Files and directories with names of unrecognizable characters

[JWorld]

Hi, guys, I met a serious problem and desperately need your help.

Because of some unknown reasons, my computer was not able to access files from a partion of a USB external hard disk, it reported that the disk was "corrupt and unreadable."

I used PartitionMagic to convert the file system of the disk to FAT32 (originally NTFS), which unfortunately resulted in files names and directories names with unrecognizable characters(mostly double or four question marks) for some of files and folders which originally had names in Asian character.

I then converted the file system back to NTFS, but nothing changed.

I wonder if there is a way to force the Windows (I am using Windows XP) to accept name changes. Every time I try to access and rename those files or folders, the computer always reports that the files could not be spcified.

I really appreciate everyone's help.

thanks in advance.

 

[dbData]

JWorld,

I'm sorry, but what would possess you to change the file system structures from one to another when corruption is reported? That was a hugh mistake!

What's your objective? Do you just want to get the drive to work or do you want access to the data? (If you want access to the data, just for reference, you should have posted this in the General Data Recovery discussion section).

If you just want the drive to work;
Reformat it. Observe for errors.

If you want the data back (seriously reduced chance now);
Remove the drive from the external case. (This eliminates the extra hardware as a point of failure). Install it as a secondary drive inside your PC (or another one running WinXP). Then run an data extraction tool like R-Studio. There are many data extraction tools and everyone seems have a favorite. You can find a list of some in Software Guide located at the site listed in the signature line.


Rick

http://www.data-recovery-hub.com