Hard Drive Tech Support

Illusion · 5th June 2002, 17:10

I need some tech support, and didn't know where else to turn, so I turned here

. Can someone offer me any advice? Here goes...

Recently, I have been noticing very unusual problems with my second hard drive, which I suspect may be due to a virus. I had found very unsually named files, with impossible file sizes (over 4GB) scattered across the hard drive, and problems accessing files. Anyway, to try and fix this, I attempted to run ScanDisk today. However, the PC froze in the middle of checking my D:/ drive when searching for lost file fragments.

When I restarted, I was unable to access *any* of the the 30GB or so of data on my D:/. Although the properties of the drive showed that there was 30GB of data remaining, Windows (and DOS) did not show up any files. I then had a friend come round to check the hard drive out with his PC, but it still did not show any files present on the drive. Running a diagnostic program suggested that there were "lost file fragments". Given that my friend was running XP (I run 98SE), we tried to convert the files to NTFS to see whether they would appear, but this was to no avail, and caused another freeze in his system. Unfortunately, it would not let the files be converted back to FAT32, so I cannot even see the drive on my Win98 machine anymore (his XP machine is now back at his house.)

Now, is there any way that I can recover any of my data from these lost file fragments by running any particular program? Or do I need to take it somewhere to a store - or will I be wasting my money?

rm' · 5th June 2002, 18:27

Programs exist to recover data from failed drives, but they all cost money. You can either buy one of these programs (cheaper), or take it to a professional data recoverer (more expensive). The former will leave you with a trashed drive, but the latter may be able to repair to drive so that it is usuable again.

Illusion · 6th June 2002, 06:33

Will the fact that I tried to convert the FAT32 file system to NTFS make it harder to recover? I thought it might fix it, but I have probably only made it worse...

5th June 2002, 17:10	#1
Illusion Major Dude Join Date: Jun 2001 Location: Adelaide, Australia Posts: 689	Hard Drive Tech Support I need some tech support, and didn't know where else to turn, so I turned here . Can someone offer me any advice? Here goes... Recently, I have been noticing very unusual problems with my second hard drive, which I suspect may be due to a virus. I had found very unsually named files, with impossible file sizes (over 4GB) scattered across the hard drive, and problems accessing files. Anyway, to try and fix this, I attempted to run ScanDisk today. However, the PC froze in the middle of checking my D:/ drive when searching for lost file fragments. When I restarted, I was unable to access any of the the 30GB or so of data on my D:/. Although the properties of the drive showed that there was 30GB of data remaining, Windows (and DOS) did not show up any files. I then had a friend come round to check the hard drive out with his PC, but it still did not show any files present on the drive. Running a diagnostic program suggested that there were "lost file fragments". Given that my friend was running XP (I run 98SE), we tried to convert the files to NTFS to see whether they would appear, but this was to no avail, and caused another freeze in his system. Unfortunately, it would not let the files be converted back to FAT32, so I cannot even see the drive on my Win98 machine anymore (his XP machine is now back at his house.) Now, is there any way that I can recover any of my data from these lost file fragments by running any particular program? Or do I need to take it somewhere to a store - or will I be wasting my money?

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5th June 2002, 18:27	#2
rm' Banned Join Date: Jul 2000 Posts: 11,361	Programs exist to recover data from failed drives, but they all cost money. You can either buy one of these programs (cheaper), or take it to a professional data recoverer (more expensive). The former will leave you with a trashed drive, but the latter may be able to repair to drive so that it is usuable again.

6th June 2002, 06:33	#3
Illusion Major Dude Join Date: Jun 2001 Location: Adelaide, Australia Posts: 689	Will the fact that I tried to convert the FAT32 file system to NTFS make it harder to recover? I thought it might fix it, but I have probably only made it worse...