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How to Fix CHKDSK Error 'Volume Bitmap is Incorrect'

Yielding an error of incorrect volume bitmap, CHKDSK makes us believe that it does give errors after completing its execution. One of the error message generated by Check Disk is 'Master file table's (MFT) bitmap attribute is incorrect'. Here, causes & solution of this error will be discussed in a simple way.

Run-through of Volume Bitmap

In NTFS, a file called $Bitmap consists of a large array of bits that specify the used & unused clusters in a volume. This file is located in Master File table (MFT) of NTFS. Besides, every NTFS volume has its own $Bitmap attribute. When a file is created, its location is marked in this bitmap file.

Causes of the error 'MFT bitmap attribute is incorrect'

There can be many reasons why Check Disk utility encounters the error 'volume bitmap is incorrect' in Windows 7, 8, Vista, XP. Some of the reasons are hard disk failure, bad sectors, corrupt Bitmap attribute, corrupt empty space in $Bitmap file, sudden power failure, and virus infection.
One of the main reason behind this error is that when Volume shadow copy (VSS) gets invoked then it may be possible that volume bitmap values do not accurately reflect the used clusters. Therefore, data could be saved in a corrupted state.

All these reasons mentioned above can force the Check Disk to generate the following output:

chkdsk error volume bitmap is incorrect

How to fix CHKDSK error in volume bitmap

Since the error occur in Bitmap attribute on NTFS volume, it can be resolved using CHKDSK command as shown below:

CHKDSK E: /F

But if you keep getting the same error whenever Check Disk is run then it means Check Disk is not able to repair the corrupted files. The alternative here is to use hotfix to repair the error as this problem can be considered as a bug.

But in case the problem cannot be solved using all the above methods then you can lose the valuable data due to this CHKDSK error. Additionally, if you are compelled to format the disk due to corrupted files then the data will definitely be lost. To regain lost files, you can try CHKDSK file recovery tool that will recover all deleted, corrupted, formatted data from all Windows OS version.