[SOLVED] Windows 10 ‘Kernel Data Inpage Error’ Blue Screen

Summary: When you see a blue screen of death with error code: KERNEL DATA INPAGE ERROR your system suffers a serious problem which can also results in severe data loss. Here is the detailed process to fix the error and how to recover data lost due to the error with the help of Stellar Data Recovery software.

KERNEL DATA INPAGE ERROR is a common Blue Screen of Death (BSOD) error code—also known as stop code—which appears when a system suffers from a serious hardware or software problem that it couldn’t handle. As a defensive measure, the system ‘force stops’ the OS, and you see a blue screen of death with error code: KERNEL DATA INPAGE ERROR (MsFs.SYS).

The KERNEL DATA INPAGE ERROR may also appear beside other common BSOD error codes such as 0x0000007A, 0xC000009A, 0xC000009C, 0xC000009D, 0xC000016A, and 0xC0000185.

The worst threat posed by any BSOD error is that it would almost always result in data loss. As mentioned earlier, BSOD error appears when the system crashes due to some critical issues with the software or hardware. During crash, any file that’s being worked upon might get corrupt or permanently lost. Also, sometimes drive partitions may get corrupt and the PC fails to boot after a system crash (BSOD).

Since KERNEL DATA INPAGE ERROR is directly related to the storage drive, it can cause more damage to the data and the storage drive than any other BSOD error.

However, in this guide, we have discussed a few fixes to resolve KERNEL DATA INPAGE ERROR BSOD code without losing data. Follow the fixes in the given sequence, and read the notes and warnings carefully to avoid permanent data loss or damage to the system and storage drive.

Steps to Fix KERNEL DATA INPAGE ERROR

WARNING: Before you head to any fix, back up the data immediately. While fixing the error, the BSOD error may reappear, which can cause data corruption and file loss. Thus, to avoid any further data loss due to KERNEL DATA INPAGE ERROR, immediately take a full system backup.

NOTE: If data is already lost and drive is corrupt, use a data recovery tool to restore data from the corrupt drive and then proceed to the steps given below.

1. Inspect the Hardware Connections and Wires

Check system internals for loose connections. Inspect the hard drive SATA cable and power supply cable for a firm connection. You can disconnect and reconnect the wires, if required. Also, inspect the RAM; detach it from the slot and re-attach or swap to a different RAM slot.

Then try to boot system. In case the error still persists, head to the next steps.

2. Inspect Hard Drive

a. Check SMART Disk Information

Now that you have checked the wires and connections, turn on the PC and check vital disk stats. You may use CrystalDiskInfo to check SMART info. If the tool indicates the drive as unhealthy with impending failure, immediately take a backup or clone the drive on a new hard drive or SSD.

b. Run CHKDSK Repair

CHKDSK repair can fix several issues with hard drives such as minor file system errors, corruption, and reallocate bad sectors. Open the elevated command prompt window and type following command:

• Chkdsk /r /f X: and press ‘Enter’.

Replace letter X with the drive volume/ partition letter. If the partition is corrupt and not accessible, you can still run the scan.

In case of partition is not visible, open Disk Management tool, assign a drive letter to the RAW partition, and then run the chkdsk scan.

c. Use Data Recovery Software

If the drive partition is severely corrupt or unallocated, CHKDSK won’t be able to fix it. And in that case, you will need a corrupt drive recovery software. You can download the Stellar Data Recovery Professional software that can help recover data from such severely corrupt and damaged partition.

The software can recover any file type and comes with a SMART Drive Monitor utility to help analyze the disk health including bad sectors. And if you see severe anomalies in the disk stats, immediately clone it by using the Clone Disk option.

Watch the following the video to know more:

3. Clean Boot

Start with disconnecting all connected unnecessary peripheral devices such as the printer, Wi-Fi modem, external storage media, etc. Then follow these steps:

• Power off the PC or Laptop
• Turn ON the system and immediately start pressing F8 key continuously until you see ‘Advanced Boot options’
• Using the arrow keys, move the selection to Safe mode with Networking and press ‘Enter.’
• Log in to the system and then, press Windows+R.
• Type msconfig and click ‘OK.’
• Go to General tab and click Selective Startup radio button
• Uncheck ‘Load Startup items.’

• Then go to the Services tab and click ‘Hide all Microsoft services’ checkbox.
• Click ‘Disable all’ button at the bottom right and restart the system.

