Train-Sim.Com
General

Message Areas - "FAT 32 (Isn't that a punk band?)"

Train-Sim.Com Message Areas

"FAT 32 (Isn't that a punk band?)"

Email this topic to a friend
Printer-friendly version of this topic
Bookmark this topic (Registered users only)
Previous Topic | Next Topic Conferences General (Protected) Original message
akochan (334 posts)
Jan-02-02, 09:06 PM (EST) "FAT 32 (Isn't that a punk band?)" Okeee... maybe somebody here knows the answer since all I can find on techie boards is people saying "SCANDISK SCANDISK" when I've got a FAT error that stops Scandisk in it's tracks. Has anyone every heard even a rumor of a way to get around a FAT error that Scandisk can't fix that doesn't involve a hard disk format? If I format this disk I will lose way toooooo much stuff as my primary drive (which is little and just holds windows and what not) is not large enough to hold more than 1 or 2 of the 10 or so most critical things on my FAT 20 mb drive. Besides, all I can do with my broken drive is look at the contents. The second I try to access 90% of what's on it, even just to move it, it freezes up explorer temporarily, then if I insist it freezes hardcore and requires a cold reboot. Even as I write this I see my D drive self activating itself and writing all over potentially critical stuff probably. I'd think it was a virus except I haven't done anything that could get me a virus, unless someone imbedded one in HTML code somehow... So I think it's just general mechanical failure. Oh and BTW, being that I recently attained unemployment status I'm not able to rip the offending drive out of my machine and run off to the vet with it to get it anesthesized.-Andy
akochan@crosswinds.net Alert Edit | Reply | Reply With Quote | Top
Table of Contents

Subject Author Message Date ID RE: FAT 32 (Isn't that a punk band?... Zed Jan-02-02 1 RE: FAT 32 (Isn't that a punk band?... akochan Jan-02-02 2 RE: FAT 32 (Isn't that a punk band?... dgauci Jan-02-02 3 RE: FAT 32 (Isn't that a punk band?... akochan Jan-02-02 4 RE: FAT 32 (Isn't that a punk band?... dgauci Jan-03-02 5 RE: FAT 32 (Isn't that a punk band?... akochan Jan-03-02 6 RE: FAT 32 (Isn't that a punk band?... chucksc Jan-03-02 7 RE: FAT 32 (Isn't that a punk band?... dgauci Jan-03-02 10 RE: FAT 32 (Isn't that a punk band?... railnut Jan-03-02 15 RE: FAT 32 (Isn't that a punk band?... dgauci Jan-03-02 12 RE: FAT 32 (Isn't that a punk band?... svante Jan-04-02 23 RE: FAT 32 (Isn't that a punk band?... dgauci Jan-04-02 24 RE: FAT 32 MTRailLinkFan Jan-03-02 8 RE: FAT 32 downside Jan-03-02 9 RE: FAT 32 dgauci Jan-03-02 11 RE: FAT 32 akochan Jan-03-02 13 RE: FAT 32 chucksc Jan-03-02 14 RE: FAT 32 akochan Jan-03-02 16 RE: FAT 32 (Isn't that a punk band?... stevew Jan-03-02 17 RE: FAT 32 (Isn't that a punk band?... akochan Jan-03-02 18 RE: FAT 32 (Isn't that a punk band?... fixin2 Jan-03-02 19 RE: FAT 32 (Isn't that a punk band?... stevew Jan-03-02 20 RE: FAT 32 (Isn't that a punk band?... akochan Jan-04-02 21 RE: FAT 32 (Isn't that a punk band?... dgauci Jan-04-02 22 RE: FAT 32 (Isn't that a punk band?... black5 Jan-04-02 25 RE: FAT 32 (Isn't that a punk band?... dgauci Jan-04-02 26 RE: FAT 32 (Isn't that a punk band?... QueenHeartles Jan-08-02 27 RE: FAT 32 (Isn't that a punk band?... dgauci Jan-08-02 28

Lobby | Topics | Previous Topic | Next Topic
Messages in this topic
Zed (117 posts)
Jan-02-02, 09:44 PM (EST) 1. "RE: FAT 32 (Isn't that a punk band?)" If it's an IDE, check the cable connection or maybe try another cable. Remove | Alert Edit | Reply | Reply With Quote | Top
akochan (334 posts)
Jan-02-02, 10:20 PM (EST) 2. "RE: FAT 32 (Isn't that a punk band?)" It is an IDE drive and it is connected. Since there are a few files/folders I can access on the drive (presumably from an unaffected invisible partition or something like that) I am assuming it is connected. It is only the areas affected by the FAT error (which from trial and error cover most of the disk) that are not-accessible. I have tried a couple of FAT fixing programs I found. How they work: Scandisk. Scandisk doesn't fix FAT errors, or at least this kind. Scandisk won't even scan if it detects a FAT error. There /has/ to be some way to save this drive that doesn't involve formatting or replacing. I can't afford replacing and formatting might maybe fix it but here's the thing. 10 or the 20GB of files on the drive are soooo essential not to lose that if I do lose them my only recourse is to throw myself infront of a switcher at the CSX yard down the street.... So no matter what I need to fix this drive without copying/formating/scandisking/defragging/replacing. Somewhere out there there has to be a FAT fixing scandiskesque utilitiy that will trample right past FAT errors unlike all current utilties I've found...-Andy
