Disk Defragment --loss of data

  • Thread starter Thread starter patrickwmurray
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patrickwmurray

Hi,

I just finished defragging both of my drives and it just so happened
that my entire D drive is showing up with no data on it now. I thought
disk defragment was supposed to be perfectly safe where no data loss
can occur? All of the data on the drive is gone!

I went to system restore but it says it can't recover my drive D. Is
there anyway to get my data back? Could there be something else wrong
with the disk? It appears to be working fine in device manager. Is
this a joke? Is there some type of software I can download to recover
the data?

Thanks
Patrick
 
Hi,

I just finished defragging both of my drives and it just so happened
that my entire D drive is showing up with no data on it now. I thought
disk defragment was supposed to be perfectly safe where no data loss
can occur? All of the data on the drive is gone!

I went to system restore but it says it can't recover my drive D. Is
there anyway to get my data back? Could there be something else wrong
with the disk? It appears to be working fine in device manager. Is
this a joke? Is there some type of software I can download to recover
the data?

Thanks
Patrick
Click to expand...


It would have been helpful had one taken the forethought
to have backed up one's data. Normally, defragmenting a
hard drive should not delete files. If there were any bad
or damaged files, a well-behaved defragmentation program
would have asked that the files be fixed before proceeding.
 
What defrag program were you using? I have never heard of this happening.

--


Regards,

Richard Urban
Microsoft MVP Windows Shell/User

Quote from George Ankner:
If you knew as much as you think you know,
You would realize that you don't know what you thought you knew!
 
It would have been helpful had one taken the forethought
to have backed up one's data. Normally, defragmenting a
hard drive should not delete files. If there were any bad
or damaged files, a well-behaved defragmentation program
would have asked that the files be fixed before proceeding.
Click to expand...

Give us a break. What moron would go to the trouble to backup the whole hard
drive before every defrag operation? Do you? I'm not saying backups
shouldn't be done, but get real - before a defrag?
 
NoStop said:
Give us a break. What moron would go to the trouble to backup the whole hard
drive before every defrag operation? Do you? I'm not saying backups
shouldn't be done, but get real - before a defrag?
Click to expand...

Considering that routine backups should always be a part of
any computer user's life, the comment was made in recognition
of the fact that the OP seems to now be in dire straits for
not having apparently done any backups. And then there are
those of us who remember the times when defrag programs first
came out in the 1990's that there was a customary warning to
do a backup before defragmenting. And right...it would be a
moron who backs up an entire HD but I did not write that, now
did I.
 
I was just using the Windows DeFrag Utility. In looking under Events I
am now getting an error of Event ID 7 saying I have a bad block of data
on the drive I defraged. Does one bad block cause the entire drive not
be able to be accessed? That shouldn't be the case right? The time
that this started happening is around the same time I kicked off the
defrag.

At this point, I could care less about the drive, I just want to get
the data off of the drive. Are there any steps I can take to get
around the bad block of data?

The issue now is if I go to Windows Explorer and try to click on the
drive, which used to be called "Secondary Drive" and is now called
Local Disk, it doesn't appear to have any file structure set up on it
so it asks me if I want to format the disk.

Thoughts? Suggestions?

Thanks
Patrick
 
Greetings,

If the data is lost I suppose it is still possible to bring it back
using data recovery tools such as Active@ Undelete or Uneraser(for
DOS). These are truly mighty utils, they never failed me before and
worked simply great, they never corrupted restored files. Give it a
try, that might really help.

http://www.active-undelete.com/

http://www.uneraser.com/
 
I was just using the Windows DeFrag Utility. In looking under Events I
am now getting an error of Event ID 7 saying I have a bad block of data
on the drive I defraged. Does one bad block cause the entire drive not
be able to be accessed? That shouldn't be the case right? The time
that this started happening is around the same time I kicked off the
defrag.
Click to expand...

Depends where the bad block is. If it's where the FAT is located then
(AFAIK) you're stuffed - you might try Knoppix or something like that to
see if it will read the file structure on the disk.....
 
Is this D: a fixed drive or a removable drive?

- Greg/Raxco Software
Microsoft MVP - Windows File System

Disclaimer: I work for Raxco Software, the maker of PerfectDisk - a
commercial defrag utility, as a systems engineer in the support department.

Want to email me? Delete ntloader.
 
You provide a superior product. I like it better than any other now on the
market. It is certainly much better than Windows XP internal defrager.

I used to use and love the defrager in Norton Utilities but no more.

Regards,
 
thanks for the reply's, I was able to get the data off my D: drive by
using Linux Knoppix and OS that boots up from a CD. Great tool
especially for data recovery purposes. I think it is open source give
it a try if you have had a similiar problem.
 
Patrick,

Was this a fixed drive or a removable drive (USB,Firewire)?

- Greg/Raxco Software
Microsoft MVP - Windows File System

Disclaimer: I work for Raxco Software, the maker of PerfectDisk - a
commercial defrag utility, as a systems engineer in the support department.

Want to email me? Delete ntloader.
 
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