HRESULT 0x80310046: meaning and diagnosis

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Description:

The Group Policy setting requiring FIPS compliance prohibits the use of unencrypted keys, which prevents BitLocker from being suspended on this drive. Please contact your domain administrator for more information.

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FVE_E_AUTH_INVALID_CONFIG	FVE_E_FS_NOT_EXTENDED

FVE_E_FIPS_DISABLE_PROTECTION_NOT_ALLOWED

The failed prerequisite

FVE_E_FIPS_DISABLE_PROTECTION_NOT_ALLOWED / 0x80310046 marks a rejected BitLocker transition: suspending BitLocker would place an unencrypted clear key on disk, which the effective FIPS policy forbids.

Note: FIPS mode does not translate into “turn encryption off.” It constrains algorithms and key-handling paths, so the correct remedy is to select a permitted protector and escrow design.

Diagnostic map

Layer	FIPS-restricted key management
Proof to collect	FIPS policy, protection status, requested reboot count, firmware-maintenance plan and the protector set protecting the volume
Different condition	decrypting a volume or disabling a key protector for an ordinary maintenance window without FIPS restrictions
First safe change	use a maintenance method that keeps protection active or coordinate an approved policy exception instead of forcing suspension

Note: FIPS-restricted operation changes which protector, export and key-derivation paths BitLocker may use. When diagnosing this result, remember: The volume encryption algorithm and the protector workflow are separate layers, so a FIPS-related HRESULT should be traced to the exact protector or key-management call.

A focused verification sequence

record FIPS policy, protection status, requested reboot count, firmware-maintenance plan and the protector set protecting the volume. Keep the full HRESULT and the first method that returned it because later cleanup calls can report a different state.
capture manage-bde -status and the protector inventory for the exact volume GUID, not only the drive letter, because letters can change in WinRE, clusters and deployment environments.
Export BitLocker operational events for the result failure and note the boot session, caller identity and management source; that evidence separates this BitLocker condition from a generic access or storage error.

Recommended operational response

use a maintenance method that keeps protection active or coordinate an approved policy exception instead of forcing suspension.
After correcting the result prerequisite, refresh protection, conversion and lock state before one controlled retry; a cached UI message is not proof that the condition is still active.
Before a this result remediation deletes protectors, changes firmware mode, resizes partitions or decrypts a production drive, verify that an independent recovery method is available and escrowed in the intended directory or account.

manage-bde -protectors -get C:\ngpresult /h bitlocker-policy.html

Interpretation checkpoint

This result identifies a condition but not every owner of the surrounding state. Preserve the original caller, volume GUID and event sequence so the correction is applied at the right layer.

State checks specific to the result

Checkpoint	How to interpret it for it
Before the call	Record the target identity and the pre-call FIPS-restricted key management state. The decisive boundary is that suspending BitLocker would place an unencrypted clear key on disk, which the effective FIPS policy forbids.
At failure	Preserve FIPS policy, protection status, requested reboot count, firmware-maintenance plan and the protector set protecting the volume. This proves whether it came from BitLocker itself or from a wrapper translating another result.
After correction	Use a maintenance method that keeps protection active or coordinate an approved policy exception instead of forcing suspension. The request should then advance without removing an unrelated recovery route.
After reboot or remount	Recheck protection, conversion and lock state for it; a successful management call is incomplete if the next boot cannot unlock the volume.

Verification after the change

Success means more than the absence of a dialog. Confirm that the condition represented by it now matches the intended design, that the protector inventory has not lost an independent recovery route, and that the next reboot or remount can unlock the volume. If the request advances to another HRESULT, record both values in order because that transition reveals the next unmet prerequisite.

Official references

Reference set for it:

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