NTFS Partition Problems in XP, hoping to salvage?

[Tim]

I've been reading this group for awhile basically to understand how
findpart and findntfs work because the only really thorough documentation
seems from Mr. Svend Olaf Mikkelsen himself as he guides us clueless
dorks through what we did wrong. So I seem to have this problem with
my hard drive that whenever I install windows XP, or switch my disks
between a win2k install and a winXP install I royally screw up my drives.
I already lost one drive to it, and I sort of sacrificed another to have
enough room on it to save the stuff from the corrupted one using a
program called "RecoverNT" that only works in win2k.

But this time, I've just reinstalled winXP on my main hard drive after
backing everything up to my new 250GB. Everything went smoothly and I
proceded to install it and when I booted up I saw all my drives right
where they were and I could access them and everything so I felt that the
curse of the corrupted hard drives was lifted. BUT, as soon as I begin to
browse those files I find I can't get into half of the directories
because they're corrupted, or invalid, or something. So like an idiot
instead of coming here I try window's disk checking utility and tell it
to fix errors as it goes.. now I can access all of my folders, but half
of the files I see are corrupted: picture files fail to open, many
documents have been converted to jibberish, and most of my video files
don't work. Normally I'd just install win2k on another hard drive and
back everything up, but I simply don't have enough room to back up all of
that 250GB.

Running "findpart all file.txt" I get the following:
=========

Findpart, version 4.33 - for Windows 95/98/ME/NT/2000/XP.
Copyright Svend Olaf Mikkelsen, 2003.

Searches for partitions type 01, 04, 06, 07, 0B, 0C, 0E, 82, 83,
plus Fdisk F6 and Lilo sectors. Information based on bootsectors
is marked B. If the disk is larger than supported by BIOS, the
supported part of the disk is examined. Disks are numbered from 1.

OS: Windows 5.1 All

Disk: 1 Cylinders: 7753 Heads: 240 Sectors: 63 MB: 57239

-PCyl N ID -----Rel -----Num ---MB -Start CHS- --End CHS-- BS CHS
0 - 07 63117210177 57231 0 1 1 7751 239 63 B OK
0 - 07 16435440100789920 49213 1087 0 1 7752 239 63 BU OK

No FATs found.

Partitions according to partition tables on first harddisk:

-PCyl N ID -----Rel -----Num ---MB -Start CHS- --End CHS-- BS CHS
0 1*07 63117210177 57231 0 1 1 7751*239 63 OK OK

Disk: 2 Cylinders: 14589 Heads: 255 Sectors: 63 MB: 114440

--PCyl N ID -----Rel -----Num ---MB --Start CHS- ---End CHS-- BS CHS
0 - 07 63234344817114426 0 1 1 14587 74 63 B OK
0 - 07 63234372222114439 0 1 1 14588 254 63 BU OK

No FATs found.

Partitions according to partition tables on second harddisk:

--PCyl N ID -----Rel -----Num ---MB --Start CHS- ---End CHS-- BS CHS
0 1*07 63234356157114431 0 1 1 14587*254 63 NB OK

Disk: 3 Cylinders: 16709 Heads: 255 Sectors: 63 MB: 131069

--PCyl N ID -----Rel -----Num ---MB --Start CHS- ---End CHS-- BS CHS
1 - 07 63488375937238464 1 1 1 30400 254 63 B OK?

No FATs found.

Partitions according to partition tables on third harddisk:

--PCyl N ID -----Rel -----Num ---MB --Start CHS- ---End CHS-- BS CHS
0 1 07 16128488375937238464 1 1 1 30400*254 63 NB OK?

=========

The problem I've noticed is on Disk 3, and what really freaks me out now
is that the CHS says "OK?" which I've never seen in any of the posts I've
read in Google's archives regarding findntfs/findpart/etc. I'm afraid
I've really screwed things up with the windows disk checker, and would
greatly appreciate further instruction. If anymore information is needed
I'll try to be quick with a response, but it is approaching my bed time.

