Short version:
Today, on my WinXP/Win7 dual-boot system recent files started disappearing and CHKDSK is running on each boot. After each boot/CHKDSK more files are missing. Seagate and WD disk tools quick tests say both drives are ok.
I haven't done a manual CHKDSK /r because I'm afraid it will "fix" things again and make more files disappear.
I'm copying drive images and files to a new drive with Acronis and Cobian Backup.
QUESTIONS:
1. What is a good alternative to CHKDSK or the Seagate and WD tools to check if the drives are really failing, without losing more files in the process?
2. [SOLVED?] What utility or boot iso should I use to make a complete copy (raw sector?) of the failing drive to a new drive, so that I could possibly recover missing files?
Answer: I think I'll try ddrescue and SystemRescueCD or something similar to clone the disk to a new one before I lose anything else.
3. What recovery utility should I use to restore files that have had their "index entry" deleted by CHKDSK due to "Unable to locate the file name attribute of index entry" errors? These files were working yesterday and a few days ago.
Answer: Currently looking at Recuva, TestDisk and Photorec as some free recovery options I've used before.
4. [SOLVED?] I'm almost afraid to restart and have CHKDSK delete more file indexes every time. Can I disable it to prevent it from running automatically at startup or would that make things worse?
Answer: I think the command "chkntfs /x f: g: h: j:" should stop chkdsk from running at startup.
5. Could something else be causing the problem: bad cables, power supply, memory and how can I troubleshoot that?
Ideally, I'm looking for free or cheap solutions. I have used some Linux recovery boot discs before, but I'm not sure what are the current best options.
--------------------------------------------------------
Long version:
I'm running a dual-boot Windows XP Pro SP3 and Windows 7 x64 Home Premium system and have been using EasyBCD/Vista Hide 'n Seek as boot manager and to hide the Win7 system and program partitions from XP (to prevent XP from "fixing" Win7 files and system restore info). The dual-boot setup has been working fine since Win7 was released.
I have two drives:
1) WD 640GB
H: xp system
F: xp programs
G: data
C: win7 system (hidden from xp)
D : win7 programs (hidden from xp)
2) Seagate 750GB
J: backups and data
I first noticed the issue today when I copied 2 files (flash update installers) to G: from a USB thumb drive in XP. The files copied fine, I ran both installers to update Flash in IE and Firefox. Then I restarted and booted into Win7, but the 2 installer files were missing from G:. I thought something was strange, but I just plugged in the USB thumb drive again and ran the 2 installer files from that.
Then I restarted and booted back into XP. CHKDSK started running (even though it didn't run the first time I started XP today and it didn't run when I booted into Win7).
CHKDSK log from F: (WD)
CHKDSK log from J: (Seagate)
After that, I thought there might be trouble, so I installed and ran Seagate SeaTools on the Seagate drive and WD Data Lifeguard Diagnostic on the WD drive. Both drives passed the SMART and all the quick tests. Since the drives both passed, I thought it might be some kind of fluke, so I just shutdown for a while.
The next time I booted into XP, CHKDSK ran again. This time it showed a whole list of "bad" file attributes/indexes on G: (WD).
CHKDSK log from G: (WD) edited to show each type of error
Browsing the drive in Explorer, all the files mentioned as "Deleting index entry" are missing. So, I'm missing a few dozen recent files created in the last week or so. I'm sure that some of the files existed and opened fine within the past few days.
CHKDSK log F: (WD)
CHKDSK log J: (Seagate)
My QUESTIONS are at the top of the post. I'm currently trying to backup and copy as much as I can off the drives. After that, I'd like to try recovering files and running further drive tests.
Thanks for your advice.
Today, on my WinXP/Win7 dual-boot system recent files started disappearing and CHKDSK is running on each boot. After each boot/CHKDSK more files are missing. Seagate and WD disk tools quick tests say both drives are ok.
I haven't done a manual CHKDSK /r because I'm afraid it will "fix" things again and make more files disappear.
I'm copying drive images and files to a new drive with Acronis and Cobian Backup.
QUESTIONS:
1. What is a good alternative to CHKDSK or the Seagate and WD tools to check if the drives are really failing, without losing more files in the process?
2. [SOLVED?] What utility or boot iso should I use to make a complete copy (raw sector?) of the failing drive to a new drive, so that I could possibly recover missing files?
Answer: I think I'll try ddrescue and SystemRescueCD or something similar to clone the disk to a new one before I lose anything else.
3. What recovery utility should I use to restore files that have had their "index entry" deleted by CHKDSK due to "Unable to locate the file name attribute of index entry" errors? These files were working yesterday and a few days ago.
Answer: Currently looking at Recuva, TestDisk and Photorec as some free recovery options I've used before.
4. [SOLVED?] I'm almost afraid to restart and have CHKDSK delete more file indexes every time. Can I disable it to prevent it from running automatically at startup or would that make things worse?
