Sh*t! I was attempting to backup an entire 80GB drive tonight using
PowerQuest Drive Image 7. Somehow, around 10% through, the application said
that it ran out of space on the destination drive. I was sure there was
enough space there but that is another problem I will work out later. The
more serious problem now is that the drive I was attempting to back up can
no longer be read at all! :-(

When click on the drive in Windows Explorer, I get the error dialog "F:\ is
not accessible. The file or directory is corrupted and unreadable." The
Microsoft site says that the MFT or FAT is damaged and I should try chkdsk
/f on it.

http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=176646

What the hell happened? Why was Drive Image 7 *writing* to the source
drive's MFT for??? The data in this drive is absolutely precious and worth
years of work! AAAARGH!! I feel liking punch the wall right now! I have
*not* run "chkdsk /f" on this drive yet until I find out some more info.

I have tried plugging this drive into another computer and I get the same
error! Pleaese HELP!!!

BTW, just be clear, this drive has a single NTFS extended partition that is
76GB in size. Still searching the net for a solution but nothing conclusive
yet... :~(


"FFF" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:2DB2b.3013898$(E-Mail Removed)...
> Sh*t! I was attempting to backup an entire 80GB drive tonight using
> PowerQuest Drive Image 7. Somehow, around 10% through, the application
said
> that it ran out of space on the destination drive. I was sure there was
> enough space there but that is another problem I will work out later. The
> more serious problem now is that the drive I was attempting to back up can
> no longer be read at all! :-(
>
> When click on the drive in Windows Explorer, I get the error dialog "F:\
is
> not accessible. The file or directory is corrupted and unreadable." The
> Microsoft site says that the MFT or FAT is damaged and I should try chkdsk
> /f on it.
>
> http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=176646
>
> What the hell happened? Why was Drive Image 7 *writing* to the source
> drive's MFT for??? The data in this drive is absolutely precious and
worth
> years of work! AAAARGH!! I feel liking punch the wall right now! I have
> *not* run "chkdsk /f" on this drive yet until I find out some more info.
>
> I have tried plugging this drive into another computer and I get the same
> error! Pleaese HELP!!!
>
>

On Tue, 26 Aug 2003 09:12:40 GMT, "FFF" <(E-Mail Removed)>
wrote:

>BTW, just be clear, this drive has a single NTFS extended partition that is
>76GB in size. Still searching the net for a solution but nothing conclusive
>yet... :~(

To provide additional information, you can download Findpart at

http://inet.uni2.dk/~svolaf/utilities.htm

do:

findpart all fp.txt

and insert (not attach) the output here.
--
Svend Olaf

Hi Svend. Thanks for the link and the program! The output you requested is
pasted in below.


Findpart, version 4.37 - for Windows 95/98/ME/NT/2000/XP.
Copyright Svend Olaf Mikkelsen, 2003.

Searches for partitions type 01, 04, 06, 07, 0B, 0C, 0E, 82, 83,
plus Fdisk F6 and Lilo sectors. Information based on bootsectors
is marked B. If the disk is larger than supported by BIOS, the
supported part of the disk is examined. Disks are numbered from 1.

OS: Windows 5.1

Disk: 3 Cylinders: 9964 Heads: 255 Sectors: 63 MB: 78160

-PCyl N ID -----Rel -----Num ---MB -Start CHS- --End CHS-- BS CHS
0 - 06 63 4096512 2000 0 1 1 254 254 63 B OK
1 1 07 63160039467 78144 1 1 1 9962*254 63 OK OK






"Svend Olaf Mikkelsen" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed)...
> On Tue, 26 Aug 2003 09:12:40 GMT, "FFF" <(E-Mail Removed)>
> wrote:
>
> >BTW, just be clear, this drive has a single NTFS extended partition that
is
> >76GB in size. Still searching the net for a solution but nothing
conclusive
> >yet... :~(
>
> To provide additional information, you can download Findpart at
>
> http://inet.uni2.dk/~svolaf/utilities.htm
>
> do:
>
> findpart all fp.txt
>
> and insert (not attach) the output here.
> --
> Svend Olaf

On Tue, 26 Aug 2003 10:14:19 GMT, "FFF" <(E-Mail Removed)>
wrote:

>Hi Svend. Thanks for the link and the program! The output you requested is
>pasted in below.
>
>
>Findpart, version 4.37 - for Windows 95/98/ME/NT/2000/XP.
>Copyright Svend Olaf Mikkelsen, 2003.

