Corrupt File System on Disk

[tim309]

I have a WD 250GB SATA Disk set up with 2 partitions and installed with
W2K Pro. The first partition 109GB is primary active; the second 125GB
is primary for data only. Both are setup with the ntfs format.

This Disk was transferred to a server running W2K advanced server with
2 disks configured to RAID 1. The BIOS was set to disable the SATA disk
from being able to boot. On power up the system proceeded to boot and
during the initial start up phase, the CHKDSK utility automatically
started up for the 2 partitions on the SATA drive. Sometime into the
CHKDSK routine the system experienced a total power failure. Once power
was resumed, the system was restarted and again the CHKDSK utility
automatically started. It completed the 3 phases for the 1st
partitition (E, but for the 2nd partition (F it stopped with an
"unknown error" at the end of the 1st phase of the routine. The server
then continued to boot successfully. For all subsequest boot up, CHKDSK
automatically initiates for the 2nd partition (E and fails with this
error message before continuing with its normal boot up sequence.

Once boot up was complete, a check on the available drives revealed C:
(RAID assembly); D: (CD/DVD); E (partition 1 of local disk) and F
(partition 2 of local disk). E: displayed all files and correct folder
strutures however F: displayed no folders or files even though the
properties of F: displayed it as having 90GB of used space.

Use of data recover tools reveals many files in a recognisable format
and folder structure, many files with recognisable extensions and
renamed with a numerical value, and quite a few files which are there
but not recognised (this could of course be files that have been
legitimately deleted in the past and now are partially over written).

Since this happened, there have been no write actions to the disk.

I would appreciate any help and advise that anyone could give me to
recover the data and folder structures, if it is in anyway possible.
There is one thought that has just come to mind, but I don't know if it
is relevant to this problem, when the W2K setup was originally
initiated, it was necessary to make a manual change to the registry to
enable the OS to recognise the larger disk size. For W2K advanced
server this was not necessary presumably because of the need to use 3rd
party RAID controller/drivers which did not have this problem over disk
size. However, the SATA drive would I assume not be using the RAID
controller. So, could this be part of the problem?

 

[Bob]

I have a WD 250GB SATA Disk set up with 2 partitions and installed with
W2K Pro. The first partition 109GB is primary active; the second 125GB
is primary for data only. Both are setup with the ntfs format.

This Disk was transferred to a server running W2K advanced server with
2 disks configured to RAID 1. The BIOS was set to disable the SATA disk
from being able to boot. On power up the system proceeded to boot and
during the initial start up phase, the CHKDSK utility automatically
started up for the 2 partitions on the SATA drive. Sometime into the
CHKDSK routine the system experienced a total power failure. Once power
was resumed, the system was restarted and again the CHKDSK utility
automatically started. It completed the 3 phases for the 1st
partitition (E, but for the 2nd partition (F it stopped with an
"unknown error" at the end of the 1st phase of the routine. The server
then continued to boot successfully. For all subsequest boot up, CHKDSK
automatically initiates for the 2nd partition (E and fails with this
error message before continuing with its normal boot up sequence.

Once boot up was complete, a check on the available drives revealed C:
(RAID assembly); D: (CD/DVD); E (partition 1 of local disk) and F
(partition 2 of local disk). E: displayed all files and correct folder
strutures however F: displayed no folders or files even though the
properties of F: displayed it as having 90GB of used space.

Use of data recover tools reveals many files in a recognisable format
and folder structure, many files with recognisable extensions and
renamed with a numerical value, and quite a few files which are there
but not recognised (this could of course be files that have been
legitimately deleted in the past and now are partially over written).

Since this happened, there have been no write actions to the disk.

I would appreciate any help and advise that anyone could give me to
recover the data and folder structures, if it is in anyway possible.
There is one thought that has just come to mind, but I don't know if it
is relevant to this problem, when the W2K setup was originally
initiated, it was necessary to make a manual change to the registry to
enable the OS to recognise the larger disk size. For W2K advanced
server this was not necessary presumably because of the need to use 3rd
party RAID controller/drivers which did not have this problem over disk
size. However, the SATA drive would I assume not be using the RAID
controller. So, could this be part of the problem?

First of all, make sure you have a clone backup of the boot disk. This
procedure could result in a totally corrupted disk.

Make sure your pagefile is at least 3 times the amount of RAM. That
may seem excessive but Windows is like a bull in a china shop when it
comes to orderly use of resources.

Run a defragger called PerfectDisk7.
http://www.raxco.com/

The first time run the online with SmartPlacement. Then never run it
like that again - use Defragment Only. SmartPlacement packs the files
too tightly and the disk heats up when it has to thrash back and forth
to extend a file.

Run the Online defrag first and then the Offline defrag. Of course
make the Offline defrag the system files - that's its purpose. It may
BSOD when it's thru Offline - just hit the restart button on the
computer.