What does NTSTATUS 0xC0000304 (STATUS_MFT_TOO_FRAGMENTED) mean?

 
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STATUS_WMI_ALREADY_ENABLED STATUS_COPY_PROTECTION_FAILURE

STATUS_MFT_TOO_FRAGMENTED

The NTFS Master File Table fragmentation is blocking progress

This status points to NTFS metadata layout, not ordinary fragmentation of a user file. The Master File Table is central to NTFS, and heavy fragmentation can prevent metadata-intensive operations from completing.

The useful evidence is volume fullness, MFT zone pressure, number of small files, and whether maintenance or defragmentation can run safely. A simple retry usually does not change the metadata layout.

What to inspect

  • Check free space, MFT fragmentation and recent large file-count workloads.
  • Run file-system maintenance only under an appropriate administrative window.
  • Do not confuse MFT fragmentation with corruption until disk and file-system checks support that conclusion.

References


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