AnimeSuki Forums

dbzgundam · 2004-01-24, 15:05

I want to know how I can restore an HDD without having to format again. My father is actually the one with the problem but he has only found demo programs for this.

The problem seems to stem from the "master file table" or so he has said. This is of course an issue with Windows (surprise anyone? Of course not.

) basically the OS (Win2000) cannot read the HDD, yet the restoring programs he has found have all been able to. Although the problem is, these programs are all commerical or shareware and cannot actually restore the HDD with purchase.

Here's the question, are there any free HDD restoration programs out there?

crumja · 2004-01-24, 15:35

Few suggestions...

1. boot from a floppy that has fdisk on it, type fdisk /mbr at command prompt.
2. or boot from windows 2000 cd, repair installation.
3. if above doesn't work, run linux off of cd (SUSE, PHLAK) and copy important files to another comp on network, reinstall windows, copy back files.
4. hire pro company that does hard drive repair (usually unnecessary seeing as how your files are still intact)

Cheers

dbzgundam · 2004-01-24, 18:02

well my dad does not want to format the drive as he has very important networking files on it. Also it's NTFS so if that helps with providing assistance....well I don't know, just keep it in mind.

Anyway, there are NO free HDD restorers out there? (I COULD resort to other methods...but not here)

Cruzz · 2004-01-25, 15:23

Quote:

Originally Posted by dbzgundam

well my dad does not want to format the drive as he has very important networking files on it. Also it's NTFS so if that helps with providing assistance....well I don't know, just keep it in mind.

Anyway, there are NO free HDD restorers out there? (I COULD resort to other methods...but not here)

You could always try running chkdsk, but that can't fix a corrupt primary MFT.

Microsoft doesn't seem to believe that you have much of a chance of getting it to work.

Error Message:

Corrupt master file table. CHKDSK aborted.
Explanation:

Chkdsk could not interpret the master file table or its mirror on the NTFS volume.
User Action:

Reformat the NTFS volume. Then restore the data from a backup.

RavenChild · 2004-01-25, 16:52

they have dos disks with ntfs support. also, the windows 2000 repair utillity is something good that has come from microsoft. it has saved me from reformationg a couple of times.

nooc · 2004-01-25, 16:52

Quote:

Originally Posted by dbzgundam

well my dad does not want to format the drive as he has very important networking files on it. Also it's NTFS so if that helps with providing assistance....well I don't know, just keep it in mind.

Anyway, there are NO free HDD restorers out there? (I COULD resort to other methods...but not here)

Usually you would WANT to format a corrupt partition/drive if the standard repair programs fail to fix the problem. If those files were important then they should have been backed up. No data is safe in a hd.

Check out R-Studio. The demo should be able to recover files less than 64k.
http://www.data-recovery-software.net/

SirJeannot · 2004-01-26, 14:08

u should try the ultimate boot cd

there are a lot of useful tools on that cd, including the ranish partition manager, which can restore the partition table

2004-01-24, 15:05	Link #1
dbzgundam A-Blitz Founder/Encoder Join Date: Nov 2003	Hard Drive Restoration?! I want to know how I can restore an HDD without having to format again. My father is actually the one with the problem but he has only found demo programs for this. The problem seems to stem from the "master file table" or so he has said. This is of course an issue with Windows (surprise anyone? Of course not. ) basically the OS (Win2000) cannot read the HDD, yet the restoring programs he has found have all been able to. Although the problem is, these programs are all commerical or shareware and cannot actually restore the HDD with purchase. Here's the question, are there any free HDD restoration programs out there?

2004-01-25, 16:52	Link #5
RavenChild エリック Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: my closet, deep and dark Age: 36	they have dos disks with ntfs support. also, the windows 2000 repair utillity is something good that has come from microsoft. it has saved me from reformationg a couple of times. __________________ *********** RavenChild ************

2004-01-26, 14:08	Link #7
SirJeannot AT Field Join Date: Apr 2003 Location: #animesuki Age: 14	u should try the ultimate boot cd there are a lot of useful tools on that cd, including the ranish partition manager, which can restore the partition table __________________ "facts Jeremy, facts!" - non factual Jeremy.

2004-01-24, 15:35	Link #2
crumja AnimeONE Do-It-All Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: US Age: 36	Few suggestions... 1. boot from a floppy that has fdisk on it, type fdisk /mbr at command prompt. 2. or boot from windows 2000 cd, repair installation. 3. if above doesn't work, run linux off of cd (SUSE, PHLAK) and copy important files to another comp on network, reinstall windows, copy back files. 4. hire pro company that does hard drive repair (usually unnecessary seeing as how your files are still intact) Cheers

2004-01-24, 18:02	Link #3
dbzgundam A-Blitz Founder/Encoder Join Date: Nov 2003	well my dad does not want to format the drive as he has very important networking files on it. Also it's NTFS so if that helps with providing assistance....well I don't know, just keep it in mind. Anyway, there are NO free HDD restorers out there? (I COULD resort to other methods...but not here)