As far as the more general problem of my hard drives constantly getting
corrupted, I suppose it hasn't started happening since right before I got
my new WD 250GB, but it just seems that odd that one drive could end up
corrupting other drives just by it being in the same system? I've tried
formatting them multiple times and the only way I could move things
between windows installs was making temporary FAT partitions, then
copying everything over to a NTFS partition on the same drive, and then
use partition magic to delete the old FAT and resize the NTFS to fill the
whole thing. Any NTFS partition moved between Windows installs seems to
die for me.

Many thanks for whoever can help me out,
Tim G.

 

[Svend Olaf Mikkelsen]

So like an idiot
instead of coming here I try window's disk checking utility and tell it
to fix errors as it goes.. now I can access all of my folders, but half
of the files I see are corrupted: picture files fail to open, many
documents have been converted to jibberish, and most of my video files
don't work.

Findpart, version 4.33 - for Windows 95/98/ME/NT/2000/XP.
Copyright Svend Olaf Mikkelsen, 2003.

OS: Windows 5.1 All

Disk: 1 Cylinders: 7753 Heads: 240 Sectors: 63 MB: 57239

-PCyl N ID -----Rel -----Num ---MB -Start CHS- --End CHS-- BS CHS
0 - 07 63117210177 57231 0 1 1 7751 239 63 B OK
0 - 07 16435440100789920 49213 1087 0 1 7752 239 63 BU OK

No FATs found.

Partitions according to partition tables on first harddisk:

-PCyl N ID -----Rel -----Num ---MB -Start CHS- --End CHS-- BS CHS
0 1*07 63117210177 57231 0 1 1 7751*239 63 OK OK

Disk: 2 Cylinders: 14589 Heads: 255 Sectors: 63 MB: 114440

--PCyl N ID -----Rel -----Num ---MB --Start CHS- ---End CHS-- BS CHS
0 - 07 63234344817114426 0 1 1 14587 74 63 B OK
0 - 07 63234372222114439 0 1 1 14588 254 63 BU OK

No FATs found.

Partitions according to partition tables on second harddisk:

--PCyl N ID -----Rel -----Num ---MB --Start CHS- ---End CHS-- BS CHS
0 1*07 63234356157114431 0 1 1 14587*254 63 NB OK

Disk: 3 Cylinders: 16709 Heads: 255 Sectors: 63 MB: 131069

--PCyl N ID -----Rel -----Num ---MB --Start CHS- ---End CHS-- BS CHS
1 - 07 63488375937238464 1 1 1 30400 254 63 B OK?

No FATs found.

Partitions according to partition tables on third harddisk:

--PCyl N ID -----Rel -----Num ---MB --Start CHS- ---End CHS-- BS CHS
0 1 07 16128488375937238464 1 1 1 30400*254 63 NB OK?

The problem I've noticed is on Disk 3, and what really freaks me out now
is that the CHS says "OK?" which I've never seen in any of the posts I've
read in Google's archives regarding findntfs/findpart/etc. I'm afraid
I've really screwed things up with the windows disk checker, and would
greatly appreciate further instruction. If anymore information is needed
I'll try to be quick with a response, but it is approaching my bed time.

The problem is that Windows XP sees the disk as 131069 MB. You need to
have service pack 1 installed.

The "OK?" is described at

http://www.partitionsupport.com/partitionnotes.htm

The procedure in this case will be to hide the partition on disk 3, so
Windows XP cannot access it, then install service pack 1, and then
examine the condition of the partition. I can provide a batch file to
hide the partition.

 

[Tim]

The procedure in this case will be to hide the partition on disk 3, so
Windows XP cannot access it, then install service pack 1, and then
examine the condition of the partition. I can provide a batch file to
hide the partition.

What I know how to do is to disable it in device manager and no less. Or I
could physically remove the drive, but I'm not quite sure that's what you
mean. A batch file would be nice, or if it's less work to just write out
instructions I would gladly accept manual instructions.

--Tim G.

