Missing files after scandisk

[Teamaker]

Anyone ever had missing files after scandisk, we ran it on a users laptop and now they are missing two docs they wrote last night they insist they haven't deleted them.

I've never knows this before.

Anyone suggest how to get them beck?

!!A good cup of Tetley keeps the madness at bay!!

 

[bcastner]

The hard disk is failing or its logical structure required a repair that could not reconcile the directory, security, or other information in a way that the file was recoverable.

Depending on options set, there may be fragments of the file in the root of the drive.

Time for a new drive, though sometimes by going to the manufacturer's web site and downloading their diagnostic disk one can non-destructively recertify the drive.

But as guess based on experience, this is the first indication that your drive is failing and should be replaced.

 

[pweegar]

If files are missing after a scandisk is completed indicates that there was a problem witht he file or directory structure that need to be addressed. The files could have been cross-linked, or otherwise damaged. It does NOT neccessarily mean the drive is going bad. It MAY mean that routine maint. has not been performed on this drive in some time. I highly recommend that a scandisk and defrag be done on a routine basis. However, if the problem continues, then I would start to suspect the drive.

 

[Teamaker]

Thanks for the reply the laptop is only a couple of months old so i hope its not bad, is it likely that these files are gone for good then?

!!A good cup of Tetley keeps the madness at bay!!

 

[bcastner]

pweegar,

Quote: "It does NOT neccessarily mean the drive is going bad. It MAY mean that routine maint. has not been performed on this drive in some time."

I have no idea what you think is "routine maint." for a drive. The simple fact of the matter is that if after a chkdsk operation the file is missing there is a hard issue with the drive. This is your warning. At this point the files are gone. You need to let the manufacturer's diagnostic utility rewrite the logical sector information; and pray. Otherwise you do a complete recertification of the drive, partition, reformat, and restore your OS and data. A true "low level" format has not been an option for quite some time.

I do not care how awfull someone has been about "route maint.". It could be the worst defragmented drive in the entire world. But, you do not lose files because of a failure in routine maintenance. You lose files because there is corruption in the logical or physical sides of the hard disk drive and a reformat, hopefully non-destructive, offers you some hope of using the drive reliably again.