Fixing a Corrupted NTFS Hard Disk on an unbootable system?

[Tony]

I just had a problem with a Windows XP computer - I used V-COM's Partition Commander to
resize the NTFS boot partition. Horrors, Partition Commander gave me an ugly error that
it had an internal error, I had lost data, bye bye. System became unbootable.

I was finally able to boot from a Partition Magic 8 CD, which allowed me to fix some HD
errors (but I had to reboot from the CD and fix 3x). This allowed me to boot, which
allowed me to schedule a CHKDSK for the next restart, which fixed over a HUNDRED
errors(!), which fixed the system with only the loss of some unimportant data files.

Now, during the days of Windows98, I kept a bootable Win98 floppy with Norton Disk
Doctor to fix corrupted unbootable hard drives.

My question - does anyone make software that can boot from CD or floppy that can fix a
corrupted (unbootable) NTFS hard disk, like CHKDSK or NDD can? That would be a nice
product to add to my repair utilities.

Tony

 

[AJR]

Yes - your XP CD via Recovery Console or Repair.

 

[Pegasus \(MVP\)]

I just had a problem with a Windows XP computer - I used V-COM's Partition
Commander to
resize the NTFS boot partition. Horrors, Partition Commander gave me an
ugly error that
it had an internal error, I had lost data, bye bye. System became
unbootable.

I was finally able to boot from a Partition Magic 8 CD, which allowed me
to fix some HD
errors (but I had to reboot from the CD and fix 3x). This allowed me to
boot, which
allowed me to schedule a CHKDSK for the next restart, which fixed over a
HUNDRED
errors(!), which fixed the system with only the loss of some unimportant
data files.

Now, during the days of Windows98, I kept a bootable Win98 floppy with
Norton Disk
Doctor to fix corrupted unbootable hard drives.

My question - does anyone make software that can boot from CD or floppy
that can fix a
corrupted (unbootable) NTFS hard disk, like CHKDSK or NDD can? That would
be a nice
product to add to my repair utilities.

Tony

Repairing a corrupted NTFS partition is in my experience
rarely feasible. The fact that chkdsk reported hundreds of
errors may mean that you lost hundreds of files. Time will
tell if they were important.

If you want a good boot CD then you should manufacture
a Bart PE boot CD. It takes a fair effort to make one but
it's extremely useful. However, it won't repair a corrupted
NTFS partition.

 

[Tony]

Repairing a corrupted NTFS partition is in my experience
rarely feasible. The fact that chkdsk reported hundreds of
errors may mean that you lost hundreds of files. Time will
tell if they were important.

Actually, looks like I lost nothing. It's a 250G HD with only 17G in use & I wanted to
shrink the C: parition down to 52G.

If you want a good boot CD then you should manufacture
a Bart PE boot CD. It takes a fair effort to make one but
it's extremely useful. However, it won't repair a corrupted
NTFS partition.

Wow - the Bart PE CD looks like a terrific tool!

 

[=?iso-8859-1?Q?_db_=B4=AF`=B7.._=3E=3C=29=29=29=BA]

the beauty of the ntfs
system is that it is really
a file system with many
benefits.

i recall that sometime last year
an ntfs on one of my computers
crashed. but i recovered
it with a program called
acronis disk director.

the method you mentioned
during your win98 days
still exists. They are just
upgraded for compatiability
with winxp and most softwares
like acronis disk director
and paragon include tools
many tools.


here is a thread not unlike
yours:

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/...&p=1&tid=405c58e6-1e0c-4af9-8964-0c99c3c1de75

something to keep in mind, however
is that the chkdsk you performed
"may" have sacrificed the opportunity
to restore those files it converted.

while your in a reading/study
mode here is more information

http://search.live.com/results.aspx?srch=105&FORM=IE7RE&q=corrupted+ntfs

ps: toss those cd's into the middle
of the ocean!
--

<)))º>·´¯`·.¸. , . .·´¯`·.. ><)))º>`·.¸¸.·´¯`·.¸.·´¯`·...¸><)))º>

..

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

...

Actually, looks like I lost nothing. It's a 250G HD with only 17G in use & I wanted to
shrink the C: parition down to 52G.

