I have a Western Digital SE 200GB (WD2000JB) hard drive, with 1 partition (not ideal I know!) as a slave with no operating system on it, storing media files (inc. AVI, MPEG, MP3, PDF, RAR, ZIP, EXE).
Then one day I get an error in the Event Viewer:

Event ID: 55
Event Source: NTFS
Event Description: The file system structure on the disk is corrupt and unusable. Please run the chkdsk utility on the volume :.

- AND when trying to access this partition, I get the error " is not accessible. The file or directory is corrupted and unreadable"
- AND Windows 2000 recognises the file system as "unknown" and 0 bytes

I have tried almost EVERYTHING (except format and start again which I need to avoid!)
- hard drive diagnostics conclude that the physical hard drive is fine so it MUST be a corrupted NTFS file system
- ran chkdsk, but get error "corrupted master file table" - chkdsk is unable to read drive
- checked cables (hardware) connected fine
- recovery console doesn't allow access to the drive also, although 'fixboot' has allowed the drive to be recognised as an NTFS file system in Ontrack's EasyRecovery Pro software but not Windows 2000 or XP, hence is still not accessible! ('fixmbr' was useless too!)
- moved the hard drive into my Windows XP PC which recognises it with a "RAW" file system with 0 bytes and still cannot access it

So then, I tried DiskPatch 2.1 demo... selected the physical disk -> scanned the disk and selected the 1 NTFS partition it found, but it marked YES under the ERR column -> Show Info gives a "poor" prognosis & details the error as "End Past EOD" & won't let me continue to repair - What does this error mean? Can anyone help with my situation please?

Thank you in advance.

P.s. I have bought another 200GB drive and will sure be employing a backup strategy as soon as I get my data back! ;o)

Product you are using: DiskPatch 2.1

Operating system / Service Pack: Windows 2000 (SP4)

Size of subject harddisk: 200GB

Here is the log file in relation to my issue...

.../000:52/LOG> ### LOG START ###
.../000:52/LOG> DISKPATCH 2.1.100
.../000:52/LOG> (C) 2000-2005, DIY DataRecovery
.../000:52/LOG> Contact info: HTTP://www.DIYDataRecovery.nl
.../000:52/LOG> DPRunType: 0
.../000:52/LOG> DPUsrName: DEMO
.../000:52/LOG> MemFree: 107Kb
.../000:52/LOG> LogDate: 03-15-2005
.../000:52/CFG> Dump Options requested
.../000:52/CFG> FilePath="1/.DP_FILES"
.../000:52/CFG> LogFilename="DP.LOG"
.../000:52/CFG> ReadRetries="32"
.../000:52/CFG> MaxReadErrors="32"
.../000:52/CFG> ReadDelay="1"
.../000:52/CFG> AutoSaveState="1"
.../000:52/CFG> DumpFoundSectors="0"
.../000:52/CFG> LogLevel="2"
.../000:52/CFG> DebugLevel="0"
.../000:52/CFG> MaxFatScan="51200"
.../000:52/CFG> MaxDataColEntries="512"
.../000:52/CFG> ScanType="0"
.../000:52/CFG> IgnoreF8FF="0"
.../000:52/CFG> ScanSignature="55AA"
.../000:52/13H> Ext13H installed test requested
.../000:52/13H> Disk found at 128
.../000:52/13H> Ext13H version: 2.1 / EDD-1.1
.../000:52/13H> Ext13H Support: Extended disk access functions
.../000:52/13H> Ext13H Support: Enhanced disk drive functions
.../000:52/13H> Ext13H Flags: Cylinder/head/sector info is valid
.../000:52/13H> Disk 128 X13H data : 13328/15/63 12594960/512
.../000:52/13H> Disk found at 129
.../000:52/13H> Ext13H version: 2.1 / EDD-1.1
.../000:52/13H> Ext13H Support: Extended disk access functions
.../000:52/13H> Ext13H Support: Enhanced disk drive functions
.../000:52/13H> Ext13H Flags: Cylinder/head/sector info is valid
.../000:52/13H> Disk 129 X13H data : 65535/16/63 268435455/512
.../000:52/13H> Disk found at 130
.../000:52/13H> Ext13H version: 2.1 / EDD-1.1
.../000:52/13H> Ext13H Support: Extended disk access functions
.../000:52/13H> Ext13H Support: Enhanced disk drive functions
.../000:52/13H> Ext13H Flags: Cylinder/head/sector info is valid
.../000:52/13H> Disk 130 X13H data : 65535/16/63 268435455/512
.../000:52/13H> Ext13H tested ok
.../000:52/FDL> DiskList requested
.../000:52/FDL> Disk found at 128
.../000:52/FDL> Disk found at 129
.../000:53/FDL> Disk found at 130
.../000:53/LOG> Dump DiskList requested
### DISKLIST.ARRAY ###
__D_|________LBA_|___H_|__S_|__GB
128 | ..12594960 | 255 | 63 | ..6
129 | .268435455 | 255 | 63 | 127
130 | .268435455 | 255 | 63 | 127
..0 | .........0 | ..0 | .0 | ..0

