Folder xxx is entirely unreadable. Folder entry removed.

[ramonchiara]

Hi people,

Yesterday I turned on my notebook and checkdisk comes on!
In the middle of checking it comes with the following message:

Folder D:\photos is entirely unreadable. Folder entry removed.

It also comes with the following message for two other files:

Windows replaced bad clusters in file d:\xxx of name (null).

Where xxx was the name of file.

Is there an way to get my photos back again?
I turned off the computer and didn't use it anymore.
I have a back up of the xxx files, but my photos were few days new and
hadn't backed they up in time :-(

Thanks a lot

 

[Malke]

Hi people,

Yesterday I turned on my notebook and checkdisk comes on!
In the middle of checking it comes with the following message:

Folder D:\photos is entirely unreadable. Folder entry removed.

It also comes with the following message for two other files:

Windows replaced bad clusters in file d:\xxx of name (null).

Where xxx was the name of file.

Is there an way to get my photos back again?
I turned off the computer and didn't use it anymore.
I have a back up of the xxx files, but my photos were few days new and
hadn't backed they up in time :-(

1. Try booting the computer with Knoppix, a Linux distro that runs from
cd. It *may* find the photos.

2. Try data recovery software. I use Easy Recovery Pro, but it is
expensive. There are some free programs (links follow).

3. The important thing is to test your hard drive as it sounds like it
is failing. Do this with a diagnostic utility from the hard drive mftr.
OR if your laptop came with diagnostics from the mftr. (like Dell does)
use those. Do a thorough test and if the hard drive fails any physical
tests, replace it. If your laptop is under warranty, contact the laptop
mftr.'s tech support.

http://www.elephantboycomputers.com/page2.html#Hardware_Troubleshooting

http://www.knoppix.net

http://www3.telus.net/mikebike/RESTORATION.html
PCRecovery
http://www.pcinspector.de/file_recovery/uk/welcome.htm
R-Studio
http://www.r-tt.com/
Easy Recovery
http://www.ontrack.com/software/

Malke

 

[ramonchiara]

Hi Malke

Thanks for replying.
PC Recovery did almost a good job.
I saw the old directory there and managed to restore some files.
I think a lot of them.
It really seems that my HD is failing.
I don't know.
The bad news is that it's a Toshiba mk4025gas and accordingly to this
page http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,15835956 toshiba does not
have a diagnostic utility. I will try the IBM one.
If you have some info about this, please...
Thanks really a lot!

 

[ramonchiara]

I saw the recovered files and it was nothing... :-(
Well some were.
But not all the files I wanted to.
Now, it seem that PC Recovery get rid of the entry and I can't access
it anymore... :-(
:-( :-( :-(

 

[Malke]

I saw the recovered files and it was nothing... :-(
Well some were.
But not all the files I wanted to.
Now, it seem that PC Recovery get rid of the entry and I can't access
it anymore... :-(
:-( :-( :-(

You can take the laptop to a local professional specializing in data
recovery and see if they can get the files for you. Most professionals
will have the more expensive data recovery software.

Use Seagate's SeaTools for hard drive diagnostics:
http://www.seagate.com/support/seatools/

You want SeaTools Desktop.

Malke

 

[ramonchiara]

Hi Malke,

I've managed to recover almost all the photos (probably 99%).
When I used PC Recovery I thought that it recovered some folders but it
didn't.
It also locked the notebook and it restarted, calling checkdisk again.
Probably checkdisk found the lost folders of my photos and converted
all files to .CHK files.
I used a software called unchk and it recovered the files.
I'm going to backup the files today and after that I will try the
Seagate tools.
Tell u more when I finish.
Thanks very very very much for your help.

[]s, Ramon

 

[Malke]

Hi Malke,

I've managed to recover almost all the photos (probably 99%).
When I used PC Recovery I thought that it recovered some folders but
it didn't.
It also locked the notebook and it restarted, calling checkdisk again.
Probably checkdisk found the lost folders of my photos and converted
all files to .CHK files.
I used a software called unchk and it recovered the files.
I'm going to backup the files today and after that I will try the
Seagate tools.
Tell u more when I finish.
Thanks very very very much for your help.

[]s, Ramon

I'm glad things are working out for you. Thanks for taking the time to
update the thread.

Malke

 

[ramonchiara]

Hi again,

Yesterday, after some backups, I runned SeaTools.
It passed in the 90-second test, SMART and in other tests but failed in
the full diagnostic.
It found 7 bad sectors.
In the report it said "The following sectors MAY be damage:

LBA: xxxxxxxxxx
STATUS: Write-reallocation SKIPPED
USAGE: Not Resolved

...
"
Q1: Is this really a real problem?

Then I went to Disk Management (in Windows) / Error Checking / Search
Bad Sector And Try To Fix
It did "something" and returned without a single report.
After this a format the partition with NTFS (it was a FAT32 before).
Q2: Is NTFS better than FAT32? Would it have helped in my case?

Well, that's all.

PS: Malke, no need to thanks.
I just thought that posting the result could help someone just as you
are helping me!
Thank *you*!

 

[Malke]

Hi again,

Yesterday, after some backups, I runned SeaTools.
It passed in the 90-second test, SMART and in other tests but failed
in the full diagnostic.
It found 7 bad sectors.
In the report it said "The following sectors MAY be damage:

LBA: xxxxxxxxxx
STATUS: Write-reallocation SKIPPED
USAGE: Not Resolved

...
"
Q1: Is this really a real problem?

Then I went to Disk Management (in Windows) / Error Checking / Search
Bad Sector And Try To Fix
It did "something" and returned without a single report.
After this a format the partition with NTFS (it was a FAT32 before).
Q2: Is NTFS better than FAT32? Would it have helped in my case?

Well, that's all.

PS: Malke, no need to thanks.
I just thought that posting the result could help someone just as you
are helping me!
Thank *you*!

My feeling about hard drives is if they fail any physical tests (which
would include bad sectors), they should be replaced. They may not die
for quite a while, but since you rely on your hard drive you want it to
be as healthy as possible. There isn't any rush, but since you have a
notebook and if it is still under warranty, I'd contact Toshiba tech
support. No point in waiting until the warranty is expired!

If the machine isn't under warranty any more, you can always buy a
notebook hard drive yourself. Naturally this would mean a clean install
of Windows, so make sure you know how to restore the notebook to
factory condition. If the notebook didn't come with a physical restore
disk, see if there is a Toshiba utility to make one and/or check with
Toshiba tech support about ordering restore disks so you don't have to
buy a copy of Windows to put on your new drive.

And back up all your data regularly.

Malke

 

[ramonchiara]

Hi Malke,

Thanks for replying
I don't know it it's still under warranty.
It's an Acer notebook.
I will see it.

What about FAT32 vs NTFS?
What is your feeling about them?

[]s

 

[Malke]

Hi Malke,

Thanks for replying
I don't know it it's still under warranty.
It's an Acer notebook.
I will see it.

What about FAT32 vs NTFS?
What is your feeling about them?

[]s

Oh, I thought because you mentioned Toshiba somewhere in the thread
that's what you had. The Acers I've seen recently have a very
noticeable splash screen when you start them warning users to create
restore disks. If you haven't done this, you need to ASAP.

I would always use NTFS. You can Google for the differences if
interested.

Malke

 

[ramonchiara]

Yeah.
The HD is a Toshiba.
The note is an Acer!
And, yes, I have already created the restore disks since first time I
used the note ;-)
Ok. I will go to NTFS!
Thanks a lot!