SOLVED: The Flush and Hold Writes Operation on Volume C: Timed Out While Waiting For a Release Writes Command

We recently had a server with Event 8: The flush and hold writes operation on volume \?\Volume{9134713c-0000-0000-0000-100000000000} timed out while waiting for a release writes command. The error message appear repeatedly but intermittently over the last few months. We found the error related to Volume Shadow Copies (Event ID 5 & 8, in Event Viewer), and often appeared on Domain Controllers and Terminal Servers / RDS.

The solution is to reduce the percentage of demand on the page pool from its default of 80% down to 60%, and to set the page pool size to its maximum:

1 – Launch the Registry Editor

Expand this registry key: KEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager\Memory Management

2 – Add or edit PoolUsageMaximum.

In our clients Server 2016 Domain Controller, we had to add this one.

Value: PoolUsageMaximum
Type: REG_DWORD
Radix: Decimal
Value: 60

This setting tells the Memory Manager to start trimming at 60% of PagedPoolMax rather than the default 80%. If the errors persist try, reducing PagedPoolMax to as as low as 40%.

3 – Add or edit the PagedPoolSize

In our clients Server 2016 Domain Controller, we had to edit this one.

Value: PagedPoolSize
Data: REG_DWORD
Radix: Hex
Value: FFFFFFFF

A PagedPoolSize of 0xFFFFFFFF tells Windows Memory Manager to allocate the maximum paged pool in lieu of other resources to the computer.

4 – Reboot the Computer

REFERENCES:

• Event ID: 5 Source: VolSnap (archive.org)
• [SOLVED] VolSnap Errors 5 & 8 – Windows Server (spiceworks.com)
• Insufficient System Resources (1450) (arcserve.com)
• unable to allocate memory – Windows Server | Microsoft Learn