.../000:53/IAS> Admi Sector found on disk 0 (128)
.../000:53/IAS> Admi Sector on disk 1 (129) not free for DP use, dump follows;
.../000:53/LOG> SectorDump requested at 29 (0 0 30)
###
000 B0 F5 00 6E 0E D2 FF 42 DF 11 CC 76 DA 3D 2E 6E | °õ.n.Ò.Bß.ÌvÚ=.n
016 D3 49 03 C1 00 BF 3F 1B 41 D0 11 1F FF 4D C3 7D | ÓI.Á.¿?.AÐ...MÃ}
032 92 5D 0E 40 EF 2F 00 74 FF 6E DC 65 CA 27 C1 EE | ’].@ï/.t.nÜeÊ'Áî
048 5D 12 D1 20 DD 7C 11 4A 00 7A 20 ED 42 0E 11 B1 | ].Ñ Ý|.J.z íB..±
064 23 A4 3E A3 10 1E 3D 4C D4 F2 00 A3 03 09 E2 54 | #¤>£..=LÔò.£..âT
080 CD 0F 7B FF 4D 6E A0 17 0B F0 02 10 00 A8 FF 2E | Í.{.Mn ..ð...¨..
096 0E 12 2E 0F 1D F6 0F C3 2B E7 EF 3F 0B 04 00 80 | .....ö.Ã+çï?...€
112 0E 5D 4A F0 D6 7A C0 12 D4 0D 02 FF 20 B7 0B 02 | .]JðÖzÀ.Ô... ·..
128 00 74 10 E1 3C F0 7B 97 30 B2 D1 4F 49 00 2D 7F | .t.á<ð{—0²ÑOI.-
144 C0 0E 00 90 4F F1 D6 ED D5 E4 01 90 12 31 CD 6C | À..OñÖíÕä..1Íl
160 C5 5C F0 2D 00 77 F2 00 40 DD D5 33 AB 45 EE 1E | Åð-.wò.@ÝÕ3«Eî.
176 F1 7D 90 53 19 2E 00 5D F7 00 DC 15 E2 B2 20 1A | ñ}S...]÷.Ü.â² .
192 03 5F A0 04 00 DE 7F B2 00 6D D6 ED 5E E1 F4 BF | ._ ..Þ².mÖí^áô¿
208 60 D2 BE 45 19 3E F0 40 DE 6E 00 65 DD 64 CD 03 | `Ò¾E.>ð@Þn.eÝdÍ.
224 D2 F5 A4 EF E3 4D 1E F4 A6 DF 3E 4D 00 69 DF 51 | Òõ¤ïãM.ô¦ß>M.ißQ
240 09 43 1B D5 F0 5E DD E7 F0 01 FE E1 43 CF 00 80 | .C.Õð^Ýçð.þáCÏ.€
256 A7 11 BF 6F EE 12 02 DF 3C 13 F0 D2 20 ED 7C 1D | §.¿oî..ß<.ðÒ í|.
272 00 84 21 0F 01 1F A7 00 C2 3C F4 1B 21 F1 0E F3 | .„!...§.Â<ô.!ñ.ó
288 3D E0 00 71 41 94 0E 31 0C 03 F1 00 D0 3F 2F 0D | =à.qA”.1..ñ.Ð?/.
304 01 3D 13 EF 00 78 E2 1D 40 EE 3F 10 03 93 1E 5B | .=.ï.xâ.@î?..“.[
320 22 E0 E1 14 A1 2D 00 62 30 0D 30 2C 10 E3 2E E0 | "àá.¡-.b0.0,.ã.à
336 6E A0 6F DF 43 94 E0 01 00 B9 0F 10 2C 2F 2F F0 | n oßC”à..¹..,//ð
352 12 19 22 11 FF F0 11 0E 11 0E 00 9F D7 EE 20 FF | .."..ð.....Ÿ×î .
368 F2 10 FF 11 E1 F3 C2 3E EF 10 3F 00 00 48 D1 D2 | ò...áóÂ>ï.?..HÑÒ
384 13 FE 4A 20 F2 5B E1 1E F7 EF C3 10 F0 0F 00 5E | .þJ ò[á.÷ïÃ.ð..^
400 11 D4 EF D7 FD 01 1F E1 20 E0 14 BF F4 2B 4F D1 | .Ôï×ý..á à.¿ô+OÑ
416 00 45 02 01 B6 C1 2F F0 5C FC 7F 12 CF C4 2F 5F | .E..¶Á/ðü.ÏÄ/_
432 D9 6D 00 5F F4 3E 0D 2D E6 F0 02 C0 F1 03 0F FF | Ùm._ô>.-æð.Àñ...
448 10 D0 7E 1D 00 70 F0 E1 20 4F 93 00 1E 04 E0 1B | .Ð~..pðá O“...à.
464 3F 11 03 A0 14 B3 00 64 E4 0A 5E DF 7E 3B 10 E1 | ?.. .³.dä.^ß~;.á
480 F3 1F E1 0F F2 2F F2 C0 00 34 32 FD 34 0A F0 10 | ó.á.ò/òÀ.42ý4.ð.
496 22 01 FC 96 60 0D 2A 2F 20 06 00 49 EE D1 04 0E | ".ü–`.*/ ..IîÑ..
###
.../000:54/IAS> Admi Sector found on disk 2 (130)
.../000:54/EXE> FingerPrint found
.../000:54/PFC> PQstuff signature detected on disk 0 (128)
.../000:54/PFC> PQstuff signature not detected on disk 1 (129)
.../000:54/PFC> PQstuff signature not detected on disk 2 (130)
.../000:54/PFC> !- Possible 128Gb barrier problem detected for disk 1 (129)
.../000:54/PFC> Sector test is Negative
.../000:54/PFC> !- Possible 128Gb barrier problem detected for disk 2 (130)
.../000:54/PFC> Sector test is Negative
.../000:54/PFC> Partition State Backup not found on disk 0 (128)
.../000:54/PFC> Partition State Backup not found on disk 1 (129)
.../000:54/PFC> Partition State Backup not found on disk 2 (130)
.../000:58/MNU> - Main, Select Disk
.../001:03/USD> Disk 1 (129) selected
.../001:03/USD> Read/WriteErrors reset to 0
.../001:03/USD> DataCollection / PartList cleared
.../001:03/GSC> AdmiSector not in use
.../001:03/GSC> AdmiSector not in use
129/001:03/LOG> Dump MBR requested
### MBR FOR DISK 129
000 33 C0 8E D0 BC 00 7C FB 50 07 50 1F FC BE 1B 7C | 3ÀŽÐ¼.|ûP.P.ü¾.|
016 BF 1B 06 50 57 B9 E5 01 F3 A4 CB BD BE 07 B1 04 | ¿..PW¹å.ó¤Ë½¾.±.
032 38 6E 00 7C 09 75 13 83 C5 10 E2 F4 CD 18 8B F5 | 8n.|.u.ƒÅ.âôÍ.‹õ
048 83 C6 10 49 74 19 38 2C 74 F6 A0 B5 07 B4 07 8B | ƒÆ.It.8,tö µ.´.‹
064 F0 AC 3C 00 74 FC BB 07 00 B4 0E CD 10 EB F2 88 | ð¬<.tü»..´.Í.ëòˆ
080 4E 10 E8 46 00 73 2A FE 46 10 80 7E 04 0B 74 0B | N.èF.s*þF.€~..t.
096 80 7E 04 0C 74 05 A0 B6 07 75 D2 80 46 02 06 83 | €~..t. ¶.uÒ€F..ƒ
112 46 08 06 83 56 0A 00 E8 21 00 73 05 A0 B6 07 EB | F..ƒV..è!.s. ¶.ë
128 BC 81 3E FE 7D 55 AA 74 0B 80 7E 10 00 74 C8 A0 | ¼>þ}Uªt.€~..tÈ 
144 B7 07 EB A9 8B FC 1E 57 8B F5 CB BF 05 00 8A 56 | ·.ë©‹ü.W‹õË¿..ŠV
160 00 B4 08 CD 13 72 23 8A C1 24 3F 98 8A DE 8A FC | .´.Í.r#ŠÁ$?˜ŠÞŠü
176 43 F7 E3 8B D1 86 D6 B1 06 D2 EE 42 F7 E2 39 56 | C÷ã‹Ñ†Ö±.ÒîB÷â9V
192 0A 77 23 72 05 39 46 08 73 1C B8 01 02 BB 00 7C | .w#r.9F.s.¸..».|
208 8B 4E 02 8B 56 00 CD 13 73 51 4F 74 4E 32 E4 8A | ‹N.‹V.Í.sQOtN2äŠ
224 56 00 CD 13 EB E4 8A 56 00 60 BB AA 55 B4 41 CD | V.Í.ëäŠV.`»ªU´AÍ
240 13 72 36 81 FB 55 AA 75 30 F6 C1 01 74 2B 61 60 | .r6ûUªu0öÁ.t+a`
256 6A 00 6A 00 FF 76 0A FF 76 08 6A 00 68 00 7C 6A | j.j..v..v.j.h.|j
272 01 6A 10 B4 42 8B F4 CD 13 61 61 73 0E 4F 74 0B | .j.´B‹ôÍ.aas.Ot.
288 32 E4 8A 56 00 CD 13 EB D6 61 F9 C3 49 6E 76 61 | 2äŠV.Í.ëÖaùÃInva
304 6C 69 64 20 70 61 72 74 69 74 69 6F 6E 20 74 61 | lid partition ta
320 62 6C 65 00 45 72 72 6F 72 20 6C 6F 61 64 69 6E | ble.Error loadin
336 67 20 6F 70 65 72 61 74 69 6E 67 20 73 79 73 74 | g operating syst
352 65 6D 00 4D 69 73 73 69 6E 67 20 6F 70 65 72 61 | em.Missing opera
368 74 69 6E 67 20 73 79 73 74 65 6D 00 00 00 00 00 | ting system.....
384 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 | ................
400 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 | ................
416 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 | ................
432 00 00 00 00 00 2C 44 63 35 71 4D 85 00 00 00 01 | .....,Dc5qM…....
448 01 00 07 FE FF FF 3F 00 00 00 82 DD 49 17 00 00 | ...þ..?...‚ÝI...
464 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 | ................
480 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 | ................
496 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 55 AA | ..............Uª
### Interpreted Partition Table Information
### _ACT_|_TYPE_|__START--C/H/S_|__END----C/H/S_|__LBA-start_|_LBA-length
..1 ...0 | ..07 | ....0...1...1 | .1023.254..63 | ........63 | .390716802
..2 ...0 | ..00 | ....0...0...0 | ....0...0...0 | .........0 | .........0
..3 ...0 | ..00 | ....0...0...0 | ....0...0...0 | .........0 | .........0
..4 ...0 | ..00 | ....0...0...0 | ....0...0...0 | .........0 | .........0

