrubSchedule -Volume: Z: -Start 2025/4/29 19:0:0 -WeeksInterval 2Start-ReFSDedupJob -Volume Z: -CompressionFormat LZ4Stop-ReFSDedupJob Z: