Microsoft Releases Fix and Workaround For CHKDSK Bug

Rapid response as Microsoft move to squash CHKDSK bug.

Microsoft has released a workaround for its CHKDSK system utility bug, accidentally introduced as part of the December 2020 Patch Tuesday updates.

The bug, which can cause a corrupt file system and bluescreen errors, wasn't widespread but had begun to cause issues for Windows 10 users and administrators.

The Windows 10 CHKDSK Bug Work Around

As we reported, a recent update to Windows 10 introduced an unexpected bug to CHKDSK. The bug could potentially cause a bluescreen error, along with the risk of a corrupt file system.

The affected person was able to observe this on seven computers with Windows 10 20H2. When analyzing the affected disks (SSDs) on a working system, it could be determined that the logical Windows drive on the disk was detected only as a RAW partition. The /f option of chkdsk probably destroyed the NTFS file system.

At the time of reporting, Microsoft was yet to respond to the error report.

However, that situation has now changed, with Microsoft releasing a fix to resolve the issue. As per the Microsoft Support statement:

This issue is resolved and should now be prevented automatically on non-managed devices. Please note that it can take up to 24 hours for the resolution to propagate to non-managed devices. Restarting your device might help the resolution apply to your device faster.

Those who have already encountered the CHKDSK issue should be able to resolve any errors encountered with the following steps:

1. Your device will likely enter the Recovery Console after failing to start on multiple occasions. From here, select Advanced Options.
2. Now, select Command Prompt from the list of actions.
3. When the Command Prompt opens, run chkdsk /f, which is the CHKDSK repair command.
4. Allow CHKDSK to complete its scan and repair any corrupt files. When the scan finishes, input exit.
5. If your system reboots into the Recovery Console, select Exit and Continue to Windows 10.

Windows has already released the fix to Windows Update, so Windows 10 should update automatically and resolve this issue. If you're desperate to update and remove the bug, you can restart your system in an attempt to download the fix faster, though this is not guaranteed to work.

Enterprise Devices Can Use a Special Group Policy

If you're a Windows system or network administrator, you can install and configure a special Group Policy for your domains. The special Group Policy is available on the Microsoft Support site. You can download, install, and configure the special Group Policy as you normally would.

Related: The Best Free Windows 10 Repair Tools to Fix Any Problem

Otherwise, you can find individual download links for the update in the Microsoft Update Catalog.

About The Author