What does HRESULT 0x80310051 (FVE_E_RAW_BLOCKED) mean?

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Description:

BitLocker Drive Encryption cannot enter raw access mode for this drive because the drive is currently in use.

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FVE_E_RAW_ACCESS	FVE_E_BCD_APPLICATIONS_PATH_INCORRECT

FVE_E_RAW_BLOCKED

Read this as a state-machine result

FVE_E_RAW_BLOCKED is a BitLocker facility HRESULT, not a Win32 filesystem error wrapped by an application. In this case BitLocker cannot enter raw-access mode because the volume is still mounted, open or otherwise in active use.

Note: The BitLocker provider tracks encryption conversion, protection, lock state, metadata version, filesystem geometry and outstanding volume use independently. When diagnosing this result, remember: Two volumes can both appear “encrypted” in a UI while being in very different states for a management API.

What the code does not prove

The closest misleading interpretation is FVE_E_RAW_ACCESS, which means raw mode is already active rather than blocked before entry. Verify the returning method and state transition before assigning the incident to disk corruption, TPM failure or bad credentials.

Inspect the target, not just the message

record open handles, mount points, filesystem state, cluster role ownership, VSS activity and the exact process requesting raw access. 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.

Note: Conversion status and protection status answer different questions: sectors can be encrypted while protectors are suspended, and a fully decrypted volume can still contain stale management context in a caller.

A low-risk recovery path

quiesce the volume through the supported maintenance workflow, verify it is no longer in use, and then retry once.
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 -status
powershell -NoProfile -Command "Get-BitLockerVolume | Format-List *"

Result Interpretation

After correction, compare the new conversion, protection and lock state with the original snapshot. A different HRESULT after this result is useful because it means the request crossed this boundary and reached the next prerequisite.

State checks specific to the result

Checkpoint	How to interpret it for it
Before the call	Record the target identity and the pre-call volume state and geometry state. The decisive boundary is that BitLocker cannot enter raw-access mode because the volume is still mounted, open or otherwise in active use.
At failure	Preserve open handles, mount points, filesystem state, cluster role ownership, VSS activity and the exact process requesting raw access. This proves whether it came from BitLocker itself or from a wrapper translating another result.
After correction	Quiesce the volume through the supported maintenance workflow, verify it is no longer in use, and then retry once. 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.

References

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