According to user reports, the BSoD stop code EXFAT FILE SYSTEM can appear when inserting a FAT/exFAT USB drive or restarting the PC. Here’s a user who posted the blue screen error on the answers.microsoft.com forum:
BSOD when using FAT or exFAT USB drive. I get a BSOD immediately when I insert a FAT or EXFAT USB drive, NTFS works fine. Even if I insert the USB drive when the laptop is powered off, when I power the laptop back on windows won't start and I get the same BSOD EXFAT_FILE_SYSTEM error or FAT_FILE_SYSTEM error depending on the drive. So, do any ideas on how I can fix it?
https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/all/bsod-when-using-fat-or-exfat-usb-drive
Possible Causes of the BSoD Stop Code EXFAT FILE SYSTEM
To get rid of the EXFAT_FILE_SYSTEM error, it’s necessary to figure out what causes the error. After analyzing extensive user reports and posts, we conclude that there are different possible reasons for the blue screen error.
- Incompatible file system: As many users reported, the error code EXFAT FILE SYSTEM mainly occurs when inserting an exFAT USB flash drive.
- Outdated device drivers: An outdated or corrupted device driver can trigger the error code EXFAT FILE SYSTEM.
- Outdated system: If you haven’t updated the Windows system to the latest version, you may also encounter the blue screen error.
- Corrupted volmgr.sys file: As the EXFAT FILE SYSTEM volmgr.sys blue screen error hints, the error can be caused by corrupted or broken volmgr.sys system file.
- Faulty hardware: In some cases, the EXFAT FILE SYSTEM BSoD error is related to faulty hardware components like the hard drive and memory.
Before Your Do
Many users reported that the EXFAT_FILE_SYSTEM error can lead to data loss. In addition, you may need to reformat the drive to fix the BSoD error, which will erase all data on the drive. So, it’s highly recommended that you recover data as soon as possible before you lose it.
How to quickly recover lost data from a hard drive/USB? MiniTool Partition Wizard is a worth-using data recovery tool. It can recover lost data/partitions from hard drives, USB drives, SD cards, TF cards, and external hard drives. Once recovered, you can start fixing the EXFAT FILE SYSTEM error without any concerns.
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How to Fix Stop Code EXFAT FILE SYSTEM in Windows 10/11
How to get rid of the error code EXFAT FILE SYSTEM on Windows 10/11? Here we summarize 8 proven ways to fix it. Let’s try them in order until the error gets solved.
If you can’t access the system normally due to the EXFAT FILE SYSTEM error, you can boot into the Safe Mode and perform the following fixes.
# 1. Reformat the Hard Drive/USB Drive
As discussed above, the EXFAT FILE SYSTEM volmgr.sys blue screen error often appears when connecting an exFAT or FAT file system USB drive. This may be caused by an incompatible or corrupted file system. In this case, you just need to reformat the drive to NTFS. Lots of users have proven that reformatting can fix the error. Let’s have a try.
Step 1. Insert the USB drive into the computer properly.
Step 2. Right-click the Start menu at the left bottom of the computer screen and select Disk Management.
Step 3. Right-click the problematic drive and select Format.
Step 4. In the pop-up window, select NTFS from the File system drop-down menu and click on OK. Then click on OK to execute the change.
If the hard drive/USB is FAT file system, you can convert it to NTFS without data loss using MiniTool Partition Wizard. Besides, this tool can help you format exFAT to NTFS easily and do many other works, like extend/resize/copy/move partitions, migrate OS, convert MBR to GPT, change cluster size, etc.
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# 2. Update Your Device Driver
Sometimes, the EXFAT FILE SYSTEM blue screen can be caused by incompatible or outdated device drivers. So, we recommend you update the device driver to the latest version. Here’s how:
Step 1. Press Win + X keys to open the context menu and select Device Manager.
Step 2. Expand the device category that you want to update its driver, right-click the affected driver and select Update driver. Here we take Display adapters driver for example.
Step 3. In the pop-up window, you can update the driver automatically or manually based on your preference. Once selected, follow the on-screen prompts to complete this update. Then you can repeat the same procedure to update other device drivers.
# 3. Install All Available Windows Updates
As you know, Microsoft will regularly release Windows updates, including new features, bug fixes, and patches. These updates can help fix many common BSoD errors like EXFAT FILE SYSTEM blue screen. Here’s how to update Windows.
Step 1. Press Win + I keys to open the Settings window and select Windows Update from the left panel.
