disk errors , CHKDSK doesn't help

W

Willi Behrens

Hi all,

recently I ran into a strange effect. Using XPProSP2 for an unattended
(server like) PC. System worked well, (no visible probs at all) but as
I checked by default the event log, I found that there were regular
chkdsks upon boot and there was a msg in system log indicating a
severe problem on drive d:

ID: 55
Source: Ntfs
Version: 5.0
Symbolic Name: IO_FILE_SYSTEM_CORRUPT_WITH_NAME
Message: The file system structure on disk is corrupt and unusable.
Please run the chkdsk utility on the volume "Drive_letter:"

running chkntfs confirmed there was a problem, so I tried chkdsk /f
and even /c , both were Ok, indicating no problems. But the error was
not fixed.

So I tried the manufacturers low level drive diagnostics (Samsung) and
all was Ok as well (incl. SMART and surface analysis)

So what else to do?
May I rely on such a drove?

tia
w.b.
 
J

Juan Perez

Hi:

If you have te chance I will try a reinstall from zero of the O.S. and
applications after doing a format. If it fails again with events 55, I will
change the HDD for the peace of mind.

Let´s us know.
 
J

James

This is the worst, I'm afraid. If CHKDSK is reporting bad sectors (run it
again from Windows just to check), then you have suffered a hard disk crash.
A crash is when the magnetic material upon the top or bottom of the disk
platters inside your hard drive become damaged, usually because of the
read/write heads creashing into the platter pysically. Because of the speed
of movement of the platter and the heads trying to read the damaged part,
the damage becomes greater over time. Backup your files and get a new hard
drive as soon as possible, otherwise you risk losing data.

JM
 
P

Pegasus \(MVP\)

James said:
This is the worst, I'm afraid. If CHKDSK is reporting bad sectors (run it
again from Windows just to check), then you have suffered a hard disk
crash.

Chkdsk reports no such thing - it reports "The file system
structure on disk is corrupt". If there had been a hard disk
crash or physical damage to the disk then either chkdsk /f
or the Samsung surface scan would have revealed it.
 
P

Pegasus \(MVP\)

Willi Behrens said:
Hi all,

recently I ran into a strange effect. Using XPProSP2 for an unattended
(server like) PC. System worked well, (no visible probs at all) but as
I checked by default the event log, I found that there were regular
chkdsks upon boot and there was a msg in system log indicating a
severe problem on drive d:

ID: 55
Source: Ntfs
Version: 5.0
Symbolic Name: IO_FILE_SYSTEM_CORRUPT_WITH_NAME
Message: The file system structure on disk is corrupt and unusable.
Please run the chkdsk utility on the volume "Drive_letter:"

running chkntfs confirmed there was a problem, so I tried chkdsk /f
and even /c , both were Ok, indicating no problems. But the error was
not fixed.

So I tried the manufacturers low level drive diagnostics (Samsung) and
all was Ok as well (incl. SMART and surface analysis)

So what else to do?
May I rely on such a drove?

tia
w.b.

Your tests were very thorough and I'm puzzled as to why you
should see this error message. I can see several options to deal
with the issue:
- Ignore the message. Since your PC runs well, there is a good
chance that it will continue doing so. You must, of course, back
up your important files to an independent medium at regular
intervals but then I assume that you're doing this already.
- Use an imaging program (e.g. Acronis TrueImage) to create
an image file of your installation on a second disk, then delete
the main partition and restore it from the image. Therea are
two risks here:
a) The problem may persist;
b) The restoration goes wrong, leaving you with nothing.
- Temporarily install the disk in some other PC with sufficient
free capacity, then copy the whole partition to that PC's
main disk. Later on you restore your own disk from that copy.

The third option is safe it you do it properly. Post for more
detailed instructions if you intend to adopt it.
 
P

philo

Willi Behrens said:
Hi all,

recently I ran into a strange effect. Using XPProSP2 for an unattended
(server like) PC. System worked well, (no visible probs at all) but as
I checked by default the event log, I found that there were regular
chkdsks upon boot and there was a msg in system log indicating a
severe problem on drive d:

ID: 55
Source: Ntfs
Version: 5.0
Symbolic Name: IO_FILE_SYSTEM_CORRUPT_WITH_NAME
Message: The file system structure on disk is corrupt and unusable.
Please run the chkdsk utility on the volume "Drive_letter:"

running chkntfs confirmed there was a problem, so I tried chkdsk /f
and even /c , both were Ok, indicating no problems. But the error was
not fixed.

So I tried the manufacturers low level drive diagnostics (Samsung) and
all was Ok as well (incl. SMART and surface analysis)

So what else to do?
May I rely on such a drove?

tia
w.b.


Try running a RAM test.

I've seen a few systems that had file system corruption due to RAM .
I made a temporary fix by slightly underclocking the RAM


BTW: Even if the mfg's HD diagnostic passes the drive it can still be bad.
I've seen that a few times also.

I'd probably try a different drive if the RAM is OK
 
D

DL

Just to add; I've experienced an iffy PSU giving hd problems, though I have
to add the samsung utility did report hd problems
 
W

Willi Behrens

UPDATE

I checked my office notes and, according to the first 55 entry in the
event log , there was a power loss at my office round the time. So
this might be the reason.
Anyway, the log always stated problems on one logical drive and never
on the other (residing on the same physical drive).
Googling had lead me to a MS hotfix covering ID 55 and ntfs drives
(under Server 03) and clusters of size 4k and less (I had 4 k) so I
became suspicious .

So I thought it to be quite likely to be "only" a ntfs related
problem. (And all my other Samsung drives operating well)
And finally I decided to entirely erase the drive and reformat it (I
used quick format to lower downtime)

At that time -as this was a good chance - I chose a bigger cluster
size (64k) as there are mostly large digicam, audio and video files on
that drive. Then I reloaded the data.
Now the event log is empty and chkntfs says drive is OK. Seems as if
chkdsk needs an update ..........

cheers
w.b.
 

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