My 120 gig hard drive experienced an NTDLR error. Windows would not load and that would come up. I fixed the boot up through XP Pro's cd. When windows would try to boot up, it would not finish because system32\divers\isapnp.sys was missing or damaged or whatever. So I tried setup and repair, but that did not work either. The computer would start up then just keep restarting with no loading of windows. I probably should not have done this but I went ahead and installed another copy of XP on the same hard drive, in a separate folder. Once I got on there, the only things that are on the hard drive from the last time are - my shared folder, unzipped, windows, and some other folders with nothing in them. Yet, under drive size it says that there is 80 gigs of stuff on that drive. Why are my program files and documents, music, desktop stuff, etc. not even accessible from any of these folders or not there? I should include that before I tried using the xp cd I put the hard drive at fault as a slave onto another computer running xp, and during start up it did a disk check and A LOT of stuff came up, but i only saw stuff like "deleting index entry ... whatever the file name was" It wasn't for everything though. Could that have messed this up? Can I get my stuff back? I know it's there!! Defrag was showing the files on the bottom, but I can't access them through windows!! Help me! If anyone needs more clarification (cause this is a load) I'll be sure to answer your questions. Please help me, this is 80 gigs of stuff! It's my life unfortunately. thanks.
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NTDLR disaster; can't access whole hard drive!
- Thread starter sabbyk
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- #4
Trust me I looked through every single folder on that drive and nothing - all it is was stuff that was on the root drive. Documents and settings is gone, program files gone...Under Windows/all users I'm not even there!!! I think that's probably it - I had a user name for log in and all the stuff under it is gone. So how do I make myself the owner of the whole drive then?
it sounds as if chkdsk may have done more harm than good, unfortunately. I dont think taking ownership will help in this case.
it is also unfortunate that you didnt back up the data to the other pc prior to running chkdsk and reinstalling. its moot now, but if you suspect those types of troubles in the future, first thing to do is backup data then perform repairs on the drive.
i think your best bet at this point is to power down the system, leave the drive alone, and look into getting a good data recovery software. I invite other users to post their suggestions (this has been covered in other posts before)as to which ones to use. I know OnTrack has been mentioned, but it is expensive. There are also 3rd party data recovery businesses you can send the drive to, but they cannot guarantee recovery and you probably wont like the cost.
bottom line, sounds as if the drive is hosed, so recover whatever data you can, wipe it totally clean, do a fresh install, and restore your data
I wish I had better news for you.
it is also unfortunate that you didnt back up the data to the other pc prior to running chkdsk and reinstalling. its moot now, but if you suspect those types of troubles in the future, first thing to do is backup data then perform repairs on the drive.
i think your best bet at this point is to power down the system, leave the drive alone, and look into getting a good data recovery software. I invite other users to post their suggestions (this has been covered in other posts before)as to which ones to use. I know OnTrack has been mentioned, but it is expensive. There are also 3rd party data recovery businesses you can send the drive to, but they cannot guarantee recovery and you probably wont like the cost.
bottom line, sounds as if the drive is hosed, so recover whatever data you can, wipe it totally clean, do a fresh install, and restore your data
I wish I had better news for you.
- Thread starter
- #6
A linux OS that modifies your drive will need to format your partition to a different filesystem, ext2 or ext3 during install.
With the exception of Knoppix & those that boot from the CD.
But if you need to change something on your drive, or if Knoppix needs to add some temp data, there is no NTFS write support available for linux (ok, not exactly true, but get in there and try, you'll have a LOT of fun doing damage)
Plus, i'd advise against using linux in your situation unless you are already a bit familiar with it... or you want to scratch your disk and start afresh and learn a new OS all at the same time.
Knoppix may help you find things on your drive though.
years ago, PC emulators on my Amiga 1200 managed to repair floppies that chkdsk said 'not formatted'.
ps i've been menacing my pc with breakdowns for 2+ years learning Linux, i'm getting there but i quickly make it lose the plot and have to start again...
Aftertaf
"Solutions are not the answer." - Richard Nixon
With the exception of Knoppix & those that boot from the CD.
But if you need to change something on your drive, or if Knoppix needs to add some temp data, there is no NTFS write support available for linux (ok, not exactly true, but get in there and try, you'll have a LOT of fun doing damage)
Plus, i'd advise against using linux in your situation unless you are already a bit familiar with it... or you want to scratch your disk and start afresh and learn a new OS all at the same time.
Knoppix may help you find things on your drive though.
years ago, PC emulators on my Amiga 1200 managed to repair floppies that chkdsk said 'not formatted'.
ps i've been menacing my pc with breakdowns for 2+ years learning Linux, i'm getting there but i quickly make it lose the plot and have to start again...
Aftertaf
"Solutions are not the answer." - Richard Nixon
How to take ownership of a file or folder in Windows XP
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- #9
I used Knoppix and I found it very user friendly. I found all my files, and Knoppix even has burning software so I can burn my documents to cds or dvd- rs. As for getting into windows , that seems like a lost cause. I fixed the boot problem, but there are several other problems that I can't fix that occur during start up. I believe disk check did mess up the drive, because they were in a folder called found.000 in several folders with a name like dsk0001.chk I think or similar.
- Thread starter
- #11
At this point, I'm not too crazy about having to get back into Windows but if I can I shall try it. Plus I should add that there are THREE window xp installations on my one hard drive. One I put there myself and that one boots up fine, but I can't see the found.000 folder. The other two have the same boot up result - use setup cd for repair. I don't know how TWO versions of one operating system are on my one drive. I don't know when this happened either. I need to understand partitions better, but the test disk is worth a shot. thanks.
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