On Windows 10, open the Settings window and select Update & Security > Windows Update.
Step 2. Click on Check for Updates from the right panel and install all available updates. Also, you can refer to this post to install Windows 11 updates.
After that, restart your PC and check if the EXFAT FILE SYSTEM error disappears.
# 4. Update the Sysmon
Some users from the answers.microsoft.com forum reported that the EXFAT FILE SYSTEM BSoD error can be fixed by updating the Sysmon (System Monitor). This may seem strange but worth trying. To update Sysmon to the latest version, you can download it from the official website and follow the on-screen instructions to install it on Windows 10/11.
# 5. Restrict the Windows from Automatically Restarting
Some affected users found that the BSoD stop code EXFAT FILE SYSTEM can lead to restarting the system automatically without any prior warning. Here you can follow the guide below to restrict the automatic restart.
Step 1. Press Win + E keys to open the File Explorer, right-click This PC, and select Properties.
Step 2. Click on Advanced system settings to open the System Properties window.
Step 3. In the Advanced tab, click on Settings under the Startup and Recovery section.
Step 4. Untick the checkbox next to Automatically restart and click on OK to save the change.
# 6. Replace the Volmgr.sys File
As mentioned above, the EXFAT FILE SYSTEM volmgr.sys blue screen error can be caused by corrupted system files. Here you can copy the volmgr.sys file from a working PC into the problematic PC.
Step 1. On a working Windows 10/11 PC, open the File Explorer window and navigate to the following path.
C:WindowsSystem32drivers
Step 2. Copy the volmgr.sys file to a USB drive. Then plug the drive into the affected computer and paste it into the same directory. Once replaced, reboot your computer and check if the BSoD error is gone.
# 7. Check Your Hardware
If your hardware components like hard drive and memory get faulty, you may encounter the exFAT file system error too. How to check the hard drive and memory for errors? You can follow the guides below:
Check Hard Drive for Errors
When comes to checking hard drives, most of us may want to use the CHKDSK utility. However, this tool does not always work properly. You may encounter various issues, like “CHKDSK cannot run due to recently installed software”, “CHKDSK write protected error”, etc.
So, we highly recommend you use a professional disk check tool – MiniTool Partition Wizard. It can not only check bad sectors on the hard drive but repair file system errors. Here’s a tutorial.
MiniTool Partition Wizard FreeClick to Download100%Clean & Safe
Step 1. Launch the MiniTool program to enter its main interface, and then select the drive you want to check and click on Check File System from the left action panel.
Step 2. In the pop-up window, select the Check & fix detected errors option and click on Start. Then wait for the process to complete.
Step 3. To check bad sectors on your disk, select the disk and click on Surface Test from the left panel. Then click on Start Now to scan the whole disk.
Step 4. If any blocks are marked with red color, it indicates that your hard drive is getting failing. In this case, you may consider replacing the hard drive with a new one.
Check RAM for Errors
In addition, you’d better check if the RAM gets faulty. Windows Memory Diagnostic is a built-in memory test tool that can help you check memory for errors.
Step 1. Type Windows Memory Diagnostic in the search box and double-click this program.
Step 2. You will receive a message saying Check your computer for memory problems. Here are 2 options for you to perform a RAM test. It is recommended that you click Restart now and check for problems.
Step 3. Then your computer will restart and this tool will automatically perform the RAM test. This process may take you some time. You can see the overall test status bar and the detected problems during this process.
Step 4. Once finished, you can open the Event Viewer and go to Windows Logs > System to find the test results. If the RAM gets failing, you can read this post to replace it.
# 8. Perform a System Restore
If none of the above methods can get rid of the blue screen error, you can try performing a system restore. This can undo your recently changed settings and revert your system to an earlier date when your computer works normally.
What’s Your Opinion
Here is the end of this post. Are you any other solutions to the EXFAT_FILE_SYSTEM error? Please write them down in the following comment zone. Besides, if you have difficulty using MiniTool Partition Wizard, feel free to contact us via [email protected] and we will get back to you as soon as possible.
About The Author
Position: Columnist
Ariel has been working as a highly professional computer-relevant technology editor at MiniTool for many years. She has a strong passion for researching all knowledge related to the computer's disk, partition, and Windows OS. Up till now, she has finished thousands of articles covering a broad range of topics and helped lots of users fix various problems. She focuses on the fields of disk management, OS backup, and PDF editing and provides her readers with insightful and informative content.