Answer: I think the command "chkntfs /x f: g: h: j:" should stop chkdsk from running at startup.
5. Could something else be causing the problem: bad cables, power supply, memory and how can I troubleshoot that?
Ideally, I'm looking for free or cheap solutions. I have used some Linux recovery boot discs before, but I'm not sure what are the current best options.
--------------------------------------------------------
Long version:
I'm running a dual-boot Windows XP Pro SP3 and Windows 7 x64 Home Premium system and have been using EasyBCD/Vista Hide 'n Seek as boot manager and to hide the Win7 system and program partitions from XP (to prevent XP from "fixing" Win7 files and system restore info). The dual-boot setup has been working fine since Win7 was released.
I have two drives:
1) WD 640GB
H: xp system
F: xp programs
G: data
C: win7 system (hidden from xp)
D : win7 programs (hidden from xp)
2) Seagate 750GB
J: backups and data
I first noticed the issue today when I copied 2 files (flash update installers) to G: from a USB thumb drive in XP. The files copied fine, I ran both installers to update Flash in IE and Firefox. Then I restarted and booted into Win7, but the 2 installer files were missing from G:. I thought something was strange, but I just plugged in the USB thumb drive again and ran the 2 installer files from that.
Then I restarted and booted back into XP. CHKDSK started running (even though it didn't run the first time I started XP today and it didn't run when I booted into Win7).
CHKDSK log from F: (WD)
Code:
Cleaning up minor inconsistencies on the drive.
Cleaning up 28 unused index entries from index $SII of file 0x9.
Cleaning up 28 unused index entries from index $SDH of file 0x9.
Cleaning up 28 unused security descriptors.
The upcase file content is incorrect.
Correcting errors in the uppercase file.
Windows has made corrections to the file system.CHKDSK log from J: (Seagate)
Code:
Cleaning up minor inconsistencies on the drive.
Cleaning up 32 unused index entries from index $SII of file 0x9.
Cleaning up 32 unused index entries from index $SDH of file 0x9.
Cleaning up 32 unused security descriptors.
The upcase file content is incorrect.
Correcting errors in the uppercase file.
Windows has made corrections to the file system.After that, I thought there might be trouble, so I installed and ran Seagate SeaTools on the Seagate drive and WD Data Lifeguard Diagnostic on the WD drive. Both drives passed the SMART and all the quick tests. Since the drives both passed, I thought it might be some kind of fluke, so I just shutdown for a while.
The next time I booted into XP, CHKDSK ran again. This time it showed a whole list of "bad" file attributes/indexes on G: (WD).
CHKDSK log from G: (WD) edited to show each type of error
Code:
Attribute record of type 0x80 and instance tag 0x4 is cross linked
starting at 0x30a8ab5 for possibly 0x6d clusters.
Some clusters occupied by attribute of type 0x80 and instance tag 0x4
in file 0x220e1 is already in use.
Deleting corrupt attribute record (128, "")
from file record segment 139489.
[[...SNIP...]]
The index bitmap $I30 is present but there is no corresponding
index allocation attribute in file 0x221d0.
Correcting error in index $I30 for file 139728.
The down pointer of current index entry with length 0x18 is invalid.
00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 18 00 00 00 03 00 00 00 ................
ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff 46 4a e4 72 c2 e8 ca 01 ........FJ.r....
5c 20 1b 73 c2 e8 ca 01 5c 20 1b 73 c2 e8 ca 01 \ .s....\ .s....
Sorting index $I30 in file 139728.
Unable to locate the file name attribute of index entry Filename.ty
of index $I30 with parent 0x16e9 in file 0x221c6.
Deleting index entry Filename.ty in index $I30 of file 5865.
Unable to locate the file name attribute of index entry FILNAM~1.TY
of index $I30 with parent 0x16e9 in file 0x221c6.
Deleting index entry FILNAM~1.TY in index $I30 of file 5865.
[[...SNIP...]]
Cleaning up minor inconsistencies on the drive.
CHKDSK is recovering lost files.
Recovering orphaned file ARROW_~1.HTM (139729) into directory file 139728.
Recovering orphaned file arrow_back.gif.html (139729) into directory file 139728.Browsing the drive in Explorer, all the files mentioned as "Deleting index entry" are missing. So, I'm missing a few dozen recent files created in the last week or so. I'm sure that some of the files existed and opened fine within the past few days.
CHKDSK log F: (WD)
Code:
Cleaning up minor inconsistencies on the drive.
Cleaning up 5 unused index entries from index $SII of file 0x9.
Cleaning up 5 unused index entries from index $SDH of file 0x9.
Cleaning up 5 unused security descriptors.CHKDSK log J: (Seagate)
Code:
Cleaning up minor inconsistencies on the drive.My QUESTIONS are at the top of the post. I'm currently trying to backup and copy as much as I can off the drives. After that, I'd like to try recovering files and running further drive tests.
Thanks for your advice.
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