How to restore system volume information files

[ricktharp]

My daughter caused a major foul up on her laptop. She powered it off
while installing a program from CD, resulting in hundreds of
cross-linked files.

chkdsk/f fixed it (sort of) by putting all the cross-linked files in a
'\found' folder. Among these files are the System Volume Information
(*.cat) files.

I need to restore back to an earlier point (attempting to get her
internet access back, that's another long story..)

I can't restore back to the point prior to the crash because the SVI
folder is empty, all these files are in the \found folder.

I can access the SVI folder in Explorer and cmd, but XP won't allow me
to copy anything into the SVI folder.

How, can I get the *.CAT files back into SVI folder. OR How can I
restore to an earlier point using a CAT file from the found folder.

Any help would be greatly appreciated,
Rick

 

[Bert Kinney]

My daughter caused a major foul up on her laptop. She powered it off
while installing a program from CD, resulting in hundreds of
cross-linked files.

I don't see any .cat files in the SVI folder. They could have been
created by chkdsk.

chkdsk/f fixed it (sort of) by putting all the cross-linked files in a
'\found' folder. Among these files are the System Volume Information
(*.cat) files.

I need to restore back to an earlier point (attempting to get her
internet access back, that's another long story..)

I can't restore back to the point prior to the crash because the SVI
folder is empty, all these files are in the \found folder.

I can access the SVI folder in Explorer and cmd, but XP won't allow me
to copy anything into the SVI folder.

How, can I get the *.CAT files back into SVI folder. OR How can I
restore to an earlier point using a CAT file from the found folder.

Manually moving files within the SVI folder would only cause restore
point corruption. System Restore will be of no help here.

I would suggest running SFC.
Description of Windows XP and Windows Server 2003 System File Checker
(Sfc.exe)
http://support.microsoft.com/Default.aspx?kbid=310747

 

[ricktharp]

Yes, chkdsk created these files.

I'm clueless, I thought the *.Cat files were the missing restore
points. Just wishful thinking I guess.

How could it get any worse, she can't get on the internet and chat...
You must not have a teenage daughter.

 

[ricktharp]

Okay Bert I ran SFC and it found no problems.

System Restore shows several restore points. so I pick one and finally,
after all that, it displays an error message that System Restore
failed. I've gone through this with at least 6 different restore
points and get the same unhelpful error message each time.

I've scanned for viruses and spyware, and gone through your "Restore
Point Failures" checklist on your web site:
http://bertk.mvps.org/html/srfail.html

Any ideas?

 

[Bert Kinney]

Hi Rick,

This would indicate restore point corruption. At this point they need to
be deleted. This can be done by turning System Restore off, then on
again.

How to Disable and Enable System Restore:
http://bertk.mvps.org/html/disablesr.html

 

[ricktharp]

Finally had to go with the nuclear option, re-format HD and re-install
all software, two days later we are back up and running.

 

[Bert Kinney]

Sorry to hear that. Thanks for the feedback.