129/001:11/MNU> - Main, Tools
129/001:23/MNU> - Support, Analyze Disk / StateFile (no repair, create log)
129/001:23/SCN> DiskScan requested, ScanType is 0
129/001:23/SCN> DiskScan 0 (0 0 1) / 268435454 (16709 85 15) / 268435455
129/001:23/SCN> First bunnyhop BS at 63 (0 1 1)
129/001:23/SCN> Next bunnyhop BS at 63 (0 1 1)
129/014:58/SCN> DiskScan completed
129/014:58/SCN> ReadErrors for disk 1 (129): 0
129/014:58/SST> SaveState requested for disk 1 (129)
129/014:58/SST> Admi Sector not in use for disk 1 (129), SaveState aborted
129/014:58/CDC> CleanDatacollection requested
129/014:58/CDC> DataCollection Items found: 1
129/014:58/CDC> DataCollection Items flagged: 0
129/014:58/CDC> CleanDatacollection finished
129/014:58/LOG> Dump DataCollection requested
129/014:58/LOG> DataCollection Items found: 1 / 0
### DATACOLLECTION.ARRAY, FULL ###
SEQ_|___D_|________LOC_|____TYPE_|__COM_|______START_|_____LENGTH_|__PL_|_F
001 | 129 | .........0 | ...NTFS | PTE1 | ........63 | .390716802 | PRI | .

129/014:59/LOG> Dump DataCollection requested
129/014:59/LOG> DataCollection Items found: 1 / 0
### DATACOLLECTION.ARRAY, CLEANED ###
SEQ_|___D_|________LOC_|____TYPE_|__COM_|______START_|_____LENGTH_|__PL
001 | 129 | .........0 | ...NTFS | PTE1 | ........63 | .390716802 | PRI

129/014:59/MPL> MakePartList requested
129/014:59/MPL> MakePartList Items created: 1
129/014:59/MPL> MakePartList finished
129/014:59/LOG> Dump PartList requested
129/014:59/LOG> PartList Items created: 1
### PARTLIST.ARRAY ###
SEQ_|____TYPE_|_PTE_|__BS_|_BBS_|F8FF_|___S_|___L_|__PL_|_C_|___R
001 | ...NTFS | ..1 | ... | ... | --- | ..1 | ..1 | ..1 | 1 | .1-

### PARTLIST.ARRAY.INTERPRETED ###
SEQ_|____TYPE_|______START_|_____LENGTH_|________END_|__PL_|___R
001 | ...NTFS | ........63 | .390716802 | .390716864 | PRI | .1-

129/014:59/VEC> Start Verify EPBR Chain for disk 1 (129)
129/014:59/VEC> MBR: 55AA found, Valid Type F/5 not found
129/014:59/VEC> Partition Table info for sector 0 (0 0 1)
129/014:59/LOG> PartListDump requested at 0 (0 0 1)
### _ACT_|_TYPE_|__START--C/H/S_|__END----C/H/S_|__LBA-start_|_LBA-length
..1 ...0 | ..07 | ....0...1...1 | .1023.254..63 | ........63 | .390716802
..2 ...0 | ..00 | ....0...0...0 | ....0...0...0 | .........0 | .........0
..3 ...0 | ..00 | ....0...0...0 | ....0...0...0 | .........0 | .........0
..4 ...0 | ..00 | ....0...0...0 | ....0...0...0 | .........0 | .........0

129/014:59/LOG> BootSectorDump requested at 63 (0 1 1)
### BootSectorDump for BStype NTFS
...........Jump Code (hex): EB5290
............OEM Name (txt): NTFS
....Bytes per Sector (dec): 512
.Sectors per Cluster (dec): 8
....Reserved Sectors (dec): 0
..............Unused (hex): 0000000000
....Media Descriptor (hex): F8
..............Unused (hex): 0000
...Sectors per Track (dec): 63
.....Heads per Track (dec): 255
......Hidden Sectors (dec): 63
..............Unused (hex): 00000000
.............Unknown (hex): 00800080
.......Total Sectors (dec): 390716801
........MFT Location (dec): 4
.MFT Mirror Location (dec): 24419800
....Clusters per FRS (dec): 246
.Clusters/Indx Block (dec): 1
...........Volume ID (hex): BA4488C14488823D
........Volume Label (txt): WD200G
............Checksum (hex): 00000000
....Sector Signature (hex): AA55

129/014:59/VEC> Verify EPBR Chain finished
129/014:59/EXE> Analysis Complete
129/015:17/MNU> - Main, Tools
129/015:20/MNU> - Main, MBR ops
129/015:22/MNU> - Main, Disk Ops
129/015:24/MNU> - Main, Options
129/015:27/CFG> Dump Options requested
129/015:27/CFG> FilePath="1/.DP_FILES"
129/015:27/CFG> LogFilename="DP.LOG"
129/015:27/CFG> ReadRetries="32"
129/015:27/CFG> MaxReadErrors="32"
129/015:27/CFG> ReadDelay="1"
129/015:27/CFG> AutoSaveState="1"
129/015:27/CFG> DumpFoundSectors="0"
129/015:27/CFG> LogLevel="2"
129/015:27/CFG> DebugLevel="0"
129/015:27/CFG> MaxFatScan="51200"
129/015:27/CFG> MaxDataColEntries="512"
129/015:27/CFG> ScanType="0"
129/015:28/CFG> IgnoreF8FF="0"
129/015:28/CFG> ScanSignature="55AA"
129/015:32/MNU> - Main, Quit
129/015:32/LOG> RunTime: 015:32
129/015:32/LOG> ### CLOSE LOG ###



How do I overcome the "End Past EOD" error OR even better, how do I access my drive please?

