Fsutil Does Not Applicable with FAT32 or FAT File System Volumes

In Microsoft Windows operating system, Fsutil is a tool that can be used to carry out several NTFS and FAT file system related operations. These operations include managing sparse files, managing sparse points, extending a volume, or dismounting a volume. Because the Fsutil is an extremely powerful tool, it needs to be used only by the advanced users as improper user of this command may cause data loss situations. In order to retrieve lost data, you are required to go for Windows Data Recovery applications.

In some situations, when you use Fsutil command-line tool with 'query' parameter for checking the status of 'dirty' bit on the FAT32 or FAT file system volume, tool always shows that volumes is not dirty. But in fact the volume is dirty and it can not be accessed. All of the data stored on volume is inaccessible and you are experiencing data loss situations. You need to find out the cause of this behavior and perform Windows Recovery by fixing it to gain access of your data.

Root of the problem:

This behavior of Microsoft Windows occurs because the Fsutil utility doesn't effectively manage dirty bit for the FAT32 or FAT file system volumes. When you try to set dirty bit on the FAT32 or FAT file system volume through Fsutil, you encounter below error message:

"The Fsutil utility requires a local NTFS volume"

The dirty bit is the bit in boot sector (in case of FAT32 or FAT file system volumes), or in MFT (in case of NTFS file system volumes), which is tested when Microsoft Windows boots up. The bit is tested to decide whether the corruption is detected in file system. If the volume has dirty bit, Autocheck runs automatically for correcting errors on volume.

On the NTFS file system volumes, dirty bit is generally set only when file system detects the potential damage. In such situation, an entry is made in System Event Log of Windows.

In such situations, Windows Data Recovery Software come for your help to retrieve lost data. The applications have simple graphical user interface to provide easy windows data recovery. They throughly scan the whole media and extract all lost, missing, and inaccessible data from it. With read-only behavior, they are safe to use as they do not alter original data on the drive.