akochan@crosswinds.net Remove | Alert Edit | Reply | Reply With Quote | Top
dgauci (339 posts)
Jan-02-02, 10:56 PM (EST) 3. "RE: FAT 32 (Isn't that a punk band?)" Without boring you with the details of what the FAT table is, if you have a FAT table error too severe for Scandisk to repair, you've already lost the files you can't access now. To repair and salvage the disk it's time to reformat. If the errors were caused by a disk failure then it's time to replace the disk. To save the existing files you'd have to have backup copies somewhere, the files on the disk are already gone.This is why disk backups are so very important. Remove | Alert Edit | Reply | Reply With Quote | Top
akochan (334 posts)
Jan-02-02, 11:48 PM (EST) 4. "RE: FAT 32 (Isn't that a punk band?)" Well.. unfortuneately to back up a big ass HD you need either another big ass HD, a zip drive, or maybe if you can split it, a CD-RW... I have none of those things. The files are irreplacable, and their loss is beyond devestating. I can't format the drive... I /need/ those files and would even resort to armed robbery to get them back. Somehow. I did find some things that said registry errors can cause FAT errors... I thought my registry was pretty clean and have cleaned it again. No results, it only found and fixed one wee reg error. Still getting the FAT error. Surely there must be a program that can scandisk through FAT errors, trampling right over them as if they don't exist... It's not like the drive was in disrepair. I defrag and full scandisk it weekly and it isn't that old (1.5 years old). If the files weren't on the drive and recoverable I would think I would be unable to run them. They only lock up if I try to copy or delete them. Some lock up explorer temporarily. Some lock the whole computer up permanently... And all the web searches I have done produce one page that says clean your registry, and a whole bunch of gooblygook, which is mostly non-applicable, for users of unix/dos/os2 and really deals more with fat16 as it's old dated material. I would think if the problem is easily caused by bad drives or by bad reg entries or file sizes not matching then this problem would come up often... But there seems to be a strange drought of material both on the problem and potential fixes.In any case I MUST find a fix for this. I can run most of the files so the files /probably/ aren't corrupted beyond rescue; yet anyhow. I just can't copy/move/delete them without complete freezeups. And I am getting sooo sick of having to cold reboot and having scandisk"lite" take an hour to figure out it's not going to be able to scan the drive and bump past it.-Andy :_(
akochan@crosswinds.net Remove | Alert Edit | Reply | Reply With Quote | Top
dgauci (339 posts)
Jan-03-02, 00:23 AM (EST) 5. "RE: FAT 32 (Isn't that a punk band?)" >Well.. unfortuneately to back up a big ass HD you need either another big ass HD, a zip drive, or maybe if you can split it, a CD-RW... You forgot to also mention a tape drive. I use ALL of the above to back up my systems.The system registry has nothing to do with the disks FAT table. To understand the problem you have to understand what the FAT table is. In simple summary, the FAT table, File Allocation Table is the area on the disk that stores all of the disks filenames, file locations and subdirectories. Think of it as a master index for the disk. Every time a file is written to the disk, an entry is created in the FAT table indicating the filename and physical location on the disk. When a file needs to be retrieved the FAT table is read to find the file and it's location before the drive can retrieve it. If anything corrupts the FAT table the disk no longer knows what files it contains or worse where they are physically located on the disk. This renders the files unrecoverable because without this information the disk does not know what files it has or where they are physically located on the disk.The only recovery from this kind of emergency, assuming scandisk can't repair it and backups aren't available, is to send the disk to a disk recovery service like OnTrack, (their on the web). Because this service is quite pricey, several hundred dollars depending on how extensive your data files are, it is considered a means of last resort when back up files are not available and the files are mission critical. This is why there is no excuse for not backing up important data files, EVER!!!