Product you are using: DiskPatch 2.1

Operating system / Service Pack: Windows 2000 (SP4)

Size of subject harddisk: 200GB

Hello,

The problems appears to be that the BIOS does not support 48 bit LBA addressing, and that as a result of that we can not see the entire disk (just the first 128 Gb).

For DiskPatch to be able to see the entire disk, you'd need to see if a BIOS upgrade is available, or you'd need to add am add-on disk controller to the system capable of 48 bit LBA addressing.

Side note: Even if you decide not to use DiskPatch, it is wise to ensure the syste fully supports 48 bit LBA addressing. This means, the BIOS *plus* the OS need to be capable of 48 bit LBA addressing. See http://www.48bitLBA.com for more info on the matter.

Now will DiskPatch be able to help once you have taken care of all that? We can't tell until we see a logfile of that situation. Once we have that, we can tell if the non-existing boot sector for the NTFS partition can be fixed. For the NTFS partition we can ONLY find a partition table entry. We can not guarantee that after fixing the boot sector the drive can be accessed.

The error you're getting after you have selected the partition is a direct result of the fact that we only see the first 128 Gb of the disk while the partition itself is larger.

--
Kind regards,
Joep

Thanks for your prompt reply, Joep.

I have now updated the BIOS on my Epox EP-8K7A+ motherboard & analysed the corrupted partition which now reports no errors & that the chance of recover success (prognosis) is "fair".

I attached the log file for your consideration...

.../000:08/LOG> ### LOG START ###
.../000:08/LOG> DISKPATCH 2.1.100
.../000:08/LOG> (C) 2000-2005, DIY DataRecovery
.../000:08/LOG> Contact info: HTTP://www.DIYDataRecovery.nl
.../000:08/LOG> DPRunType: 0
.../000:08/LOG> DPUsrName: DEMO
.../000:08/LOG> MemFree: 107Kb
.../000:08/LOG> LogDate: 03-15-2005
.../000:08/CFG> Dump Options requested
.../000:08/CFG> FilePath="1/.DP_FILES"
.../000:08/CFG> LogFilename="DP.LOG"
.../000:08/CFG> ReadRetries="32"
.../000:08/CFG> MaxReadErrors="32"
.../000:08/CFG> ReadDelay="1"
.../000:08/CFG> AutoSaveState="1"
.../000:08/CFG> DumpFoundSectors="0"
.../000:08/CFG> LogLevel="2"
.../000:08/CFG> DebugLevel="0"
.../000:08/CFG> MaxFatScan="51200"
.../000:08/CFG> MaxDataColEntries="512"
.../000:08/CFG> ScanType="0"
.../000:08/CFG> IgnoreF8FF="0"
.../000:08/CFG> ScanSignature="55AA"
.../000:08/13H> Ext13H installed test requested
.../000:08/13H> Disk found at 128
.../000:08/13H> Ext13H version: 2.1 / EDD-1.1
.../000:08/13H> Ext13H Support: Extended disk access functions
.../000:09/13H> Ext13H Support: Enhanced disk drive functions
.../000:09/13H> Ext13H Flags: Cylinder/head/sector info is valid
.../000:09/13H> Disk 128 X13H data : 13328/15/63 12594960/512
.../000:09/13H> Disk found at 129
.../000:09/13H> Ext13H version: 2.1 / EDD-1.1
.../000:09/13H> Ext13H Support: Extended disk access functions
.../000:09/13H> Ext13H Support: Enhanced disk drive functions
.../000:09/13H> Ext13H Flags: Cylinder/head/sector info is valid
.../000:09/13H> Disk 129 X13H data : 65535/16/255 390721968/512
.../000:09/13H> Disk found at 130
.../000:09/13H> Ext13H version: 2.1 / EDD-1.1
.../000:09/13H> Ext13H Support: Extended disk access functions
.../000:09/13H> Ext13H Support: Enhanced disk drive functions
.../000:09/13H> Ext13H Flags: Cylinder/head/sector info is valid
.../000:09/13H> Disk 130 X13H data : 65535/16/255 390721968/512
.../000:09/13H> Ext13H tested ok
.../000:09/FDL> DiskList requested
.../000:09/FDL> Disk found at 128
.../000:09/FDL> Disk found at 129
.../000:09/FDL> Disk found at 130
.../000:09/LOG> Dump DiskList requested
### DISKLIST.ARRAY ###
__D_|________LBA_|___H_|__S_|__GB
128 | ..12594960 | 255 | 63 | ..6
129 | .390721968 | 255 | 63 | 186
130 | .390721968 | 255 | 63 | 186
..0 | .........0 | ..0 | .0 | ..0

