pc data recovery help

Won · 05-09-2006, 04:20 PM

OS: Windows XP

Resized a logical NTFS partition (D:, second and last drive) using Partition Magic 8. Resizing and moving opeartions went ok, and got the #45 CRC error message right after. Moved up C (also NTFS) to the space just created by resizing D, no error. Now I can see D drive from My Computer and all the folders and files in it, explore through folders, but none of the files can be opened. Tried chkdsk from command prompt via safe mode, immediately get FRS 132 is unreadable and goes on forever.

I absolutely need to recover some files from the drive, can anyone recommend a recovery service/program? I'm willing to pay for it.

Thank you.

Won · 05-09-2006, 04:21 PM

also if anyone know of a good internet forum for asking such questions... I can't find a well organized one yet.

rrpjr · 05-09-2006, 04:29 PM

Ontrack Data Recovery. Large and reputable.

rcecale · rcecale's Garage

I'm not a user of Partition Magic, so I can't really offer any advice there, but....

You can find a pretty decent forum at http://www.virtualdr.com. Pretty well organized with loads of people willing to help. Kinda reminds me of a Pelican Parts for the computer world.

If data recovery is what you end up needing, there are several companies that would be glad to take a lot of your money to perform this service. It's not cheap by any means. OnTrack Data Recovery is one such company. They can even pull data from a physically damaged HDD.

There are some software applications that are available that may do what your looking for. Again, OnTrack has such an application. You can find them here.

Randy

Won · 05-09-2006, 04:45 PM

thank you very much, all this problem because I made the freakin' rookie mistake of not backing up files!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Neilk · 05-09-2006, 06:46 PM

I had a similar problem recently using PM8 when I merged two partitions. I got some error message and when I logged in, I was blocked out of the files and folders. I have another user on my pc with admin privileges, so I logged as that user and was able to move my files out of the locked folders. Try creating a new user and try access the files.

Won · 05-09-2006, 07:25 PM

Neil, was it a CRC error too?

I hooked up the disk to another computer running W2000. There are about 20 folders and files in D, and of those I can access and copy about 5. It appeared that C was having the same File Record Sector errors but in a much smaller scale. When I ran checkdisk for C it gave me a few FRS errors in stage 1 but later fixed it in stages 2 and 3. I'm now running checkdisk again on D, and I'm gonna leave it until it goes through the whole disk and print out all FRS errors and see if that fixes itself. On the other hand, I also read that it can be a irreversible mistake...

Steve W · Steve W's Garage

Try 'Get Data Back for NTFS' by Runtime Software. Should be able to recover all of your files and original names no matter if the partition information exists or is jacked up.

Neilk · 05-09-2006, 08:22 PM

I don't remember what error I got. Did you try creating a new user on your XP box and trying to access the blocked files that way? Perhaps the problem is XP specific and going to 2000 won't help. Not sure... what else to do.

Joeaksa · 05-09-2006, 08:30 PM

PM is a wonderful program as long as you realize that you can lose everything when doing something like this. BACKUP before doing anything like this!

I network my computers and copy everything important from one to the other and so on, then have a third one that was retired years ago. It sits under the desk and is turned on every month or so and EVERYTHING I want to save is mirror'ed there. The chances of losing three systems and hard drives at once is so small that no longer worry about losing data.

Won · 10:01 PM

Neil, it's not a permission related problem, it's just the file map (or whatever it's called in NTFS terms) and the actual files don't match, or so I understand. The directory is there, the data is there, they're just not linked.

Joe, the most frustrating part is that I thought about the USB drive that I carry around right before I ran PM. I always (well I guess not always eh) backup things, at least from one partition to another, but in this case C: was completely full and I wanted quick and dirty way. As soon as I saw the CRC error this feeling hit me, you know the kind when you've just made the tiniest and stupidest mistake and you can hear the big pile of crap falling while your heart sinks in it. I absolutely hate that feeling, happened at least a few times in my not-so-long lifetime, and everytime my own stupidity just kills me. Funny, I think the last time I felt it was when I dropped the car on the wheel. Oh well.

The files I need are just some Excel and Word documents, which could have even fit in a floppy disk. I wouldn't go through all these trouble if they were mine because I'd have a backup somewhere and I wouldn't really care all that much, but they're not mine... Which again makes feel like a total idiot for not backing up things. Maybe I should stop messing around and just go buy one of those programs, I mean how hard can it be to retreive some text files?

Haven't gotten any replies at other forums. It looks like Pelican is da place even for a computer problem. It's also a good place to vent before I go back and do other stupid things trying to save stuff.

You would think being an engineering student it shouldn't be too hard to find computer savvy friends around...

Won · 05-10-2006, 12:58 PM

Update: CHKDSK /R has been running for 12 hours, it's in step 4 and it's "recovering" files, I recognize the files as the ones I need. Hopefully it's doing what it says it's doing.

Thank you Steve, I'll remember that one should this one not fix itself or for future reference.