Recover/fix lost or corrupt data caused by DDO

HeidiK77

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Hi,


I run win2k SP4, edited the registry to cope with large drives, prepped the drive with Western Digital's tools and used their DDO software to overcome my Bios' limitations.

All looked fine (windows Explorer and Disk Management saw the proper drive size), so I started to cut&paste all my data onto the 160gb hdd.

Once I had copied over 128/137gb, i got this error message:
file or directory is corrupted and unreadable

What I could see in Windows:
ALL files and folders, with odd characters/symbols,
inaccurate file sizes displayed in windows explorer as in
- found a very big file like a 3gb file that i know for sure i dont have
- or files/folders's properties showing a size of 0kb.
Also, looking at windows explorer's display of the disk usage, it showed i had used just over 138gb of diskspace in use.

I didnt run checkdisk to make sure it wouldnt make things worse and kept the file system intact.
I suspect the files should NOT be fragmented since I just copied them.
My motherboard manufacturer dont have a bios update that will support 48bit-lba.


1. Would I have more chance to recover the data or reconstruct the FAT or whatever is wrong using a hex editor or something else?
2. what do I have to do in win2k to disable checkdisk to avoid further problems?
3. What went wrong since I had DDO software and LBA enable in registry? (since those steps should overcome old BIOS limitations)
4. Which programs do I need to attempt to recover the data?
5. Which programs do I need to maybe/somehow undo the damage and restore my hdd/data in its previous state?
6. Do I need to use a 48bit lba compatible system to attempt recovery?
7. If yes, wont the change of translation mode for the drive risk further data corruption?
8. What bios mode for the wd160 do I need to use to increase chance of recovery?
normal, large, auto, lba?
9. Do I need to uninstall the Dynamic Drive Overlay software on the drive? If so, why?
10. What Windows operating system is more prone to create less problems with my hardware specifications for recovery purposes?
11. Is it better to attempt recovery from DOS or Windows system?
12. Do you know what most likely happened to the data on the WD160:
a. it's still there but the file allocation table is incorrect?
b. the data is physically there but not accessible to OS? if so, how to go around that?
c. the sectors are now reported as bad? if so, what to do?
d. the data is in lost clusters? if so, what to do?
e. the data has been silently corrupted? If so, what does this implies? and what to do?
f. any other suggestion on the data situation?
13. Has the bios performed wrapping and created an offset in the FAT system/directory tree thus overwritting some data by making some cross-linked files? if so, any clues on fixing it?
14. Is there a simpler or better way of fixing this problem than recovering the data?
15. Can the system be amended so that the drive and its data are accessible again?
16. To attempt data recovery, should I use the drive as a slave, a master or it doesn't matter?
17. Is there a freeware prog to tell if a system is 48bit lba compatible?


Thanx immensely for any help you can provide.
 

Buck

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HeidiK77 said:
3. What went wrong since I had DDO software and LBA enable in registry? (since those steps should overcome old BIOS limitations)

DO NOT use DDO with an NT based operating system. DO obtain BIOS support for the drive.
 

HeidiK77

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Buck said:
HeidiK77 said:
3. What went wrong since I had DDO software and LBA enable in registry? (since those steps should overcome old BIOS limitations)

DO NOT use DDO with an NT based operating system. DO obtain BIOS support for the drive.

Thanks for your input.
Tthere isnt a Bios update available for my motherboard from the manufacturers.
Is XP the OS to use with drives >137gb or would Win2K be fine as long as I had a mobo with a compatible bios/ide controller with 48-bit lba?
Do you know what happened and if I can reverse it?
Theoratically, my system configuration should have worked...
 

Handruin

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I think he's saying that if you copied & pasted rather than cut & paste, you would still have another copy on the other drive.
 

Buck

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HeidiK77 said:
Thanks for your input.
Tthere isnt a Bios update available for my motherboard from the manufacturers.
Is XP the OS to use with drives >137gb or would Win2K be fine as long as I had a mobo with a compatible bios/ide controller with 48-bit lba?
Do you know what happened and if I can reverse it?
Theoratically, my system configuration should have worked...

Both operating systems will work with the correct Service Pack. Both benefit greatly by having 48-bit LBA support from the BIOS. I realize that you do not have an updated BIOS for your motherboard that would work, however, I would still recommend a BIOS that does. Either purchase a new motherboard or an ATA controller card that will support the drive. The problem is DDO and I doubt that it can be reversed.
 

mubs

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HeidiK77,

I wish you'd read the whole of this thread in the Toolbox section.

I run W2k SP4 on a 160GB drive without any problems. The drive is hooked up to a Promise PCI controller that supports 48-bit LBA.

This may be too late to help, but as Pradeep has wisely pointed out, when venturing into unchartered territory, it's better to play it safe. In your case, that would be having a backup, or copying instead of cutting.

Sorry I can't offer any constructive advice at this juncture.
 

HeidiK77

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mubs said:
HeidiK77,

I wish you'd read the whole of this thread in the Toolbox section.

Well, I had win2k SP4, the registry trick applied and DDO, I thought that would cover both the Bios and OS limitations....

You live, you learn <sigh>

Thx anyway
 
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