.../000:09/IAS> Admi Sector found on disk 0 (128)
.../000:09/IAS> Admi Sector on disk 1 (129) not free for DP use, dump follows;
.../000:09/LOG> SectorDump requested at 29 (0 0 30)
###
000 B0 F5 00 6E 0E D2 FF 42 DF 11 CC 76 DA 3D 2E 6E | °õ.n.Ò.Bß.ÌvÚ=.n
016 D3 49 03 C1 00 BF 3F 1B 41 D0 11 1F FF 4D C3 7D | ÓI.Á.¿?.AÐ...MÃ}
032 92 5D 0E 40 EF 2F 00 74 FF 6E DC 65 CA 27 C1 EE | ’].@ï/.t.nÜeÊ'Áî
048 5D 12 D1 20 DD 7C 11 4A 00 7A 20 ED 42 0E 11 B1 | ].Ñ Ý|.J.z íB..±
064 23 A4 3E A3 10 1E 3D 4C D4 F2 00 A3 03 09 E2 54 | #¤>£..=LÔò.£..âT
080 CD 0F 7B FF 4D 6E A0 17 0B F0 02 10 00 A8 FF 2E | Í.{.Mn ..ð...¨..
096 0E 12 2E 0F 1D F6 0F C3 2B E7 EF 3F 0B 04 00 80 | .....ö.Ã+çï?...€
112 0E 5D 4A F0 D6 7A C0 12 D4 0D 02 FF 20 B7 0B 02 | .]JðÖzÀ.Ô... ·..
128 00 74 10 E1 3C F0 7B 97 30 B2 D1 4F 49 00 2D 7F | .t.á<ð{—0²ÑOI.-
144 C0 0E 00 90 4F F1 D6 ED D5 E4 01 90 12 31 CD 6C | À..OñÖíÕä..1Íl
160 C5 5C F0 2D 00 77 F2 00 40 DD D5 33 AB 45 EE 1E | Åð-.wò.@ÝÕ3«Eî.
176 F1 7D 90 53 19 2E 00 5D F7 00 DC 15 E2 B2 20 1A | ñ}S...]÷.Ü.â² .
192 03 5F A0 04 00 DE 7F B2 00 6D D6 ED 5E E1 F4 BF | ._ ..Þ².mÖí^áô¿
208 60 D2 BE 45 19 3E F0 40 DE 6E 00 65 DD 64 CD 03 | `Ò¾E.>ð@Þn.eÝdÍ.
224 D2 F5 A4 EF E3 4D 1E F4 A6 DF 3E 4D 00 69 DF 51 | Òõ¤ïãM.ô¦ß>M.ißQ
240 09 43 1B D5 F0 5E DD E7 F0 01 FE E1 43 CF 00 80 | .C.Õð^Ýçð.þáCÏ.€
256 A7 11 BF 6F EE 12 02 DF 3C 13 F0 D2 20 ED 7C 1D | §.¿oî..ß<.ðÒ í|.
272 00 84 21 0F 01 1F A7 00 C2 3C F4 1B 21 F1 0E F3 | .„!...§.Â<ô.!ñ.ó
288 3D E0 00 71 41 94 0E 31 0C 03 F1 00 D0 3F 2F 0D | =à.qA”.1..ñ.Ð?/.
304 01 3D 13 EF 00 78 E2 1D 40 EE 3F 10 03 93 1E 5B | .=.ï.xâ.@î?..“.[
320 22 E0 E1 14 A1 2D 00 62 30 0D 30 2C 10 E3 2E E0 | "àá.¡-.b0.0,.ã.à
336 6E A0 6F DF 43 94 E0 01 00 B9 0F 10 2C 2F 2F F0 | n oßC”à..¹..,//ð
352 12 19 22 11 FF F0 11 0E 11 0E 00 9F D7 EE 20 FF | .."..ð.....Ÿ×î .
368 F2 10 FF 11 E1 F3 C2 3E EF 10 3F 00 00 48 D1 D2 | ò...áóÂ>ï.?..HÑÒ
384 13 FE 4A 20 F2 5B E1 1E F7 EF C3 10 F0 0F 00 5E | .þJ ò[á.÷ïÃ.ð..^
400 11 D4 EF D7 FD 01 1F E1 20 E0 14 BF F4 2B 4F D1 | .Ôï×ý..á à.¿ô+OÑ
416 00 45 02 01 B6 C1 2F F0 5C FC 7F 12 CF C4 2F 5F | .E..¶Á/ðü.ÏÄ/_
432 D9 6D 00 5F F4 3E 0D 2D E6 F0 02 C0 F1 03 0F FF | Ùm._ô>.-æð.Àñ...
448 10 D0 7E 1D 00 70 F0 E1 20 4F 93 00 1E 04 E0 1B | .Ð~..pðá O“...à.
464 3F 11 03 A0 14 B3 00 64 E4 0A 5E DF 7E 3B 10 E1 | ?.. .³.dä.^ß~;.á
480 F3 1F E1 0F F2 2F F2 C0 00 34 32 FD 34 0A F0 10 | ó.á.ò/òÀ.42ý4.ð.
496 22 01 FC 96 60 0D 2A 2F 20 06 00 49 EE D1 04 0E | ".ü–`.*/ ..IîÑ..
###
.../000:10/IAS> Admi Sector found on disk 2 (130)
.../000:10/EXE> FingerPrint found
.../000:10/PFC> PQstuff signature detected on disk 0 (128)
.../000:10/PFC> PQstuff signature not detected on disk 1 (129)
.../000:10/PFC> PQstuff signature not detected on disk 2 (130)
.../000:10/PFC> Partition State Backup not found on disk 0 (128)
.../000:10/PFC> Partition State Backup not found on disk 1 (129)
.../000:10/PFC> Partition State Backup not found on disk 2 (130)
.../000:11/MNU> - Main, Select Disk
.../000:19/USD> Disk 1 (129) selected
.../000:19/USD> Read/WriteErrors reset to 0
.../000:19/USD> DataCollection / PartList cleared
.../000:19/GSC> AdmiSector not in use
.../000:20/GSC> AdmiSector not in use
129/000:20/LOG> Dump MBR requested
### MBR FOR DISK 129
000 33 C0 8E D0 BC 00 7C FB 50 07 50 1F FC BE 1B 7C | 3ÀŽÐ¼.|ûP.P.ü¾.|
016 BF 1B 06 50 57 B9 E5 01 F3 A4 CB BD BE 07 B1 04 | ¿..PW¹å.ó¤Ë½¾.±.
032 38 6E 00 7C 09 75 13 83 C5 10 E2 F4 CD 18 8B F5 | 8n.|.u.ƒÅ.âôÍ.‹õ
048 83 C6 10 49 74 19 38 2C 74 F6 A0 B5 07 B4 07 8B | ƒÆ.It.8,tö µ.´.‹
064 F0 AC 3C 00 74 FC BB 07 00 B4 0E CD 10 EB F2 88 | ð¬<.tü»..´.Í.ëòˆ
080 4E 10 E8 46 00 73 2A FE 46 10 80 7E 04 0B 74 0B | N.èF.s*þF.€~..t.
096 80 7E 04 0C 74 05 A0 B6 07 75 D2 80 46 02 06 83 | €~..t. ¶.uÒ€F..ƒ
112 46 08 06 83 56 0A 00 E8 21 00 73 05 A0 B6 07 EB | F..ƒV..è!.s. ¶.ë
128 BC 81 3E FE 7D 55 AA 74 0B 80 7E 10 00 74 C8 A0 | ¼>þ}Uªt.€~..tÈ 
144 B7 07 EB A9 8B FC 1E 57 8B F5 CB BF 05 00 8A 56 | ·.ë©‹ü.W‹õË¿..ŠV
160 00 B4 08 CD 13 72 23 8A C1 24 3F 98 8A DE 8A FC | .´.Í.r#ŠÁ$?˜ŠÞŠü
176 43 F7 E3 8B D1 86 D6 B1 06 D2 EE 42 F7 E2 39 56 | C÷ã‹Ñ†Ö±.ÒîB÷â9V
192 0A 77 23 72 05 39 46 08 73 1C B8 01 02 BB 00 7C | .w#r.9F.s.¸..».|
208 8B 4E 02 8B 56 00 CD 13 73 51 4F 74 4E 32 E4 8A | ‹N.‹V.Í.sQOtN2äŠ
224 56 00 CD 13 EB E4 8A 56 00 60 BB AA 55 B4 41 CD | V.Í.ëäŠV.`»ªU´AÍ
240 13 72 36 81 FB 55 AA 75 30 F6 C1 01 74 2B 61 60 | .r6ûUªu0öÁ.t+a`
256 6A 00 6A 00 FF 76 0A FF 76 08 6A 00 68 00 7C 6A | j.j..v..v.j.h.|j
272 01 6A 10 B4 42 8B F4 CD 13 61 61 73 0E 4F 74 0B | .j.´B‹ôÍ.aas.Ot.
288 32 E4 8A 56 00 CD 13 EB D6 61 F9 C3 49 6E 76 61 | 2äŠV.Í.ëÖaùÃInva
304 6C 69 64 20 70 61 72 74 69 74 69 6F 6E 20 74 61 | lid partition ta
320 62 6C 65 00 45 72 72 6F 72 20 6C 6F 61 64 69 6E | ble.Error loadin
336 67 20 6F 70 65 72 61 74 69 6E 67 20 73 79 73 74 | g operating syst
352 65 6D 00 4D 69 73 73 69 6E 67 20 6F 70 65 72 61 | em.Missing opera
368 74 69 6E 67 20 73 79 73 74 65 6D 00 00 00 00 00 | ting system.....
384 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 | ................
400 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 | ................
416 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 | ................
432 00 00 00 00 00 2C 44 63 35 71 4D 85 00 00 00 01 | .....,Dc5qM…....
448 01 00 07 FE FF FF 3F 00 00 00 82 DD 49 17 00 00 | ...þ..?...‚ÝI...
464 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 | ................
480 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 | ................
496 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 55 AA | ..............Uª
### Interpreted Partition Table Information
### _ACT_|_TYPE_|__START--C/H/S_|__END----C/H/S_|__LBA-start_|_LBA-length
..1 ...0 | ..07 | ....0...1...1 | .1023.254..63 | ........63 | .390716802
..2 ...0 | ..00 | ....0...0...0 | ....0...0...0 | .........0 | .........0
..3 ...0 | ..00 | ....0...0...0 | ....0...0...0 | .........0 | .........0
..4 ...0 | ..00 | ....0...0...0 | ....0...0...0 | .........0 | .........0