>OS: Windows 5.1
>
>Disk: 3 Cylinders: 9964 Heads: 255 Sectors: 63 MB: 78160
>
>-PCyl N ID -----Rel -----Num ---MB -Start CHS- --End CHS-- BS CHS
> 0 - 06 63 4096512 2000 0 1 1 254 254 63 B OK
> 1 1 07 63160039467 78144 1 1 1 9962*254 63 OK OK

The output is not complete, since we do not see the partition tables
on the disk.

Do this:

findpart 3 -fat fp-a.txt

The search may take some minutes to finish.

From the description of the problem, one possible explanation can be
bad sectors in the partition. If the search takes long time, or you
hear some unusual sounds from read retry attempts, you can stop the
search. In that case, the preferred method may be to initially copy
the entire problem disk sector by sector to a new disk.
--
Svend Olaf

Oops, okay I have the entire output now using the command findpart 3 -fat
fp-a.txt. See pasted text below.
---

Findpart, version 4.37 - for Windows 95/98/ME/NT/2000/XP.
Copyright Svend Olaf Mikkelsen, 2003.

Searches for partitions type 01, 04, 06, 07, 0B, 0C, 0E, 82, 83,
plus Fdisk F6 and Lilo sectors. Information based on bootsectors
is marked B. If the disk is larger than supported by BIOS, the
supported part of the disk is examined. Disks are numbered from 1.

OS: Windows 5.1

Disk: 3 Cylinders: 9964 Heads: 255 Sectors: 63 MB: 78160

-PCyl N ID -----Rel -----Num ---MB -Start CHS- --End CHS-- BS CHS
0 - 06 63 4096512 2000 0 1 1 254 254 63 B OK
1 1 07 63160039467 78144 1 1 1 9962*254 63 OK OK

Partitions according to partition tables on third harddisk:

-PCyl N ID -----Rel -----Num ---MB -Start CHS- --End CHS-- BS CHS
0 2 0F 16065160039530 78144 1 0 1 9962*254 63 OK

1 1 07 63160039467 78144 1 1 1 9962*254 63 OK OK






"Svend Olaf Mikkelsen" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed)...
> On Tue, 26 Aug 2003 10:14:19 GMT, "FFF" <(E-Mail Removed)>
> wrote:
>
> >Hi Svend. Thanks for the link and the program! The output you requested
is
> >pasted in below.
> >
> >
> >Findpart, version 4.37 - for Windows 95/98/ME/NT/2000/XP.
> >Copyright Svend Olaf Mikkelsen, 2003.
>
> >OS: Windows 5.1
> >
> >Disk: 3 Cylinders: 9964 Heads: 255 Sectors: 63 MB: 78160
> >
> >-PCyl N ID -----Rel -----Num ---MB -Start CHS- --End CHS-- BS CHS
> > 0 - 06 63 4096512 2000 0 1 1 254 254 63 B OK
> > 1 1 07 63160039467 78144 1 1 1 9962*254 63 OK OK
>
> The output is not complete, since we do not see the partition tables
> on the disk.
>
> Do this:
>
> findpart 3 -fat fp-a.txt
>
> The search may take some minutes to finish.
>
> From the description of the problem, one possible explanation can be
> bad sectors in the partition. If the search takes long time, or you
> hear some unusual sounds from read retry attempts, you can stop the
> search. In that case, the preferred method may be to initially copy
> the entire problem disk sector by sector to a new disk.
> --
> Svend Olaf

On Tue, 26 Aug 2003 14:14:22 GMT, "FFF" <(E-Mail Removed)>
wrote:

>Findpart, version 4.37 - for Windows 95/98/ME/NT/2000/XP.
>Copyright Svend Olaf Mikkelsen, 2003.

