The file or directory is corrupt and unreadable - and my life with it

[eNathan]

The file or directory is corrupt and unreadable -- and my life with it

Hello. I have two harddrives, C:\ and F:\. The other day, I tried to access my F: drive and it said it was not formatted. I did NOT formate it because I didnt want to lose all my data.

I restarted my computer, and the F: drive worked just fine :)

I restarted it again, and said it was not formatted -- again

Now the error message it gives me is "The file or directory is corrupt and unreadable" -- it no longer even asks me if I want to formate it.

Can somebody please give me a suggesstion as to how to fix this. I do not want to lose the data on that HD, I have 1.5 years of music composition on there, along with about 200 GB of other data.

 

[TenaliRaman]

Hmm, seems like a corrupt table information.
Just see if you are able to access it again (by magic let's say). If so, copy your data to another drive and format this one and recopy your data back.

If you are not able to access that drive again at all, then try this
http://us.mcafee.com/root/package.asp?pkgid=105
I have used this once to get some bad data from a hdd. See if it works for you as well. It was a long time back, so i don't recall how to use it and stuff but it is rather simple from whatever i could recall.

-- AI

 

[robphy]

Looks like a job for a linux LiveCD
http://www.knoppix.org/
http://www.knoppix.net/ (info)

Here are some other ones (though I haven't tried them):
http://www.sysresccd.org/ http://www.sysresccd.org/manual.en.php
big lists:
http://distrowatch.com/dwres.php?resource=cd
http://www.frozentech.com/content/livecd.php
http://www.frozentech.com/content/livecd.php?pick=All&showonly=rescue

 

[eNathan]

Thanks TenaliRaman, I downloaded the software and got a diagnosis, it still has not recovered my data but I'll keep trying.

robphy, sounds like a great idia too. I already tried to use my LiveCD linux, but I couldn't find it so I wil probally have to re-download it as the ISO is on my lost HD. But one question, if my harddrive will indeed work on a linux OS (Avioiding windows), then that must mean that the problem is software based right?

 

[robphy]

But one question, if my harddrive will indeed work on a linux OS (Avioiding windows), then that must mean that the problem is software based right?

Yes, I would agree with that... as long as you can do it reliably with the linux liveCD. If not, it could be an intermittent hardware problem. If so, then this liveCD could help you get the data off that drive before it's too late.

It's also possible that the liveCD has tools that could test the hard drive and possibly repair a software/table problem. For example, look at the list on http://www.ultimatebootcd.com/ (listed in those big lists).

 

[eNathan]

robphy, on this site http://ubcd.sourceforge.net/ which one would I dowload? IE Which one would I use to actaully recover my data ;

 

[robphy]

Those tools are included on the liveCD... those links point to the homepages for those tools.

Get the CD here http://ubcd.sourceforge.net/download.html
...you get to choose between "Basic" and "Full", as described on the homepage.

You'll need some skills in linux. (You might be able to use parts of http://www.sysresccd.org/manual.en.php to help you.)

If I were you, I'd boot the CD and then try to mount the partition in question.
If you can access it, you might want to copy the precious data to another partition or ftp it off to someplace safe. ( I'm not sure if you can remove this liveCD in order to use it as a CDR/RW. )

Then, [after reading what they do] I'd try some of the disk/mbr/partition diagnosis tools appropriate for your hardware. They may detect the problem and may be able to fix it for you. You could try to figure it out manually. [I think it's safe to try these... they probably prompt you before they do anything potentially destructive.]

At some point, if your data is all safe, you may just decide to give up, reformat the partition, and reconstruct it with your saved data.

 

[DaveC426913]

Oh, and if you have the a year and a half of your musical career on your computer

START MAKING REGULAR BACKUPS! **smack**

 

[eNathan]

I have my Koppix all booted up, but how do I change the language on this baby!
I can't even read it. You would think it would ask you what language you want to use before u boot it, but it doesnt.

Any help

 

[Anttech]

have u tried running checkdisk? (CHKDSK at cmd prompt)

 

[robphy]

i think it's: knoppix lang=en
(here's a complete list for 3.8 http://download.linuxtag.org/knoppix/knoppix-cheatcodes.txt )
are you using the _EN version?
if not, hopefully the keyboard layout isn't too different