129/000:26/MNU> - Main, Analyze Disk / StateFile
129/000:28/SCN> DiskScan requested, ScanType is 0
129/000:28/SCN> DiskScan 0 (0 0 1) / 390721967 (24321 80 63) / 390721968
129/000:29/SCN> First bunnyhop BS at 63 (0 1 1)
129/000:29/SCN> Next bunnyhop BS at 390716865 (24321 0 1)
129/020:22/SCN> Next bunnyhop BS at 390716865 (24321 0 1)
129/020:22/SCN> DiskScan completed
129/020:22/SCN> ReadErrors for disk 1 (129): 0
129/020:22/SST> SaveState requested for disk 1 (129)
129/020:22/SST> Admi Sector not in use for disk 1 (129), SaveState aborted
129/020:22/CDC> CleanDatacollection requested
129/020:22/CDC> DataCollection Items found: 5
129/020:23/CDC> DataCollection Items flagged: 2
129/020:23/CDC> CleanDatacollection finished
129/020:23/LOG> Dump DataCollection requested
129/020:23/LOG> DataCollection Items found: 5 / 2
### DATACOLLECTION.ARRAY, FULL ###
SEQ_|___D_|________LOC_|____TYPE_|__COM_|______START_|_____LENGTH_|__PL_|_F
001 | 129 | .........0 | ...NTFS | PTE1 | ........63 | .390716802 | PRI | .
002 | 129 | ........63 | ...NTFS | ..BS | ........63 | .390716802 | PRI | .
003 | 129 | ........63 | ...NTFS | ..BS | ........63 | .390716802 | PRI | I
004 | 129 | .390716864 | ...NTFS | .BBS | ........63 | .390716802 | PRI | .
005 | 129 | .390716864 | ...NTFS | .BBS | ........63 | .390716802 | PRI | I

129/020:23/LOG> Dump DataCollection requested
129/020:23/LOG> DataCollection Items found: 5 / 2
### DATACOLLECTION.ARRAY, CLEANED ###
SEQ_|___D_|________LOC_|____TYPE_|__COM_|______START_|_____LENGTH_|__PL
001 | 129 | .........0 | ...NTFS | PTE1 | ........63 | .390716802 | PRI
002 | 129 | ........63 | ...NTFS | ..BS | ........63 | .390716802 | PRI
004 | 129 | .390716864 | ...NTFS | .BBS | ........63 | .390716802 | PRI

129/020:23/MPL> MakePartList requested
129/020:23/MPL> MakePartList Items created: 1
129/020:23/MPL> MakePartList finished
129/020:23/LOG> Dump PartList requested
129/020:23/LOG> PartList Items created: 1
### PARTLIST.ARRAY ###
SEQ_|____TYPE_|_PTE_|__BS_|_BBS_|F8FF_|___S_|___L_|__PL_|_C_|___R
001 | ...NTFS | ..1 | ..2 | ..4 | --- | ..1 | ..1 | ..1 | 3 | .7#

### PARTLIST.ARRAY.INTERPRETED ###
SEQ_|____TYPE_|______START_|_____LENGTH_|________END_|__PL_|___R
001 | ...NTFS | ........63 | .390716802 | .390716864 | PRI | .7#

129/020:46/MRL> User Select Partition 1 for Repair
129/022:24/MNU> - Support, Analyze Disk / StateFile (no repair, create log)
129/022:30/CDC> CleanDatacollection requested
129/022:30/CDC> DataCollection Items found: 5
129/022:30/CDC> DataCollection Items flagged: 2
129/022:30/CDC> CleanDatacollection finished
129/022:30/LOG> Dump DataCollection requested
129/022:31/LOG> DataCollection Items found: 5 / 2
### DATACOLLECTION.ARRAY, FULL ###
SEQ_|___D_|________LOC_|____TYPE_|__COM_|______START_|_____LENGTH_|__PL_|_F
001 | 129 | .........0 | ...NTFS | PTE1 | ........63 | .390716802 | PRI | .
002 | 129 | ........63 | ...NTFS | ..BS | ........63 | .390716802 | PRI | .
003 | 129 | ........63 | ...NTFS | ..BS | ........63 | .390716802 | PRI | I
004 | 129 | .390716864 | ...NTFS | .BBS | ........63 | .390716802 | PRI | .
005 | 129 | .390716864 | ...NTFS | .BBS | ........63 | .390716802 | PRI | I

129/022:31/LOG> Dump DataCollection requested
129/022:31/LOG> DataCollection Items found: 5 / 2
### DATACOLLECTION.ARRAY, CLEANED ###
SEQ_|___D_|________LOC_|____TYPE_|__COM_|______START_|_____LENGTH_|__PL
001 | 129 | .........0 | ...NTFS | PTE1 | ........63 | .390716802 | PRI
002 | 129 | ........63 | ...NTFS | ..BS | ........63 | .390716802 | PRI
004 | 129 | .390716864 | ...NTFS | .BBS | ........63 | .390716802 | PRI

129/022:31/MPL> MakePartList requested
129/022:31/MPL> MakePartList Items created: 1
129/022:31/MPL> MakePartList finished
129/022:31/LOG> Dump PartList requested
129/022:31/LOG> PartList Items created: 1
### PARTLIST.ARRAY ###
SEQ_|____TYPE_|_PTE_|__BS_|_BBS_|F8FF_|___S_|___L_|__PL_|_C_|___R
001 | ...NTFS | ..1 | ..2 | ..4 | --- | ..1 | ..1 | ..1 | 3 | .7#

### PARTLIST.ARRAY.INTERPRETED ###
SEQ_|____TYPE_|______START_|_____LENGTH_|________END_|__PL_|___R
001 | ...NTFS | ........63 | .390716802 | .390716864 | PRI | .7#

129/022:32/VEC> Start Verify EPBR Chain for disk 1 (129)
129/022:32/VEC> MBR: 55AA found, Valid Type F/5 not found
129/022:32/VEC> Partition Table info for sector 0 (0 0 1)
129/022:32/LOG> PartListDump requested at 0 (0 0 1)
### _ACT_|_TYPE_|__START--C/H/S_|__END----C/H/S_|__LBA-start_|_LBA-length
..1 ...0 | ..07 | ....0...1...1 | .1023.254..63 | ........63 | .390716802
..2 ...0 | ..00 | ....0...0...0 | ....0...0...0 | .........0 | .........0
..3 ...0 | ..00 | ....0...0...0 | ....0...0...0 | .........0 | .........0
..4 ...0 | ..00 | ....0...0...0 | ....0...0...0 | .........0 | .........0