4. Restore BIOS Default Settings

Changes or misconfiguration and invalid settings in BIOS can also cause KERNEL_DATA_INPAGE_ERROR. To confirm if BIOS settings are causing the error, reset the BIOS settings to default by following these steps:

• Turn OFF the system. Then power ON and press the BIOS key, usually F2, continuously as the system starts to boot.
• You will enter the BIOS (Firmware) settings.
• Choose ‘Setup Defaults’ or ‘Reset to Default’ (or similar option) in BIOS Settings to restore BIOS configuration.
• After BIOS reset, restart the system and check if the KERNEL DATA INPAGE ERROR is resolved.

5. Uninstall Third-Party Incompatible software

You may want to uninstall a third-party application or software installed on your PC. Especially if the software isn’t from a trusted source or pirated. Sometimes, compatibility issues also arise which can cause such BSOD errors.

So go ahead, uninstall recently installed software -one at a time- to find out the potential software that’s causing the KERNEL DATA INPAGE ERROR.

• To Uninstall recently installed software, you can either restore the system to an earlier point by using System Restore option. Otherwise, you can go to Control Panel> Programs> Program and Features.

• Check the ‘Installed On’ date and uninstall the software.

6. Remove Hardware

If you have recently made changes to the system hardware or upgraded a hardware component, consider removing the component. You may also want to check the device drivers for the newly installed hardware component. Update the drive if outdated and re-install the corrupt or damaged drivers.

7. Run Antivirus and Malware Scan

You may run a virus and malware scan by using Windows Defender tool. However, if you have a third-party antivirus tool with an active subscription and updated definitions, run a deep or full scan.

This will quarantine potential virus/malware and probably fix the error, or at least will check further spread of the virus.

8. Disable, Re-install or Update Device Drivers

Check hard drive drivers for damage or corruption. You can do so by following these steps:

• Press the Windows+X key and then choose ‘Device Manager’ from the list.
• Expand ‘Disk Drives’ and right-click on the hard drive.
• Choose ‘Properties’ to check if the device is working properly.

• Then go to the ‘Driver’ tab and click ‘Uninstall’ if the driver isn’t working properly or click ‘Update Driver’ to install the latest driver update for the installed hard disk automatically. You may also download the hard drive drivers from the manufacturers’ website and install it

• After installing or updating the drivers, restart the PC.

9. Execute SFC Scan

Run SFC or System File Checker scan to replace or repair missing, damaged, and corrupt system files.

• Press Windows+S and type cmd.
• Right-click on Command Prompt and choose ‘Run as administrator’.
• Then type SFC /scannow in the command prompt window and press the ‘Enter’ key.
• After the SFC scan, reboot the system.

If no issues are found, you can proceed to the next steps.

10. Check RAM

a. Use the Memory Diagnostic Tool

Windows provide a RAM troubleshooting tool called Windows Memory Diagnostic.

• Press Windows+S and type Memory Diagnostic in the search.

• Click Windows Memory Diagnostics.

• Then click ‘Restart now and check for problems (recommended)’

b. MemTest86

Alternatively, you can use MemTest86, a popular standalone RAM testing tool. It uses 13 different RAM testing algorithms and is a highly recommended tool to diagnose DDR4 and DDR3 memory on a PC or laptop.

The comprehensive test can yield info that can help fix the memory issues and the KERNEL DATA INPAGE ERROR.

11. Automate Paging File Size Management

• Go to Control Panel> System and Security> System and click ‘Advanced system settings.’
• Under Performance, click the ‘Settings’ button.
• Click ‘Advanced’ tab.
• Under ‘Virtual Memory’ click the ‘Change…’ button.
• Click ‘Automatically manage paging file size for all drives’ checkbox and click ‘OK’ to save the setting.

• Restart the PC

One or more fixes that we discussed may fix the BSOD error code KERNEL DATA INPAGE ERROR. After fixing the error, check your files and folders for integrity. If some files are missing or drive is severely corrupt, immediately use a data recovery software like Stellar Data Recovery Professional for Windows. The software can help get back lost files and data from corrupt drives.

Also, consider replacing the affected drive with a new one to prevent such incidents.

Conclusion

KERNEL DATA INPAGE ERROR is a Blue Screen of Death (BSOD) error code for PC, which is caused due to corrupt hard drive and RAM issues, and results in severe data loss if not fixed carefully. This guide took you through the step-by-step process on how to fix the error without or minimal data loss. In addition, the guide suggested a software utility, earlier discussed in this post, to retrieve the data in case it’s lost due to KERNEL DATA INPAGE ERROR.

If you were able to fix the KERNEL DATA INPAGE ERROR with the help of above fixes safely, i.e. without any data loss, let us know through the comments section below. You may also share your thoughts and reach us for more help through your comments.