Dir000.chk files "can" (not can't) be restored
I used PC Inspector File Recovery (freeware) to do just exactly what this post's title says.
One humongus tip or proviso is that the software reportedly cannot be installed on the drive you're trying to recover lost* files from (ie; deleted file, files that a disk check seemed to have deleted while supposed fixing files, even when the EHD fails to list, etc.).
Advanced note, even for me, an 'experienced novice', that software is simple enough to use and and I've repeatedly recovered files from EHD's, even though the drive was not listing, and other times as mentioned, even when the files seemed lost due to M$'s 'marvelous' disk check (which for some odd reason suddenly was suggested when I plugged one of my EHD's in).
For that snafu, I'd made the mistake of allowing the (now known to be) bogusly suggested disk check and I also left the default ticked 'fix files' aspect of disk check which's something I'll likely never again do because it's safer to tick neither of the tickables, simply do the disk check, evaluate things first (ie; first "back up" would be prudent).
As for likely most disk checks (sometimes bogusly suggested), maybe even most of these disk checks, there'll probably be no errors despite the M$ suggested prompt to do the check (which as far as I can tell, seems to be a probable bug in Vista and/or even an XP as well).
I say that as 'my' OEM version of Vista Home Premium w/SP1 recently began 'bogus' prompts suggesting the need to perform a disk check just when I'd inserted a pen drive (which I use between my XP OS and the Vista's) and for my pen drive it seemed to regularly prompt this check's 'need' (even tho' I run almost the exact same usual stuff on both machines, eg; Word 2003, Symantec's NIS 2008, etc.).
Anyway I'm guessing that something, maybe even just slightly dirty USB contacts (if not an actual M$ Vista bug) is causing the 'bogus' suggestions to perform disk checks.
Oddly when I allowed the default settings for disk check (for the pen drive) it resulted in no errors having been detected and/or fixed, but I wasn't so lucky when I 'mistakenly' did the same for a 1Tb EHD as the default disk check prompted me of some five pages of file errors, and I quite foolishly trusted in M$ and even though no issues were ever evidenced w/that EHD, I mistakenly allowed the disk check ticked by default to 'fix automatically'.
Big mistake and I spent two days recovering files using the mentioned software. In that the subject EHD had once unsuccessfully been used with TrueCrypt freeware (ie; a partition had been set up so that I could hide about half the disk space on the Tb EHD).
Anyway, once I recovered all the files, and just before I went to format the EHD, I noticed that there still was some 400+Gb supposedly used on the EHD, so I both un-hid hidden files and displayed protected files, which was when I found the Dir0000.chk & Dir0001.chk folders inside a previously hidden/protected "found.001" folder (also seen
earlier when I'd been using the recovery software I mentioned).
So at least for me, quite adverse to this forum's initial response alluding to the Dir0000.chk files being useless, for the heck of it, I also just now copy-pasted a few of them and found they're perfectly useable in every way (played directly from the existing folder using WMPC, copied and still played and even cut-pasted and they still play fine).
So, I'd always recommend seeking more than one opinion, especially since it seems the initial advice in this string, was not either correct and/or completely correct.
Happ-e-trail to you and your's,
wguru