129/022:32/LOG> BootSectorDump requested at 63 (0 1 1)
### BootSectorDump for BStype NTFS
...........Jump Code (hex): EB5290
............OEM Name (txt): NTFS
....Bytes per Sector (dec): 512
.Sectors per Cluster (dec): 8
....Reserved Sectors (dec): 0
..............Unused (hex): 0000000000
....Media Descriptor (hex): F8
..............Unused (hex): 0000
...Sectors per Track (dec): 63
.....Heads per Track (dec): 255
......Hidden Sectors (dec): 63
..............Unused (hex): 00000000
.............Unknown (hex): 00800080
.......Total Sectors (dec): 390716801
........MFT Location (dec): 4
.MFT Mirror Location (dec): 24419800
....Clusters per FRS (dec): 246
.Clusters/Indx Block (dec): 1
...........Volume ID (hex): BA4488C14488823D
........Volume Label (txt): WD200G
............Checksum (hex): 00000000
....Sector Signature (hex): AA55

129/022:32/VEC> Verify EPBR Chain finished
129/022:32/EXE> Analysis Complete
129/022:43/MNU> - Main, Quit
129/022:43/LOG> RunTime: 022:43
129/022:43/LOG> ### CLOSE LOG ###


- Will I be able to access this partition after DiskPatch carries out the necessary repairs?
- Will all the data be intact as it was before the corruption occurred?

Thanks you kindly for all your efforts/advice.

Product you are using: DiskPatch 2.1

Operating system / Service Pack: Windows 2000 (SP4)

Size of subject harddisk: 200GB

Hello,

Well, now we actaully see components for this partition that we didn't detect before. During the first scan, for example no boot sector was found (even though that sector does reside within the first 128 Gb).

The analysis ate the end of the logfile shows that an NTFS partition is present, and that all seems well for this partition as fat as it concerns the partition table and the boot sector. In other words, all seems fine.

If you can confirm that the expected volume label for this partition is "WD200G" then DiskPatch even was able to find the $MFT at the expected location.

Running a repair with DiskPatch will not have any added value in this case.

What Windows version are you running, and are any service packs installed?

If you download NTFS4DOS from www.datapol.de, are you able to mount and access the partition with that?

--
Kind regards,
Joep

Hi Joep,

I am pretty sure I have already tried NTFS4DOS to no avail, but I will try again to make sure.

I am running Windows 2000 SP4 which identifies the file system as "Unknown" and 0 bytes. I have tried the hard drive in my other PC which is running Windows XP SP2 and recognises the file system as "RAW" and 0 bytes.

So I assume there must be partition table corruption somewhere. Pre-empting that NTFS4DOS may prove unhelpful, what would be my next step to being able to access my drive please?

Product you are using: DiskPatch 2.1

Operating system / Service Pack: Windows 2000 SP4

Size of subject harddisk: 200GB

Hello,

"I am running Windows 2000 SP4 which identifies"

Okay, but is the enablebiglba registry key added:

To enable EnableBigLba in the Windows registry, perform the following steps:

Start a registry editor (e.g., regedit.exe). In Windows, click on Start->Run, enter "regedit".

Navigate to the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESYSTEMCurrentControlSetServicesatapiParameters registry subkey.

From the Edit menu, select New, DWORD Value.
Enter the name EnableBigLba, then press Enter.

Double-click the new value, set it to 1, then click OK.

Close the registry editor.

Restart the machine for the change to take effect.

--
Joep

Hi Joep,

The EnableBigLba registry key was already added and is set to "1", in the location HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESYSTEMCurrentControlSetServicesatapiParameters. (This makes sense because I now remember when I installed the Western Digital hard drive diagnostics, I was asked to enable large hard drive support and I did).

I created a Windows 98SE boot disk with NTFS4DOS, booted to NTFS4DOS which only recognised 3 partitions, but NOT the corrupted partition. Furthermore, when I executed CHKDSKG I got the following:

C: Disk1/Partition1 6142.8MB FS: Windows NT NTFS
?: Disk2/Partition1 190779.705MB FS: Windows NT NTFS (greyed out!)
E: Disk3/Partition1 130002.543MB FS: Windows NT NTFS
G: Disk3/Partition2 60777.162MB FS: Windows NT NTFS

So, NTFS4DOS does see the corrupted partiton but cannot assign a drive letter to it!
I then executed DFGRNTFS and got:

C: Disk1/Partition1 6142.8MB FS: Windows NT NTFS
D: Disk2/Partition1 190779.705MB FS: Windows NT NTFS
E: Disk3/Partition1 130002.543MB FS: Windows NT NTFS
G: Disk3/Partition2 60777.162MB FS: Windows NT NTFS

The corrupted partition (D: above) is not greyed out this time so I pressed D on the keyboard to defragment this partiton but I got the error:

"Error: Volume D: is not NTFS volume"

I booted back into Windows 2000 SP4 and still get the infamous error "the file or directory is corrupted and unreadable" when I try to access the corrupted partition.

There must be some way to repair the corrupted partition table(s). Any more ideas please, please, please?

Product you are using: DiskPatch 2.1

Operating system / Service Pack: Windows 2000 (SP4)

Size of subject harddisk: 200GB

From a DiskPatch point of view nothing can be fixed; all structures that diskpatch examines (and fixes) are okay. That leaves the filesystem itself as the most likely problem, in which case the best way to go is to use a filerecovery tool like iRecover to copy the files from the corrupted partition. When you've done that reformat the disk and verify that it works okay before putting precious data on it again. The iRecover demo allows you to recover 1 folder, so you can determine beforehand if iRecover will be able to help you.

Regards,
Tom

Thanks for the reply, Tom.

Data recovery is my last resort because it is hit and miss, so I was kinda hoping you could suggest how I can recovery the partition table, so I can access the whole drive, copy data elsewhere then re-format the drive.

I was hoping DiskPatch was partition table recovery software. I have since been advised to try Partition Table Doctor (http://www.ptdd.com/). Do you have any experience of this or other similar partition table recovery software that may help my situation please?

Product you are using: DiskPatch 2.1

Operating system / Service Pack: Windows 2000 SP4

Size of subject harddisk: 200GB

Hello,

You're missing the point ... DiskPatch *IS* partition table and boot sector recovery/repair software, and indeed *if* data can not be accessed due to problems in those areas, it can be accessed after those areas were repaired.

The point is, that there are *no errors* in the partition tables or boot sectors. The problem is somewhere else.

A car may not start because the battery is depleted. When the car doesn't start even though the battery is full of live, then charging the battery will not help to get the car started.

--
Kind regards,
Joep

Hi Joep, thank you again for your prompt reply. I was a little confused, but now I see from your response that my problem is NOT partition corruption but File System corruption.

Therefore, are there any software packages that repair corrupt File Systems please? (in my case NTFS)?