 

[Svend Olaf Mikkelsen]

What I know how to do is to disable it in device manager and no less. Or I
could physically remove the drive, but I'm not quite sure that's what you
mean. A batch file would be nice, or if it's less work to just write out
instructions I would gladly accept manual instructions.

--Tim G.

Can you confirm that you do not have service pack 1 installed?

 

[Tim]

The procedure in this case will be to hide the partition on disk 3, so
Windows XP cannot access it, then install service pack 1, and then
examine the condition of the partition. I can provide a batch file to
hide the partition.

Addendum to last post: I also have another drive that is acting up, but is
less important than the other one so I did not mention it. If you are
planning to write a batch file instead of instructing me, it would be great
if you included hiding disk 2 as well as disk 3. Thanks a bunch.

--Tim G.

 

[Svend Olaf Mikkelsen]

Addendum to last post: I also have another drive that is acting up, but is
less important than the other one so I did not mention it. If you are
planning to write a batch file instead of instructing me, it would be great
if you included hiding disk 2 as well as disk 3. Thanks a bunch.

--Tim G.

I would need to know more about the problem with disk 2.

To hide the partition on disk 3, the disk larger than 128 GB, you can
download timg1.bat in

http://inet.uni2.dk/~svolaf/timg1.zip

put timg1.bat in the same directory as findpart.exe, and run
timg1.bat, which contains:

set findpart=edit
findpart 3 0 1 - 27 0 0 2 30400 254 63 0 16709 255 63 26
set findpart=
findpart 3 table fp3-1.txt

Then reboot. After that the partition should not get a drive letter.

 

[Tim]

Can you confirm that you do not have service pack 1 installed?

Yes, sorry, it was a fresh XP install, no service packs.

 

[Svend Olaf Mikkelsen]

Yes, sorry, it was a fresh XP install, no service packs.

When you have hidden the partition, and Windows XP reports the disk to
Findpart as full size, the command to make an examination is:

findpart findntfs 3 1 1 1 summary fp-a.txt

 

[Tim]

I would need to know more about the problem with disk 2.

To hide the partition on disk 3, the disk larger than 128 GB, you can
download timg1.bat in

http://inet.uni2.dk/~svolaf/timg1.zip

put timg1.bat in the same directory as findpart.exe, and run
timg1.bat, which contains:

set findpart=edit
findpart 3 0 1 - 27 0 0 2 30400 254 63 0 16709 255 63 26
set findpart=
findpart 3 table fp3-1.txt

Then reboot. After that the partition should not get a drive letter.

disk 2 is a 120GB Western Digital that although was assigned a drive
letter when I booted up into Windows first time, when I tried to access
it by clicking on the drive in My Computer Windows informed me that the
drive needed to be formatted before using it.

As for my situation now, I went to boot into WinXP to run the bat file
you made for me, but every time my computer got to the WinXP startup
screen (with the tiny bar moving across the middle of the screen) it
would freeze. I can boot into safe mood after I reset and the safe mode
screen pops up, but I imagine I should just reinstall WinXP, I'll
probably start that soon or later tonight (6:26PM CST here), unless you
say otherwise. Should I rerun "findpart all" after I reinstall and post
the information, and will you need to remake a .bat file for me, or will
it still be the same? Sorry for the inconvenience.

--Tim G.

 

[Svend Olaf Mikkelsen]

disk 2 is a 120GB Western Digital that although was assigned a drive
letter when I booted up into Windows first time, when I tried to access
it by clicking on the drive in My Computer Windows informed me that the
drive needed to be formatted before using it.

As for my situation now, I went to boot into WinXP to run the bat file
you made for me, but every time my computer got to the WinXP startup
screen (with the tiny bar moving across the middle of the screen) it
would freeze. I can boot into safe mood after I reset and the safe mode
screen pops up, but I imagine I should just reinstall WinXP, I'll
probably start that soon or later tonight (6:26PM CST here), unless you
say otherwise. Should I rerun "findpart all" after I reinstall and post
the information, and will you need to remake a .bat file for me, or will
it still be the same? Sorry for the inconvenience.

