Recover Lost file Clusters?

[Guest]

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.hardware (More info?)

Hi, disk checker ran on my external drive after a reboot without me knowing
it and now i have a zillion .chk files inside a folder called FOUND.000
instead of all my original folders and files. Is there any way to recover
my original files?

WinXP pro / FAT32 on the drive / system restore was turned off (not that it
would make much difference)

TIA,
matt

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.hardware (More info?)

See NTFS is a better file system.

Each cluster was saved as a stand-alone file. Recovery can
be done, to some extent, but it will take time and money,
lots of money.


--
The people think the Constitution protects their rights;
But government sees it as an obstacle to be overcome.


"Matthew Paul" <nospam@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:uyiX6HUCFHA.1408@TK2MSFTNGP10.phx.gbl...
| Hi, disk checker ran on my external drive after a reboot
without me knowing
| it and now i have a zillion .chk files inside a folder
called FOUND.000
| instead of all my original folders and files. Is there
any way to recover
| my original files?
|
| WinXP pro / FAT32 on the drive / system restore was turned
off (not that it
| would make much difference)
|
| TIA,
| matt
|
|
|
|

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.hardware (More info?)

(
No self-help tools?


"Jim Macklin" <p51mustang[threeX12]@xxxhotmail.calm> wrote in message
news:%23dPqZmUCFHA.3620@TK2MSFTNGP10.phx.gbl...
> See NTFS is a better file system.
>
> Each cluster was saved as a stand-alone file. Recovery can
> be done, to some extent, but it will take time and money,
> lots of money.

<snip>

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.hardware (More info?)

You have to open each cluster, at a machine code level and
determine, a million times, which cluster should be opened
with what program, in what order. There may be some
programs to automate such a task, but a 40 GB drive could
take weeks or months to recover.

Only you know how valuable the lost data is. Contact the
drive maker and also, www.drivesavers.com for advice and
cost estimates. Try Google for "lost clusters+recover" and
you will get a number of articles and links (141,000) that
may help you.


--
The people think the Constitution protects their rights;
But government sees it as an obstacle to be overcome.


"Matthew Paul" <nospam@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:OSqB%23CVCFHA.3592@TK2MSFTNGP09.phx.gbl...
| (
| No self-help tools?
|
|
| "Jim Macklin" <p51mustang[threeX12]@xxxhotmail.calm> wrote
in message
| news:%23dPqZmUCFHA.3620@TK2MSFTNGP10.phx.gbl...
| > See NTFS is a better file system.
| >
| > Each cluster was saved as a stand-alone file. Recovery
can
| > be done, to some extent, but it will take time and
money,
| > lots of money.
|
| <snip>
|
|

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.hardware (More info?)

Hi Matthew,

Have you tried teh tool as Byte has suggested? Please go to the following
link to try it:

Recover CHK Files
http://www.ericphelps.com/uncheck/

Note: The third-party product discussed is manufactured by a vendor
independent of Microsoft; we make no warranty, implied or otherwise,
regarding this product's performance or reliability.

You can also examine the contents of these files (found.000) with a text
editor to see whether they contain any needed data (if the converted chains
came from corrupted binary files, they are of no value). You can delete the
CHK files after you have saved any useful data.

IMPORTANT: Please do not run defragmenter since defragmenter will decrease
the opportunity to recovery the data.

Actually, Chkdsk scans and repairs volumes on the hard disk for physical
problems, such as bad blocks, and logical structure errors, such as lost
clusters, cross-linked files, or directory errors.

In addition, please know Microsoft does not provided data recovery service
and cannot guarantee the lost data will be retrieved.

Some repairs, such as correcting lost clusters (also knows as allocation
units) or cross-linked files, change a volume's file allocation table and
can cause data loss, Chkdsk first prompts you with a confirmation message
similar to the following:

10 lost allocation units found in 3 chains.

Convert lost chains to files?

If you press N, Windows 2000 fixes the errors on the volume but does not
save the contents of the lost clusters.

This is addressed in the following link with the snippet "Correcting
Problems by Using Chkdsk"
Troubleshooting Tools and Strategies
http://www.microsoft.com/resources/documentation/Windows/2000/server/reskit/
en-us/Default.asp?url=/resources/documentation/windows/2000/server/reskit/en
-us/prork/pref_tts_ffgh.asp

Recovering Lost Clusters on FAT Volumes
http://www.microsoft.com/resources/documentation/Windows/XP/all/reskit/en-us
/Default.asp?url=/resources/documentation/Windows/XP/all/reskit/en-us/prkd_t
ro_kbnn.asp

Please use a Hex edit tool to open these CHK files to find something useful
and post back if you have any update.

Good luck!

Best regards,

Rebecca Chen

MCSE2000 MCDBA CCNA


Microsoft Online Partner Support
Get Secure! - www.microsoft.com/security

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