Corrupted disk/Data loss after --move to a VHDX drive

[avgsurfman]

Windows Version

Microsoft Windows [Version 10.0.26200.7462]

WSL Version

2.6.1.0

Are you using WSL 1 or WSL 2?

• WSL 2
• WSL 1

Kernel Version

6.6.87.2-1

Distro Version

Ubuntu 22.04

Other Software

No response

Repro Steps

1. Move the disk to G: drive with wsl --manage Ubuntu --move G:
2. Re-move it to the intended drive D:
3. Wsl/Service/CreateInstance/WSL_E_DISK_CORRUPTED

Expected Behavior

I can actually use WSL when I move it to a D: Drive.

Actual Behavior

WSL corrupts my drive and most likely destroyed all of my work.

Diagnostic Logs

No response

[github-actions]

Logs are required for review from WSL team

If this a feature request, please reply with '/feature'. If this is a question, reply with '/question'.
Otherwise, please attach logs by following the instructions below, your issue will not be reviewed unless they are added. These logs will help us understand what is going on in your machine.

How to collect WSL logs

Download and execute collect-wsl-logs.ps1 in an administrative powershell prompt:

Invoke-WebRequest -UseBasicParsing "https://raw.githubusercontent.com/microsoft/WSL/master/diagnostics/collect-wsl-logs.ps1" -OutFile collect-wsl-logs.ps1
Set-ExecutionPolicy Bypass -Scope Process -Force
.\collect-wsl-logs.ps1

The script will output the path of the log file once done.

If this is a networking issue, please use collect-networking-logs.ps1, following the instructions in Collect WSL logs for networking issues

Once completed please upload the output files to this GitHub issue.

See Collect WSL logs (recommended method).

If you choose to email these logs instead of attaching them to the bug, please send them to wsl-gh-logs@microsoft.com with the GitHub issue number in the subject, and include a link to your GitHub issue comment in the message body, and reply with '/emailed-logs'.

[avgsurfman]

WslLogs-2025-12-20_18-50-10.zip

This is the output of wsl.exe -d Ubuntu.
I am not going to gamble with my data more, I'll upload the exact repro later.

[github-actions]

The logs shows that a disk mount error occurred. Try to follow these repair instructions and see if that solves the issue.

Diagnostic information

Detected appx version: 2.6.1.0
Detected user visible error: Wsl/Service/CreateInstance/WSL_E_DISK_CORRUPTED
Found evidence of ext4 error: [    1.636750] EXT4-fs (sdd): VFS: Can't find ext4 filesystem

[avgsurfman]

Zenbook login: root (automatic login)

root@Zenbook [ ~ ]# blkid /dev/sdd
/dev/sdd: PTUUID="f30f3752-809a-4b92-ace1-0971a7bc0169" PTTYPE="gpt"
root@Zenbook [ ~ ]# mke2fs -n /dev/sdd
mke2fs 1.46.5 (30-Dec-2021)
/dev/sdd contains `DOS/MBR boot sector MS-MBR Windows 7 english at offset 0x163 "Invalid partition table" at offset 0x17b "Error loading operating system" at offset 0x19a "Missing operating system"; partition 1 : ID=0xee, start-CHS (0x0,0,2), end-CHS (0x229,254,63), startsector 1, 4294967295 sectors' data
Proceed anyway? (y,N) N

root@Zenbook [ ~ ]# e2fsck -f -b 32768 /dev/sdd
e2fsck 1.46.5 (30-Dec-2021)
Pass 1: Checking inodes, blocks, and sizes
No process is on the other end of the pipe.
Error code: Wsl/DebugShell/ERROR_PIPE_NOT_CONNECTED```

BTW: Thanks for fucking up my files.
I thought to myself, "No way Microsoft is too stupid to fuck up a single file move", yet here we are.
Good that the most important files were on GH, but you lost my data either way. 

[avgsurfman]

From what little diagnosis I did:

0. The previous post's MBR text was due to me trying to restore the parition. I restored it to the previous state but the ext4 .VHDX file is missing its front as well.
1. The partition is missing its super blocks. I tried to recoved the previous version of the vhdx, but it failed as well, showing that the disk is unpartitioned
2. Testdisk gave up on recovering the superblocks.
3. SMART reported no Disk errors.