folders turned into 32kb files!

[strata]

Hi


I have a Maxtor 250GB drive which is divided into 3 partitions. The drive wasn't too reliable and windows often started with a checkdisk. Though I noticed, after a checkdisk (I assume), that some of my folders on one of the partitions have turned into files of 32kb with the same name as the folder used to have.
I wonder if it's possible to get my data back or turn those files into filders again?
The partition on which this happened is FAT32 formatted and I'm running windows XP SP1.
I have tried Easy Recovery Pro to get my data back but had no luck.

ps
Everytime I rebooted the OS I would get a error that the drive failed during the IDE check of the Motherboard and had to turn the computer off and on to get the drive recognized again.

 

[dexmanone]

not sure about the chekdisk files, but if you haven't replaced your ide cables this would be a good time to do that. It sounds like your cable(s) are worn, bent too much. Hope this helps..........

 

[Smilin]

No, short of opening those files in notepad and seeing if it's something useful you can't really get the data back.

I would *highly* suggest going forward that you use NTFS instead of FAT32.

 

[strata]

are you saying there's no way of getting my data back?

 

[Smilin]

Yes.

You can call Ontrack or another data recovery service. They typically charge $1000 for the initial consultation then 5-25k to get your data back.

 

[Mday]

Originally posted by: strata
Hi


I have a Maxtor 250GB drive which is divided into 3 partitions. The drive wasn't too reliable and windows often started with a checkdisk. Though I noticed, after a checkdisk (I assume), that some of my folders on one of the partitions have turned into files of 32kb with the same name as the folder used to have.
I wonder if it's possible to get my data back or turn those files into filders again?
The partition on which this happened is FAT32 formatted and I'm running windows XP SP1.
I have tried Easy Recovery Pro to get my data back but had no luck.

ps
Everytime I rebooted the OS I would get a error that the drive failed during the IDE check of the Motherboard and had to turn the computer off and on to get the drive recognized again.

Your data is probably mostly gone. Never let scandisk restore files ONTO the hard drive that it was originally from. Which options of Easy Recovery Pro did you go use? If the drive wasnt reliable, you should have backed-up the data on it especially if always goes through scandisk when you boot up.