Great, glad to hear it! But let me offer you two words of advice for
the future:

1. If you have files that are important to you, you should be backing
up regularly. It is always possible that a hard drive crash, user
error, nearby lightning strike, virus attack, even theft of the
computer, can cause the loss of everything on your drive. As has often
been said, it's not a matter of whether you will have such a problem,
but when.

2. *Especially* when doing things like changing the partition
structure of the drive, which potentially affects *everything* on it,
it's foolhardy to do so without making sure you have a good backup.

 

[Tony]

...
:

Great, glad to hear it! But let me offer you two words of advice for
the future:

1. If you have files that are important to you, you should be backing
up regularly. It is always possible that a hard drive crash, user
error, nearby lightning strike, virus attack, even theft of the
computer, can cause the loss of everything on your drive. As has often
been said, it's not a matter of whether you will have such a problem,
but when.

2. *Especially* when doing things like changing the partition
structure of the drive, which potentially affects *everything* on it,
it's foolhardy to do so without making sure you have a good backup.

Thanks, Ken. Ironically, this computer that had the problem is being prepped to be the
backup computer! That's why there's so little on the hard drive, it's only the OS, a
handful of utilities, and some files that were backed-up. I'm partitioning the 250G into
a 50G C: drive for the OS and files, and a 200G D: drive to be used only for backups
from my other computers.

One thing you left out Ken, that I'd like to strongly recommend - I always do a complete
defrag before making any partition changes. This way, if there are any problems, file
recovery is easy.

BTW, I've since learned that V-COM's Partition Commander is notorious for trashing
drives.

Tony

 

[Patrick Keenan]

...
:

Thanks, Ken. Ironically, this computer that had the problem is being
prepped to be the
backup computer!

A couple of things on that.

First, hard disks DO fail. It's not a good idea to have a single backup
set. If that hard disk is your only backup, your data can be gone.

Second. do you *fully* understand *why* this problem arose? If there is a
subtle hardware or driver-specifc issue, the problem may come back.

A backup system should be the single most reliable system in a network. It
usually matters a lot less if it's not a high-performance system than it
being basically uncrashable and incorruptible. And, it should be
creating multiple backup sets that can't be damaged if that system suffers
some sort of catastropic failure, say, a lightning strike or fire. And a
copy should be stored at a secure offsite location.

HTH
-pk

 

[Tony]

...

A couple of things on that.

First, hard disks DO fail. It's not a good idea to have a single backup
set. If that hard disk is your only backup, your data can be gone.

Second. do you *fully* understand *why* this problem arose? If there is a
subtle hardware or driver-specifc issue, the problem may come back.

Yes, because drive partition software write to hard drives differently, there were two
technical problems:

1. Recommended method is to ALWAYS parition a drive with the same version of the same
product. I had originally partitioned the drive using Partition Magic 8. I now tried to
change partitions using V-COM's Parition Commander. WRONG!!! Bad practice because they
write raw data to the drive in slightly different ways. THIS is the main issue.

2. From searching the web, I learned that Parition Commander has a bad habit of creating
the error I encountered. A furthur testimonial to how well Parition Magic saved me, is
booting from a PM CD give you tools and recovery options for NTFS drives that can fix
boot problems, fix parition errors, and retore unbootable partitions. Partition
Commander doesn't have these tools.

The error I encountered was UNMOUNTABLE_BOOT_VOLUME. Despite the catastrophic nature of
the failure, three days later V-COM's tech support still has not responded to my urgent
tech support submission.

Google
unmountable_boot_volume "partition commander"
and you'll see what I mean.

I also discovered that the XP Recovery Console often doesn't fix UNMOUNTABLE_BOOT_VOLUME
errors, but Partition Magic 8 does.

A backup system should be the single most reliable system in a network. It
usually matters a lot less if it's not a high-performance system than it
being basically uncrashable and incorruptible.

I know. However, I once had a Snap Appliance for backup - figured simple is reliable for
backups. Nope, it failed on me. Now, I'm going with a computer with an OS for better
accessability.

And, it should be
creating multiple backup sets that can't be damaged if that system suffers
some sort of catastropic failure, say, a lightning strike or fire. And a
copy should be stored at a secure offsite location.

I keep my backup copies in a vault 500 miles underground, guarded by dwarfs.

Tony