Lost data on Second HD after format.

[Guest]

Dell 8300
XP Pro
1GB RAM
40GB maxtor
200GB Maxtor

My Computer was running slow, so i decided to format / reinstall. I use the
40 GB HD for OS and all programs and have a extensive music / movie
collection on the 200GB HD.

Part of the impetus for the reinstall was that iTunes was hanging up the
computer when i tried to open it. the HD made a repetitive clicking sound
and itunes either never opened or opened after an hour or more.

Prior to formatting the 40GB, i backed up all my data to the 200GB HD. I
then used the XP cd to format and reinstall windows. Reinstall went fine, i
began to rebuild my computer.

i then tried to access my music folder on the big HD. every other folder
was intact except for the music folder which had held approx 90 GB of music.
it was empty. imagine my surprise.

fearing that the HD was done, i began trying to move my backup data back to
the main (40) HD. while moving the file made with windows backup, i got an
error message (that i did not transcribe) which indicated that the data could
not be moved because of a cyclical redundancy test error. this was the only
file (so far) that i could not get off of the drive.

any thoughts on why my music file was wiped?

here is an interesting side note:

I have a duplicate of my music folder on a USB drive here at work that i
keep as a backup. this morning, my computer hung up. i ended tasks and
tried to restart and got a error message right before the computer restarted
that said there was an error accessing drive m: (USB drive) - the data has
been lost.

i restarted and the data was indeed present and intact, i think. i ran a
virus scan and a disk check on the drive with no results. i unplugged the
drive terrified that i might lose 90 gb worth of music!

HELP!

thanks,

 

[Jupiter Jones [MVP]]

"repetitive clicking sound"
That is often an indication of hardware failure.
Did you also run a diagnostics of the hard drive?
If not go to the website of the hard drive manufacturer and get their
diagnostics.
Nothing in the installation process replaced the need for a
diagnostic.

The error message "cyclical redundancy test error" is usually
indicative of corrupted data.
Damaged hardware can easily cause this and other problems.

 

[Guest]

Thanks so much for the info.

I booted to safe mode with cmd and ran a chkdsk /f on the big drive. first,
it rattled off a long list of "file record segment xxxxx is unreadable"
lines. but then it fixed them, and the folder where my music was is there
once again.

so i guess it fixed the errors, but i am wondering if i should trust the
drive or not?? its cheap enough to replace, but it seems to be fine now!
cant bear the idea of losing my music...

also, i used usmt before i formatted. now, when i point the wizard to the
folder on the big drive it reports that there are no files there to be read.
the folder is over 8 gb. i have encountered this problem before with the
usmt. fortunately, i manually backed up pretty much everything though there
are some things that only it will restore, i fear...

thanks much!

 

[Jupiter Jones [MVP]]

Do not rely on chkdsk, get the diagnostics from the hard drive
manufacturer to verify the integrity of the hard drive..