Event ID 158 is an error event logged when two or more disk devices are assigned identical disk GUIDs (Globally Unique Identifiers) on a system. This event indicates a potential duplication of disk identifiers.
Understanding Event ID 158
When you encounter Event ID 158 in your system's event logs, it specifically points to a scenario where disk devices share the same unique identifier. While an "error" event might suggest a problem requiring immediate attention, it's crucial to understand the context of this particular event.
The core information about Event ID 158 is as follows:
- Event Type: Error
- Source: Disk
- Description: Indicates that two or more disk devices have been assigned identical disk GUIDs.
- Impact: Importantly, this event message has no functionality or performance impact on the client systems.
Essentially, while it flags a duplicate identifier, it does not cause any operational issues, data corruption, or performance degradation on the affected system.
Why Does Event ID 158 Occur?
Identical disk GUIDs typically arise in specific scenarios, often related to disk imaging or cloning operations. Common reasons include:
- Disk Cloning: When a disk is cloned using certain imaging software, the new disk might retain the GUID of the source disk.
- Virtual Machine (VM) Templates: If a virtual machine template is created from an existing VM and then deployed multiple times without proper disk re-initialization (e.g., using
sysprepfor Windows virtual machines, which generalizes the image and prepares it for unique instances), the resulting VMs might have identical disk GUIDs. - Physical Disk Duplication: Less common, but possible if physical disks are duplicated at a low level without changing their unique identifiers.
How to Identify Event ID 158
You can check for Event ID 158 in the Windows Event Viewer:
- Open Event Viewer.
- Navigate to Windows Logs > System.
- Filter or scroll through the events to find Event ID 158 from the "Disk" source.
A typical Event ID 158 entry might look similar to this:
| Event Log Detail | Value |
|---|---|
| Log Name | System |
| Source | Disk |
| Event ID | 158 |
| Level | Error |
| Description | Disk X has the same disk identifiers as disk Y. |
| User | N/A |
| Computer | YourComputerName |
| Time | [Timestamp] |
Addressing Event ID 158
Given that Event ID 158 does not cause functionality or performance issues, in most client scenarios, no action is required. It serves as an informational warning rather than an indication of a critical problem.
However, in server environments or specific configurations where disk uniqueness is critical (e.g., in failover clusters or storage pools where disks are identified by GUIDs), steps might be taken to ensure each disk has a unique identifier. This often involves using utilities like diskpart to re-assign a new GUID to a disk, but this is generally not necessary for typical client systems logging Event ID 158.
Key takeaway: While it's an error event, Event ID 158 for identical disk GUIDs is usually benign on Windows client systems and does not require intervention.