Remove | Alert Edit | Reply | Reply With Quote | Top
akochan (334 posts)
Jan-03-02, 00:43 AM (EST) 6. "RE: FAT 32 (Isn't that a punk band?)" Ok... but there is one good excuse for not backing up an entire disk. To do so you need something to put it on which I don't have... I frequently back up files, or folders, or even whole programs. An entire disk backup would cost the same as an entire disk because even tape drives are expensive. But that aside...
I understand what FAT does. But how can the FAT32 system be DOA; the files so lost that they can't be copied or moved. Yet the same files are still intact and findable enough to be opened? I don't understand this one aspect. If I couldn't open them I could understand the corruption to the FAT... but that I can open them, just not move them? That's odd. I don't know if the registry could corrupt the FAT or vice versa. I just found a couple of sites that mentioned truncated MS-DOS file names that are later replaced or modified into normal windows long file names can cause conflicts with the registry and FAT that could result in a FAT error on scandisk and lockups to the files themselves and with Explorer.I've moved everything I could cram onto C (which may need reformatting itself as I've had occassional Exlporer lockups with that as well now with file moving and renaming) but there is still about 8GB of essential files I can't find a place to stick while reformatting D (the FAT errored drive).I just obtained a prestigious position on the dole... so hopefully I can find something to restore order to the FAT without a complete format (which at this point I'm not even sure will fix it). Certainly my lovely new salary of 0 will not support repair or replacement. And if I lose my computer It's not just my gaming platform but also my primary means of finding new employment.And if you think I'm having a hard time with this wait till I have to think about reformatting C: without my secondary drive to put the files on. Restoring windows generally takes 6-8 weeks or more. Not the actuall restore, but finding all those drivers and patches and programs you lost.Sigh,
Andy
akochan@crosswinds.net Remove | Alert Edit | Reply | Reply With Quote | Top
chucksc (700 posts)
Jan-03-02, 03:11 AM (EST) 7. "RE: FAT 32 (Isn't that a punk band?)" OK GUys.... The only utility that I know can fix FAT errors is Symantec/Norton utilities.... It can because it compares both FATs (the one in the front of the disk and the one in the back) and tries to rationalize them... Assuming both are not corrupted (very rare).... If it can't fix the FAT then it truely is gone! Unfortunately it is also Payware... Depending on your OS there are options to Scandisk that may help... Do a scandisk /? and look! You may want to force the repair....------Chuck Schneider---------
Message Areas - "FAT 32 (Isn't that a punk band?)" – image 1
-----"Power for You"------- Remove | Alert Edit | Reply | Reply With Quote | Top
dgauci (339 posts)
Jan-03-02, 09:40 AM (EST) 10. "RE: FAT 32 (Isn't that a punk band?)" >OK GUys.... The only utility that
>I know can fix FAT
>errors is Symantec/Norton utilities....Actually I'm a religous user of Norton Utilities and a big believer in Norton Disk Doctor, which is the Norton replacement for Windows Scandisk. Remove | Alert Edit | Reply | Reply With Quote | Top
railnut (132 posts)
Jan-03-02, 04:51 PM (EST) 15. "RE: FAT 32 (Isn't that a punk band?)"
