Hello Zvi and Robert.
Zvi. Somehow I overlooked your instructions from your 5-26 5:40 am
post. (Below)
To further investigate, you can download RESQ from
www.resq.co.il/resq.php and
prepare a bootable RESQ floppy (should be done on a Win 98 PC, as
instructed in
the ResQ welcome message). If Win 98 is not available to you, then
download
also the FreeDOS boot floppy maker from
www.resq.co.il/iv_tools.php#FreeDOS To
make a RESQ boot floppy with it, do as follows:
Format a floppy from the CMD shell (NOT with Win's disk manager)
with the
command FORMAT A: /U Open the FreeDOS self-extract archive and let
it make the
floppy bootable. Now open RESQ.EXE, clear the two check marks
(overwrite files,
Hello Zvi and Robert.
Zvi. Somehow I overlooked your instructions from your 5-26 5:40 am
post. (Below)
To further investigate, you can download RESQ from
www.resq.co.il/resq.php and
prepare a bootable RESQ floppy (should be done on a Win 98 PC, as
instructed in
the ResQ welcome message). If Win 98 is not available to you, then
download
also the FreeDOS boot floppy maker from
www.resq.co.il/iv_tools.php#FreeDOS To
make a RESQ boot floppy with it, do as follows:
Format a floppy from the CMD shell (NOT with Win's disk manager)
with the
command FORMAT A: /U Open the FreeDOS self-extract archive and let
it make the
floppy bootable. Now open RESQ.EXE, clear the two check marks
(overwrite files,
and [don't] execute Makeresq) then press the 'unzip' button.
Disconnect the power and data cables from all drives, except from
the one you
want to assess, boot from the RESQ floppy just made (leave the
diskette
write-enabled in the drive) and when at the A: prompt, run RESQDISK
/ASSESS
The program will initiate an assessment cycle of the hard drive and
will write
its findings into a text file report named RESQDISK.RPT, in A:\.
Press 'enter'
every time RESQDISK pauses and saves a screen snapshot, until the
program
terminates and exits.
Post here the report file (just paste the text file into your
follow-up), and
avoid top-posting!
My Response: (Gregg)
Excellent info above.
Sorry for overlooking this. What you'll see written below was
written before I discovered your instructions (above).
Wow do I feel dumb! Please read below as it may provide a valuable
summary. I will follow your instructions right away.
Yes I do have a Windows 98 machine.
Thanks Zvi.
What I have been trying to suggest to you, is that
before purchasing data recovery software and trying to recover
your stuff, file
by file, it would make more sense (and be cheaper too) to first
try regaining
access to the drive / partition and the data on it, if possible.
Yes Zvi. I have understood what you are telling me. The ultimate fix
here is to have the drive operate as before. Problem is, where do I
begin?
Zvi Said:
From the little info provided above, I would guess that something
went wrong
when the OS tried to rewrite the boot sector with the modified
volume name (the
volume name is written to the boot sector, in addition to the entry
in the file
system).
Robert Said:
With NTFS the volume label is not written to the boot sector but
only
to the metadata file $Volume.
Zvi Said:
Other possible causes to the disappearing of the file system of your
drive could
be a modified partition table, in its MBR, or changed settings for
that drive,
in the CMOS. Yet given the symptoms described, I would think that a
damaged
boot sector is the most likely.
For starters, NTFS partitions keep a backup of the boot sector in
the very last
sector of every partition, respectively.
Robert Said:
A missing boot sector can lead drive manager to ask for a format,
but so can a damaged MFT. This
really needs some diagnostic help.
Zvi Said:
Could you please describe the drive configuration: What order is
the problem
drive (first, second, ... fourth?), and how was it partitioned (one
big
partition, several, what types?).
Gregg Said:
I've left the drive untouched. I'm using WinXP Pro, Pentium III 1
GB, 512 RAM. The drive is on a
Promise Ultra 100 PCI Card. The drive is one big partition. The Info
in Disk Management reads, Disk 3,
Basic, 149.05 GB, Online. File System RAW. In order on the Promise
Ultra
100, It's on IDE 1 as a Slave. There are 3 other Identical drives on
the PCI card.
Zvi Said:
If the drive is one of the first two (you can always make it that by
disconnecting other drives), then you can use RESQDISK from
www.resq.co.il/resq.php to assess the boot chain (drive settings in
the CMOS,
MBR, boot sector).
Correction: Forget the CMOS drive settings, since it uses the
Ultra-100
controller. Yet a corrupted partition table could have a similar
effect as the
controller will set the drive in the BIOS list (not the same as
CMOS!) with a
best fit to what's found in the MBR.
The above doesn't exclude the possibility that either the MBR and/or
the boot
sector were altered.
My Response: (Gregg)
The last two paragraphs are confusing to me. How do I look at the
boot sector or MBR and what do I look for? How do I look at The MFT?
