Inserting an index entry into index $0 of file 25

[Daddy]

Looking for some level headed advice.

I recently ran CHKDSK on my boot drive for the first time in about a year. "CHKDSK is verifying indexes" took longer than usual, about 3-to-4 minutes, and then I saw several lines that read:

Inserting an index entry into index $0 of file 25

after which CHKDSK completed as usual. Windows then restarted and appears to be running just fine. No problems that I can detect.

I did some research on the web and learned that "Inserting an index entry into index $0 of file 25" refers to $Extend\$Objld, a metadata file in the Master File Table, which is used to store file system information. If this file gets damaged, CHKDSK has to rebuild it - that's what it's doing when it's "inserting an index entry into index $0."

The initial corruption of the $Extend\$Objld file could have been caused by a power interruption while the NTFS file system was updating the file, or it could be a sign of impending hard disk failure.

So I installed my disk manufacturer's diagnostic, which I'll run overnight. If it reports that my disk has no problems, I guess that means I'm good to go, right? As in 'nothing to worry about, your computer is fine'. Am I correct in thinking this?

Daddy

 

[Onsokumaru]

Looking for some level headed advice.

I recently ran CHKDSK on my boot drive for the first time in about a year.
"CHKDSK is verifying indexes" took longer than usual, about 3-to-4 minutes,
and then I saw several lines that read:

Inserting an index entry into index $0 of file 25

after which CHKDSK completed as usual. Windows then restarted and appears to
be running just fine. No problems that I can detect.

I did some research on the web and learned that "Inserting an index entry
into index $0 of file 25" refers to $Extend\$Objld, a metadata file in the
Master File Table, which is used to store file system information. If this
file gets damaged, CHKDSK has to rebuild it - that's what it's doing when
it's "inserting an index entry into index $0."

The initial corruption of the $Extend\$Objld file could have been caused by
a power interruption while the NTFS file system was updating the file, or it
could be a sign of impending hard disk failure.

So I installed my disk manufacturer's diagnostic, which I'll run overnight.
If it reports that my disk has no problems, I guess that means I'm good to
go, right? As in 'nothing to worry about, your computer is fine'. Am I
correct in thinking this?

Daddy
-----

If there was a greater problem, (with the file system at least), Windows
would ask you to run chkdsk /f.

You can try programs like HDTune http://www.hdtune.com/ and use the Health
tab to see SMART readings, or SpeedFan http://www.almico.com/speedfan.php
and choose the SMART tab, then click on the "Perform an in-depth
analysis..." button at the top. SpeedFan is quite good as you get some
explanations of the values and what you can ignore and what's critical.

I wouldn't worry to much unless this happens a lot, or some other symptoms
show up. After running chkdsk keep an eye out for bad sectors, or if you
have a few already, make sure the number of bad sectors doesn't increase.
You can run chkdsk /r and this will check the entire disk, rather than just
the areas occupied by data. Takes a bit longer though. You can view the
results in Event Viewer.

You should have a backup plan anyway... so now might be a good time do a
disk image or something so if your HDD does fail you can just write the
image to another drive and be up and running in a relatively short time.

 

[Daddy]

Thanks for your advice.

Seagate's in-depth disk diagnostic found no problems. I just now ran CHKDSK at bootup and there were no messages at all (and no bad sectors.) Seems like everything is okay now. I respect your advice about backing up. I'm actually very careful about backing up, with daily disk images (sometimes even more frequently) and additional data backup.

Daddy

 

[R. McCarty]

The type of Chkdsk issue you report can sometimes be caused by one
of the resident components of Zone Alarm. I've seen this issue on more
than a couple of PCs.

Thanks for your advice.

Seagate's in-depth disk diagnostic found no problems. I just now ran CHKDSK
at bootup and there were no messages at all (and no bad sectors.) Seems like
everything is okay now. I respect your advice about backing up. I'm actually
very careful about backing up, with daily disk images (sometimes even more
frequently) and additional data backup.

Daddy