You took the owrds right out of my mouth. NDD ( Norton Disk Doctor )would be my first choice. If NDD can't fix it, the only other utility that I know of would be Spinrite but a 20 gig drive would take considerable time. Spin does try to repair the drive right down to it's toenails though.....
>OK GUys.... The only utility that
>I know can fix FAT
>errors is Symantec/Norton utilities.... It
>can because it compares both
>FATs (the one in the
>front of the disk and
>the one in the back)
>and tries to rationalize them...
>Assuming both are not corrupted
>(very rare).... If it can't
>fix the FAT then it
>truely is gone! Unfortunately it
>is also Payware...
>
>Depending on your OS there are
>options to Scandisk that may
>help... Do a scandisk /?
>and look! You may want
>to force the repair....
>
>------Chuck Schneider---------
>Message Areas - "FAT 32 (Isn't that a punk band?)" – image 2
>-----"Power for You"-------
Remove | Alert Edit | Reply | Reply With Quote | Top
dgauci (339 posts)
Jan-03-02, 10:30 AM (EST) 12. "RE: FAT 32 (Isn't that a punk band?)" >Ok... but there is one good
>excuse for not backing up
>an entire disk.You don't need to back up an entire disk, just the data files. There are never any good excuses for losing important data files because you didn't back them up. If they were important to you, then you would backup. I realize that this doesn't help now that their already damaged, but you can learn from this for the future.>But that aside...
>I understand what FAT does.
>But how can the FAT32
>system be DOA; the files
>so lost that they can't
>be copied or moved. Yet
>the same files are still
>intact and findable enough to
>be opened? I don't understand
>this one aspect.One of the common problems when FAT errors occur is called Cross Linked files. When this happens two different files are listed in the FAT table as having the same physical address on the disk. When this happens, Norton Disk Doctor can usually correct the FAT problem, but you lose the file data that was Crosslinked.Another problem is lost clusters. Files are rarely written or stored on disk in a contiguous string. FAT by design will take a file when writing to disk and attempt to put it into the first available space, if the whole file doesn't fit into the space then FAT breaks the file into pieces and finds the next available space for the next piece and so on. This is why disks became fragmented through regular use.When a lost cluster occurs, The FAT table may contain information about the first physical location of the file, but has lost track of the other parts and their physical location on disk. When this occurs, Norton Disk Doctor can repair the FAT by truncating the file entry at the last known good entry. This makes the disk usable, but you permanently lose the file that was truncated.>I couldn't open them I
>could understand the corruption to
>the FAT... but that I
>can open them, just not
>move them? That's odd. If the files are data files like text, documents or spreadsheets and you can open them, then just save them to another device for now. File recovered.>I don't know if the registry
>could corrupt the FAT or
>vice versa. I just
>found a couple of sites
>that mentioned truncated MS-DOS file
>names that are later replaced
>or modified into normal windows
>long file names can cause
>conflicts with the registry and The system registry and the FAT are completely seperate things. What you are refering to with long file names being truncated is a problem that can occur with FAT32. The original FAT that DOS uses, (FAT16), can only store filenames with 8.3 names. In other words filenames with 8 characters and 3 character extensions. FAT32 first introduced in Windows 95 extends filenames to allow for up to 250 characters. For backwards compatibility for FAT16 programs, FAT32 keeps two versions of each filename, a long version and a short 8.3 version. If you use an older DOS utility or DOS based application to modify a file with a long filename, this long filename entry will be truncated. The problem then becomes the registry referencing a files long filename, that has now been truncated to a short filename. If a 32bit application is trying to find the long filename it will now fail. The only fix for this is to never use older DOS based utilities or applications to work with files with long filenames.