>OS: Windows 5.1
>
>Disk: 3 Cylinders: 9964 Heads: 255 Sectors: 63 MB: 78160
>
>-PCyl N ID -----Rel -----Num ---MB -Start CHS- --End CHS-- BS CHS
> 0 - 06 63 4096512 2000 0 1 1 254 254 63 B OK
> 1 1 07 63160039467 78144 1 1 1 9962*254 63 OK OK
>
>Partitions according to partition tables on third harddisk:
>
>-PCyl N ID -----Rel -----Num ---MB -Start CHS- --End CHS-- BS CHS
> 0 2 0F 16065160039530 78144 1 0 1 9962*254 63 OK
>
> 1 1 07 63160039467 78144 1 1 1 9962*254 63 OK OK

There are no visible problems in the partition tables or boot sector.

If you have room for all files in another partition in the system, the
Findpart command to attempt to copy all files to current directory and
below will be (assuming the problem disk is disk number 3):

findpart findntfs 3 1 1 1 copy

or to initially make a file listing for your own use:

findpart findntfs 3 1 1 1 files files.txt


Alternatively you can:

1. Examine the disk for bad sectors. The command will be:

findpart findbad 3 fp-b.txt

or in pure DOS using the Findbad program from my page (faster and more
reliable, assuming the disk number is the same in pure DOS):

findbad 3 fp-c.txt

or

2. Get a new disk and initially copy the problem disk sector by sector
to the new disk. If you want help to that, you can mail me.

--
Svend Olaf
http://inet.uni2.dk/~svolaf/utilities.htm

Found some awesome little tools that should help me copy out the data from
this corrupted drive. I tried demos of File Recovery 3.0 and Stellar
Phoenix and, from what I see, they will let me copy out all the data.

I think its all okay now once I buy one of full versions of these tools.
That was a close one!




"Svend Olaf Mikkelsen" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed)...
> On Tue, 26 Aug 2003 14:14:22 GMT, "FFF" <(E-Mail Removed)>
> wrote:
>
> >Findpart, version 4.37 - for Windows 95/98/ME/NT/2000/XP.
> >Copyright Svend Olaf Mikkelsen, 2003.
>
> >OS: Windows 5.1
> >
> >Disk: 3 Cylinders: 9964 Heads: 255 Sectors: 63 MB: 78160
> >
> >-PCyl N ID -----Rel -----Num ---MB -Start CHS- --End CHS-- BS CHS
> > 0 - 06 63 4096512 2000 0 1 1 254 254 63 B OK
> > 1 1 07 63160039467 78144 1 1 1 9962*254 63 OK OK
> >
> >Partitions according to partition tables on third harddisk:
> >
> >-PCyl N ID -----Rel -----Num ---MB -Start CHS- --End CHS-- BS CHS
> > 0 2 0F 16065160039530 78144 1 0 1 9962*254 63 OK
> >
> > 1 1 07 63160039467 78144 1 1 1 9962*254 63 OK OK
>
> There are no visible problems in the partition tables or boot sector.
>
> If you have room for all files in another partition in the system, the
> Findpart command to attempt to copy all files to current directory and
> below will be (assuming the problem disk is disk number 3):
>
> findpart findntfs 3 1 1 1 copy
>
> or to initially make a file listing for your own use:
>
> findpart findntfs 3 1 1 1 files files.txt
>
>
> Alternatively you can:
>
> 1. Examine the disk for bad sectors. The command will be:
>
> findpart findbad 3 fp-b.txt
>
> or in pure DOS using the Findbad program from my page (faster and more
> reliable, assuming the disk number is the same in pure DOS):
>
> findbad 3 fp-c.txt
>
> or
>
> 2. Get a new disk and initially copy the problem disk sector by sector
> to the new disk. If you want help to that, you can mail me.
>
> --
> Svend Olaf
> http://inet.uni2.dk/~svolaf/utilities.htm