How do I look at the corrupted partition table? What info do I need
to provide you to further assist me?
Zvi Said:
In case the purchased SW doesn't yield the expected results: Make
sure to not
write to the problem drive if you wish to maintain the option of
switching back
to the above approach.
My Response: (Gregg)
I just used EasyRecovery Pro and recovered 100 GB of the RAW disk.
ERP does have a RAW disk recovery tool. It is now writing to a
different drive. Not the problem drive. It will take 20 hours to
write that info to disk. Then I will report back to you.
I can tell you I won't be satisfied with the recovery method because
although it may recover the files, I still want the File structure
(Tree) in tact. So I want to continue to work on this problem and
see if I can solve it. Of course I won't be able to do it without
some help. Please continue to help me. I do appreciate it!
Thanks again, Gregg
and [don't] execute Makeresq) then press the 'unzip' button.
Disconnect the power and data cables from all drives, except from
the one you
want to assess, boot from the RESQ floppy just made (leave the
diskette
write-enabled in the drive) and when at the A: prompt, run RESQDISK
/ASSESS
The program will initiate an assessment cycle of the hard drive and
will write
its findings into a text file report named RESQDISK.RPT, in A:\.
Press 'enter'
every time RESQDISK pauses and saves a screen snapshot, until the
program
terminates and exits.
Post here the report file (just paste the text file into your
follow-up), and
avoid top-posting!
My Response: (Gregg)
Excellent info above.
Sorry for overlooking this. What you'll see written below was
written before I discovered your instructions (above).
Wow do I feel dumb! Please read below as it may provide a valuable
summary. I will follow your instructions right away.
Yes I do have a Windows 98 machine.
Thanks Zvi.
What I have been trying to suggest to you, is that
before purchasing data recovery software and trying to recover
your stuff, file
by file, it would make more sense (and be cheaper too) to first
try regaining
access to the drive / partition and the data on it, if possible.
Yes Zvi. I have understood what you are telling me. The ultimate fix
here is to have the drive operate as before. Problem is, where do I
begin?
Zvi Said:
From the little info provided above, I would guess that something
went wrong
when the OS tried to rewrite the boot sector with the modified
volume name (the
volume name is written to the boot sector, in addition to the entry
in the file
system).
Robert Said:
With NTFS the volume label is not written to the boot sector but
only
to the metadata file $Volume.
Zvi Said:
Other possible causes to the disappearing of the file system of your
drive could
be a modified partition table, in its MBR, or changed settings for
that drive,
in the CMOS. Yet given the symptoms described, I would think that a
damaged
boot sector is the most likely.
For starters, NTFS partitions keep a backup of the boot sector in
the very last
sector of every partition, respectively.
Robert Said:
A missing boot sector can lead drive manager to ask for a format,
but so can a damaged MFT. This
really needs some diagnostic help.
Zvi Said:
Could you please describe the drive configuration: What order is
the problem
drive (first, second, ... fourth?), and how was it partitioned (one
big
partition, several, what types?).
Gregg Said:
I've left the drive untouched. I'm using WinXP Pro, Pentium III 1
GB, 512 RAM. The drive is on a
Promise Ultra 100 PCI Card. The drive is one big partition. The Info
in Disk Management reads, Disk 3,
Basic, 149.05 GB, Online. File System RAW. In order on the Promise
Ultra
100, It's on IDE 1 as a Slave. There are 3 other Identical drives on
the PCI card.
Zvi Said:
If the drive is one of the first two (you can always make it that by
disconnecting other drives), then you can use RESQDISK from
www.resq.co.il/resq.php to assess the boot chain (drive settings in
the CMOS,
MBR, boot sector).
Correction: Forget the CMOS drive settings, since it uses the
Ultra-100
controller. Yet a corrupted partition table could have a similar
effect as the
controller will set the drive in the BIOS list (not the same as
CMOS!) with a
best fit to what's found in the MBR.
The above doesn't exclude the possibility that either the MBR and/or
the boot
sector were altered.
My Response: (Gregg)
The last two paragraphs are confusing to me. How do I look at the
boot sector or MBR and what do I look for? How do I look at The MFT?
How do I look at the corrupted partition table? What info do I need
to provide you to further assist me?
Zvi Said:
In case the purchased SW doesn't yield the expected results: Make
sure to not
write to the problem drive if you wish to maintain the option of
switching back
to the above approach.
My Response: (Gregg)
I just used EasyRecovery Pro and recovered 100 GB of the RAW disk.
ERP does have a RAW disk recovery tool. It is now writing to a
different drive. Not the problem drive. It will take 20 hours to
write that info to disk. Then I will report back to you.
I can tell you I won't be satisfied with the recovery method because
although it may recover the files, I still want the File structure
(Tree) in tact. So I want to continue to work on this problem and
see if I can solve it. Of course I won't be able to do it without
some help. Please continue to help me. I do appreciate it!
Thanks again, Gregg