Remove | Alert Edit | Reply | Reply With Quote | Top
svante (350 posts)
Jan-04-02, 12:11 PM (EST) 23. "RE: FAT 32 (Isn't that a punk band?)" Hold it there, partner....Don't be so fast with the reformatting. People unnecessarily lose a lot of information because they reformat their disks without checking if rewriting the master file table would suffice. If you can't read a disk always run "fdisk /mbr" first. Because that's often all you need to do.So assuming you're running Win95/98/98SE/Me using FAT or FAT32 (or some NT version using FAT or FAT32, but why anyone would want to run a FAT-version with NT beats me) boot from a bootdisk and then writefdisk /mbrat the prompt. You'll then rewrite the master file table. If that doesn't work you might have to reformat but always do this before reformatting and losing all those valuable files. Remove | Alert Edit | Reply | Reply With Quote | Top
dgauci (339 posts)
Jan-04-02, 12:49 PM (EST) 24. "RE: FAT 32 (Isn't that a punk band?)" >fdisk /mbr While what you stated is true if the disk is not found, (using fdisk /mbr is the only way I know of for removing a boot sector virus.) The intitial problem he was reporting was that the disk is readable, just that his FAT table is corrupted and that scandisk can no longer repair it.
Remove | Alert Edit | Reply | Reply With Quote | Top
MTRailLinkFan (12 posts)
Jan-03-02, 06:22 AM (EST) 8. "RE: FAT 32" Now I'm no computer expert, but if I'm thinking right, drive D is your CD ROM. If this is the case, then it could be a problem with your driver(physical). but I must be wrong because it seems you said you have 20GB on D, is D your hard drive? Or C? I'm confused on that little bit there. Sorry I couldn't help, I know how much getting this fixed means to you, I had tons of problems with my last computer. I'm pretty sure you have a virus though.
Trevor SteneP.S. - I've been looking all over for a patch or something, that can fix my problem. In the Marias Pass route and I suppose other routes, all the activities with snow or rain, cause an error before they load. If you could help me in some way to find a solution to this problem, I would apriciate it greatly. Thank you. Remove | Alert Edit | Reply | Reply With Quote | Top
downside (375 posts)
Jan-03-02, 07:36 AM (EST) 9. "RE: FAT 32" If another hard drive is out of the question take out a sub with www.freedrive.com which costs $4.95 a month for 65MB of on line storage.Bill
Remove | Alert Edit | Reply | Reply With Quote | Top
dgauci (339 posts)
Jan-03-02, 09:45 AM (EST) 11. "RE: FAT 32" >Now I'm no computer expert, but
>if I'm thinking right, drive
>D is your CD ROM. It depends entirely on how many physiscal hard drives and logical disk partitions you have. On my system I have 3 physical hard disks, 2 CDRW's and 1 DVD, plus a Zip Drive. My drive letters span from C-I. Remove | Alert Edit | Reply | Reply With Quote | Top
akochan (334 posts)
Jan-03-02, 10:36 AM (EST) 13. "RE: FAT 32" >Now I'm no computer expert, but
>if I'm thinking right, drive
>D is your CD ROM.
>If this is the case,
>then it could be a
>problem with your driver(physical). but
>I must be wrong because
>it seems you said you
>have 20GB on D, is
>D your hard drive? Or
>C? I'm confused on that
>little bit there. Sorry
>I couldn't help, I know
>how much getting this fixed
>means to you, I had
>tons of problems with my
>last computer. I'm pretty sure
>you have a virus though.
