Check Disk (chkdsk) - Read Event Viewer Log

JTSH said:

Hi Brink

I'm a total noob with regards to tech stuff and I really hope you can explain some things.
When I ran a chkdsk e: /f /r on my external hard disk, one of things which came up was "Deleting index entry ABC.DOC in index $I30 of file 5.'

Does this mean that chkdsk has deleted the file ABC.doc? If so how can i recover it?
If it was not deleted, then what does that mean essentially?

Sorry if the qn seems dumb but I only have the most basic computer related knowledge.

Hello JTSH, and welcome to Seven Forums.

No worries. That entry just means it only deleted the reference of the ABC.DOC file in the index. Most likely because that file had been previously deleted, so there's no need to have it in the index for search results. :)

I don't know all of the specific technicalities of all of it, but answers inline for what I do know. :)

The link below is a good explanation of chkdsk that will help understand chkdsk more. It's for XP and a long read, but the principal is the same.

An explanation of the new /C and /I Switches that are available to use with Chkdsk.exe

JTSH said:

A few other questions I have looking through the log:
1. "16 bad file records processed" - Does that mean that the 16 bad files have been fixed and I'm able to access them? No further details were given like which files etc.

That means that there was 16 bad file references in the file system found.

JTSH said:

2. 80KB in bad sectors - This just means that 80 KB of my external hard drive is corrupted right?

This means that you had 80KB of bad (corrupted) sectors on the hard drive that have been marked to no longer be used by the file system.

JTSH said:

3. What does it mean when it says "Recovering orphaned file CBA.DOC <1917> into directory file 1914"? What is an orphaned file? Does it mean that the location of these files were not recorded properly previously due to improper shutdown etc and are now being placed back in the correct place?

An orphaned file is one for which a legitimate FRS (file record segment) exists, but which is not listed in any directory. When an orphaned file is found, it can often be restored to its rightful directory, provided that directory is still around. If the directory that should hold the file no longer exists, CHKDSK will create a directory in the root directory and place the file there. If directory listings are found that reference FRSs that are no longer in use or that are in use but do not correspond to the file listed in the directory, the directory entry is simply removed.

The improper shutdown message means that the files were orphaned because you improperly shut down the computer (ex: pressed the case power button to turn off) while it was still writing files to the hard drive.

It looks like chkdsk corrected this for you though.

JTSH said:

4. Last and most importantly, how can I know if chkdsk has deleted any of my files? Or what files have been recovered or not?

The only way to know is to look through the event log for chkdsk to see if there are any unrecovered listings. From what I see in your screenshot, I wouldn't worry about any files being deleted.

Sorry, that should be "wouldn't" instead. Autocorrect got me again. LOL

I'd recommend to keep an eye on the drive to make sure that it doesn't continue to keep getting bad sectors. If it does, then the HDD may be going bad. The main thing is to not do a hard shut down using the case power button, and use the proper shut down in Windows instead.

Post #62 was very informative.
This was also great.
An explanation of the new /C and /I Switches that are available to use with Chkdsk.exe
-------------------
Do they make anything that great for a SSD?

You're most welcome JTSH. :)

Layback Bear said:

Post #62 was very informative.
This was also great.
An explanation of the new /C and /I Switches that are available to use with Chkdsk.exe
-------------------
Do they make anything that great for a SSD?

Hey Jack,

SSD's are different than hard disk drives. SSD's automatically remap worn bits using wear leveling technology, so it's not recommended to run chkdsk on a SSD. :)

Thanks Shawn.
I knew they didn't want one to defrag a ssd but I didn't know not to run chkdsk. It does make sense once I get all 3 of my brain cells activated.