As long as you only have one disk in the system larger than 128 GB,
and you want to hide the partition on that disk, it is safe to run the
batch file. It however will not work in DOS using Findpart for DOS,
since the batch file checks that the disk size is reported as
expected. It can be run is safe mode if the size is reported as in
normal mode.

If you can mail from another PC, we could go to DOS and mail,
tomorrow.

 

[Tim]

As long as you only have one disk in the system larger than 128 GB,
and you want to hide the partition on that disk, it is safe to run the
batch file. It however will not work in DOS using Findpart for DOS,
since the batch file checks that the disk size is reported as
expected. It can be run is safe mode if the size is reported as in
normal mode.

If you can mail from another PC, we could go to DOS and mail,
tomorrow.

I'm posting from a different PC right now as we speak, however, even if
we do it from DOS, and hide the one partition, I believe I'll still have
the issue of not booting into Windows? I hope this isn't a problem for
you if I wipe my primary drive (disk 1), and reinstall Windows XP. In the
future should I disconnect all my drives except the primary (the 60GB WD)
until I apply SP1 for WinXP? And is accessing those drives from Win2K to
use the recovery program I have (RecoverNT) in the future, will that be a
problem? I don't plan on using it this time, but perhaps well into the
future if I have another problem.

So I suppose I am going to go reinstall XP again? I worry that this is
not what you want me to do... but even if we go into DOS to disable the
drive, I believe my problem with getting into Windows is more than just
the partition? Please advise, I can live without the computer for a few
more days as I am on winter break, but I don't want to drag this out for
you longer than need be.

--Tim G.

 

[Svend Olaf Mikkelsen]

I'm posting from a different PC right now as we speak, however, even if
we do it from DOS, and hide the one partition, I believe I'll still have
the issue of not booting into Windows? I hope this isn't a problem for
you if I wipe my primary drive (disk 1), and reinstall Windows XP. In the
future should I disconnect all my drives except the primary (the 60GB WD)
until I apply SP1 for WinXP? And is accessing those drives from Win2K to
use the recovery program I have (RecoverNT) in the future, will that be a
problem? I don't plan on using it this time, but perhaps well into the
future if I have another problem.

So I suppose I am going to go reinstall XP again? I worry that this is
not what you want me to do... but even if we go into DOS to disable the
drive, I believe my problem with getting into Windows is more than just
the partition? Please advise, I can live without the computer for a few
more days as I am on winter break, but I don't want to drag this out for
you longer than need be.

I was looking for an explanation that you did not attempt to run the
batch file in safe mode to hide the partition on the large disk.

Anyway, you can do this:

Download Findpart for DOS at

http://www.partitionsupport.com/utilities.htm

Copy that findpart.exe to a DOS boot floppy, boot to the floppy, do:

findpart tables fp-b.txt

and mail me the file fp-b.txt. I suggest you do nothing else.

Moving disks between Windows 2000 and XP is potential troubles.

Yes, the problem with installing XP with a large disk present must be
solved. I do not know if Microsoft has a solution. Connecting and
disconnecting disks involves a risk for hardware problems. In some
cases it may be a solution to disable an IDE port in BIOS.

 

[Tim]

I was looking for an explanation that you did not attempt to run the
batch file in safe mode to hide the partition on the large disk.

Sorry, I can do that right now, but I still think the problem where Windows
XP stalls will be a problem even after hiding the partition, but I'll go try
it.

Anyway, you can do this:

Download Findpart for DOS at

http://www.partitionsupport.com/utilities.htm

Copy that findpart.exe to a DOS boot floppy, boot to the floppy, do:

findpart tables fp-b.txt

and mail me the file fp-b.txt. I suggest you do nothing else.

Roger, I'll get right on it.

Moving disks between Windows 2000 and XP is potential troubles.
Yes, the problem with installing XP with a large disk present must be
solved. I do not know if Microsoft has a solution. Connecting and
disconnecting disks involves a risk for hardware problems. In some
cases it may be a solution to disable an IDE port in BIOS.

OK, thanks for the info, I'll mail you the file when I get done with it.

--Tim G