>
>
>Trevor Stene It's certainly not a virus because nothing is being written anyhwere and to get a virus you (generally, there are a few that can be imbedded into html or java) have to run an executable file either on purpose or by accident. And D is my HD. Standard naming conventions dictate the CD ROM (or DVD or whatever) is either A or the last letter in the drive sequence. Floppy is B. Harddrives are C(Primary) and D-*(slaves). Of course this is all nominal and you can make your drives run Z-W backwards. In anycase I'm going to try to use my old computers teeny weeny HD to try to save another GB of data if I can borrow cable from someone I know... but in the end I fear a reformat may be necessary. I'm surprised the FAT could be so corrupted that I can't access a few files, or scandisk or defrag, yet the rest seem ok.... I do so hope this won't be an ongoing issue as I'm already certain to lose all my MSTS stuff, not to mention much else. If I someday manage to get everything back on the drive and this happens again I'm going to go crazy. Well, maybe I'll get a job again someday and I'll be able to afford a zip drive or something to do backups on... Not to mention afford to eat and get my teeth fixed before I look like someone from Leeds United... (ManU is coming for you) -Andy
akochan@crosswinds.net Remove | Alert Edit | Reply | Reply With Quote | Top
chucksc (700 posts)
Jan-03-02, 04:48 PM (EST) 14. "RE: FAT 32" Actually I think the correct spelling is PHAT32! ------Chuck Schneider---------
Message Areas - "FAT 32 (Isn't that a punk band?)" – image 3
-----"Power for You"------- Remove | Alert Edit | Reply | Reply With Quote | Top
akochan (334 posts)
Jan-03-02, 06:30 PM (EST) 16. "RE: FAT 32" Heh. Well think about it... you've already got SUM 41 and Blink 182 today. Back in the day there was Front 242... I know there was more like this... I just can't remember them all.-Andy
akochan@crosswinds.net Remove | Alert Edit | Reply | Reply With Quote | Top
stevew (10 posts)
Jan-03-02, 09:12 PM (EST) 17. "RE: FAT 32 (Isn't that a punk band?)" This pains me...Try to get a copy of Norton Utilities. Perhaps (or perhaps not) this will fix some of your problems.To be honest, it sounds like your hard drive is dying. This can happen at any time, even with brand-new drives.If you can get your data back, then backup your valuable files!I use a CD-burner. I just add folders with the stuff I want to keep and make three copies (make sure you give one to a friend for "offsite" storage).If you can't do that, then use floppies. Use SOMETHING. BACKUP! BACKUP! BACKUP! Remove | Alert Edit | Reply | Reply With Quote | Top
akochan (334 posts)
Jan-03-02, 10:25 PM (EST) 18. "RE: FAT 32 (Isn't that a punk band?)" Heh. If I had money to buy that many floppies I'd just get 6 hard disks for the same money... In anycase, someday... I'll have a job again, and then I will have a new computer (once I pay off the IRS, and the utilities, and the police, and various credit agencies chasing me for past utilities) and then I'll have a zip disk or CD-RW... and backing up whole disks will be possible. Till then all I can back up are individual files or folders onto the second HD. But anyhow... I reformatted, and lost most everything, and now I am set back approximately 12 months. FAT 32 failure isn't an irrecoverable error. It doesn't mean necessarily that the drive is dying. Unfortuneately aside from spending tons of money on Norton Utilities or something like it, it's unable to be fixed short of format apparently. But FAT erros can be caused by even little things like mismatched files or registry clutter. It's generally a data error, not a physical one. And I thought I was pretty nice to my HD's... good cooling, weekly scans and defrags, but I've never cleaned my registry and it was a wreck.-Andy
akochan@crosswinds.net Remove | Alert Edit | Reply | Reply With Quote | Top
fixin2 (25 posts)
Jan-03-02, 10:57 PM (EST) 19. "RE: FAT 32 (Isn't that a punk band?)" andy, there has got to be a utility, either shareware or freeware to help you out. only thing that comes to mind right now is a program called rescue, then there is anadisk also. iirc, some utilties will work as long as the mbr is ok, meaning head 0, cyl 0, and sector 0 is ok and it sounds like yours is ok, as you can acess the drive. looks like you might get to become an expert on data recovery <g> wish i could help more, good luck. Remove | Alert Edit | Reply | Reply With Quote | Top
stevew (10 posts)
Jan-03-02, 10:58 PM (EST) 20. "RE: FAT 32 (Isn't that a punk band?)" Just trying to help...Wish you the best. Remove | Alert Edit | Reply | Reply With Quote | Top
akochan (334 posts)
Jan-04-02, 08:15 AM (EST) 21. "RE: FAT 32 (Isn't that a punk band?)" I appreciate it... I guess this just goes to show you that you can never do enough maintenance... I certainly will be nicer to my registry in the future.-Andy
akochan@crosswinds.net Remove | Alert Edit | Reply | Reply With Quote | Top
dgauci (339 posts)
Jan-04-02, 10:38 AM (EST) 22. "RE: FAT 32 (Isn't that a punk band?)" >I appreciate it... I guess this
>just goes to show you
>that you can never do
>enough maintenance... I certainly will
>be nicer to my registry
>in the future. For the record, the FAT (File Allocation Table) is stored as two low level system files on each physical media device (HD, floppies and Zip's, CD's use a different file system.) It has nothing to do with the system registry which is something completely different. The FAT, (which was created for MS-DOS version 1 and was updated for Windows 95, but for backwards compatibility still works fundamentally the same), can easily become damaged by many things which is one of the reasons the NTFS file system for Windows 2000 and Windows XP users is a much better and robust file system. Remove | Alert Edit | Reply | Reply With Quote | Top
black5 (70 posts)
Jan-04-02, 07:01 PM (EST) 25. "RE: FAT 32 (Isn't that a punk band?)" You could try borrowing Partition Magic,it does lots of things for partitions and ,I think ,you can make an emergency boot floppy..which might help in resetting everything....in such circumstances anything is worth a try.!!!!I had to reformat my two HDs just before Xmas (yes the second one was used as back up)and lost everything including 6+Gb of MSTS.!!!