Product you are using: DiskPatch 2.1

Operating system / Service Pack: Windows 2000 SP4

Size of subject harddisk: 200GB

Repairing filesystem structures is dodgy business. The best thing to do is to copy the files from the damaged partition (and thus not changing the contents/not making the situation worse). As stated earlier, iRecover might be able to help. Use the demo to recover 1 folder and see if the files come out okay.

Regards,
Tom

Thank you Tom. I will try iRecover again, but I am pretty sure it will not recovery everything I need and with their correct/recognisable folders and filenames.

I have previously tried file recovery software. Ontrack's EasyRecovery was the best. It performed a RAW Recovery which recovered upto 200 extension file types (e.g. AVI, PDF, etc..) but was missing obvious file types like MPG, MPEG, RAR, R01, R02, R03, etc... I am still learning how to use WinHex (www.winhex.com) to create a signature file for each extension that I want the RAW Recovery to search/recover for but is proving difficult. I need to know the 8-digit hexadecimal and offset to create a signature. I have never used a hexadecimal editor like WinHex before so any help would be greatly appreciated.

Also, I am curious/confused again... I thought a corrupt partition table(s) was part of the NTFS File System, therefore one of the same thing. Are they not?

Product you are using: DiskPatch 2.1

Operating system / Service Pack: Windows 2000 SP4

Size of subject harddisk: 200GB

Hello,

"I will try iRecover again, but I am pretty sure it will not recovery everything I need and with their correct/recognisable folders and filenames."

Yes, you can only find out by trying. BTW it is very rare that on an NTFS volume no filenames at all are found. If no file names are found at all it would mean that each and every sector that made up the MFT was corrupted.

"I am still learning how to use WinHex (www.winhex.com) to create a signature file for each extension that I want the RAW Recovery to search/recover for but is proving difficult."

Yes, and it is not possible for all file types. The file must have a recognizable header, so for each file type you must examine a few files. Also, the method will almost always result in a fair share of 'false positives'.

For many of the file types with a recognizable header you'll oftenfind that the first few bytes will do the trick. I that case offset is 0 (zero).

If you find that for a given file type that:

file 1: 0e ee 6e ef 44
file 2: 1e aa 6e ef 44

then 3 bytes at offset 2 seem to be a sequence that both files have in common. You'd add that as a signature. So determine the offset you count zero based. First byte is zero, second 1 etc.

Hope that explains a little about that ...

"I thought a corrupt partition table(s) was part of the NTFS File System"

No, partition tables are not part of the NTFS or any file system. Partition tables are outside partitions and they basically point to areas on the disk that contain a file system. The first component that is file system specific is the boot sector. The boot sector of a partition could be regarded the starting poit of the file system structures within a partition. For example, a FAT boot sector points to the main structure; the FAT. While an NTFS boot sector points to the MFT.

You can repair a boot sector (maybe) if it is corrupt, but that wouldn't help a lot if other file system components like the MFT are corrupt.

In your case, the partition tables are fine, and the boot sector looks very valid as well. So something is wrong further down the chain.

The MFT is a very complex structure, trying to fix it is very risky and very time consuming. One MFT entry (describing a single file) consists of multipe, and dynamic attributes.

--
Kind regards,
Joep

I am quite sure I have corrupted $MFT because when I try to open the drive I get a "corrupted $MFT" error message.

I am desperate to access this drive so I am prepared to dedicate the time and take the risk. So please reply with all your suggestions on how I can repair the MFT(s) please.

Product you are using: DiskPatch 2.1

Operating system / Service Pack: Windows 2000 SP4

Size of subject harddisk: 200GB

Hello,

Oh my, I shouldn't have said that :-). What you want can not be done.

First of all, this is primarely a support forum for the DIY DataRecovery products. We believe that supporting demo products that are not payed for is the right thing to do. There are limits however. Our knowledge on disk structures is the result of 1000's of hours of self study, tinkering, and a lot of trial and error. This knowledge we make available in the form of support and software. So far, there's at least 45 minutes of our time spent on helping you and answering your questions while you haven't payed a dime yet. Now that's not a problem as I explained before, but, no offense intended, you can not expect us to now lecture you on a complex file system as NTFS. You can help yourself though, this is the best public resource on NTFS to be found on the net: http://linux-ntfs.sourceforge.net/ntfs/.

Second, you have already discovered that tools you have tried to recover the data with have the greatest trouble trying to figuring out the drive structure. Before you can repair a drive structure, you have to figure it out, you have to discover what's still intact, what's missing and find puzzle pieces that can help you reconstructing the missing structures. If There's insufficient data to figure it out, you can not fix it. The fact that the data recovery tools can not figure it out, is a good indication too much is missing and there are no pieces that can help reconstruct this missing info.

Have you run iRecover already?

--
Kind regards,
Joep

Hi Joep, I really do appreciate your time and effort (and Tom's) in helping me in my time of crisis. I work in IT & spend most of my days helping other people, so in this rare occasion that I need help, I thank you both greatly. Also, thank you for the NTFS link! I will investigate further.

While I ran iRecover in Automatic Mode, at the bottom of the screen it displayed "Filesystem type is: Not known so far". So iRecover could not identify the corrupted partition as NTFS. However, when Analysing Stage 3 (approx. 70%) - Searching for FATs - "Filesystem type is: FAT". Strange how iRecover identified the filesystem as FAT instead of NTFS(?).
Once the scan had finished, I got a long list of folders beginning with FRG:

+ FRG00013 (1 file(s)) (1021 Mb)
/+s~+"]-e3 [1021 Mb]
+ FRG00018 (1 file(s)) (1003 Mb)
CC@25T3v.5BU [1003 Mb]

and so on...

I selected to recover the top folder FRG00013, selected a folder to save to, clicked Proceed & this was displayed on screen:

Filesystem Type FAT
Total files selected 1
Both FATs good 0
1st FAT good 0
2 FAT good 0
Both FATs bad 1

I then clicked Next, opened the folder I saved the recovery to and it is blank! So the data recovery failed. I can only assume this is because it cannot determine the filesystem correctly.

Am I doing something wrong? Should I alter the options in iRecover before I do a full scan/recovery? Will iRecover be able to recover any file types, like Ontrack's EasyRecovery can?

Best Regards

Product you are using: DiskPatch 2.1

Operating system / Service Pack: Windows 2000 (SP4)

Size of subject harddisk: 200GB

Hello,

"While I ran iRecover in Automatic Mode, at the bottom of the screen it displayed "Filesystem type is: Not known so far". So iRecover could not identify the corrupted partition as NTFS. However, when Analysing Stage 3 (approx. 70%) - Searching for FATs - "Filesystem type is: FAT". Strange how iRecover identified the filesystem as FAT instead of NTFS(?)."

No, it is not strange. Again, for a human or software to be able to tell what file system may have been present in a certain area on the disk, something must be left that allows you recognize what was there.

Appearantly, there isn't much left at all. Anyway, I'd run iRecover again specify that the file system you expect is NTFS. Just to make sure and check if it does recover more.

Now again. All points to severely damaged system structures. None of the tools you have tried can find any filenames and this probably means the file names are lost! If they are not there you can not recover them.

Doing what you were already doing (scanning for file sigantures) is the only thing left to try.

Without wanting to be unfriendly: I consider this discussion closed.

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Kind regards,
Joep