Good luck is the best I can wish you.
Georges from London. Remove | Alert Edit | Reply | Reply With Quote | Top
dgauci (339 posts)
Jan-04-02, 07:34 PM (EST) 26. "RE: FAT 32 (Isn't that a punk band?)" Partition Magic from Power Quest is another fine product that I use extensively. It wouldn't help with problems with a FAT table, it's purpose is managing, resizing, creating and deleting disk partitions all without the need for reformatting a disk. The program runs a check on the FAT tables of a disk before it tries to perform any changes and will exit immediately if any problems are found, suggesting the user run Scandisk, (which is where we are currently at.) The rescue disk that Partition Magic creates is intended to undo any damage caused to a disks partitions while using Partition Magic. Remove | Alert Edit | Reply | Reply With Quote | Top
QueenHeartles (11 posts)
Jan-08-02, 00:36 AM (EST) 27. "RE: FAT 32 (Isn't that a punk band?)" We are talking about a person with little or no resources to get the programs, hardware etc.. to fix the problem...One Question, Have you tried using the scan disk on your Win95/98/SE? Sometimes not using the operating system from the hard disk helps.fdisk /mbr is a good one... that can rewrite the master boot record and CAN fix the FAT table.Any Windows operating system keeps two version of the file system table, whether FAT or NTFS. So as long as the second copy is good, you will be able to recover it.BUT, if he can still access the files (just not copy or delete) it may not be a FAT problem, regardless of what Scandisk says. If it is possible (don't laugh fellas, I made big money with this tip) stick the drive in a static proof bag and make sure you seal it from moisture then FREEZE it for 3 to 4 hours. Take it out of the freezer, slap it in the computer and get the data moved as quickly as possible. It may be the write head that's giving you problems. Freezing the drive solidifies the encased lubricant enough to usually allow time to move the files. Sounds like this hard drive is going, DO NOT TURN OFF THE POWER TO THE DRIVE UNLESS YOU HAVE TO. Maybe a friend will let you borrow a hard drive for storage. If you lived near me, I'd be nice and do the job for free. I hate to see anyone lose data that could possibly be recovered.If you live close enough to Detroit, I'll offer to see what I can do for you. I have much more sophisticated utilities at my disposal here. Contact me through the Inbox here, or through LngHairedWizard.QueenHeartles
computer geek Remove | Alert Edit | Reply | Reply With Quote | Top
dgauci (339 posts)
Jan-08-02, 10:15 AM (EST) 28. "RE: FAT 32 (Isn't that a punk band?)" >We are talking about a person
>with little or no resources
>to get the programs, hardware
>etc.. to fix the problem...
Still . . . there is never a reason for not backing up data if it really is important to you. In principle.If you understand the need and don't, then you have no reasonable grounds to complain if you lose that data. This is akin to complaining about being thrown through the windshield of a car in a minor accident, but also refusing to wear the seatbelts. The value placed on proper backups should directly reflect the value placed on the data. Remove | Alert Edit | Reply | Reply With Quote | Top

Lock | Archive | Remove

Lobby | Topics | Previous Topic | Next Topic

Restored from the Train-Sim.Com archive, captured January 27, 2002. About this archive.