chkdsk c: /f /r /x damaged files, experts pls help!

I had BSOD because of Avast, I tried rebuilding BCD, sfc scan etc but nothing worked.

So I ran chkdsk c: /f /r /x it took an hour after which i could log into windows but only to see my desktop text files are corrupted, only few of them are fine but rest not either readable or blank..same with some photos.

How can i get back my text files atleast? That 1TB HDD was perfectly fine as i tested it with HD tune and others with SMART test being perfectly good. Loss is only in C partition rest 3 are good. please help which steps i can try... run chkdsk again? i dont want to repair windows just need those files back.

Hello and welcome!

I am just breezing through today, and saw your post. Regrets on your HD problem. These can be complicated. I have only one suggestion at the moment, What I usually do with a corrupted file system is to boot to something else that works (another partition or computer) and attempt to mount the corrupted FS (as D: or whatever) for manipulation by various handy file recovery tools.

Can you mount the drive externally (my favorite approach)? Or create a new working partition for a windows install and then work on recovering from there. I don't like to be operating off the corrupted filesystem. Of course, you can boot to a windows recovery disk. I would try copying data off before running repairs, as sometimes repairs are zealous and clean away things I'd rather have a copy of corrupted or otherwise.

soho1 said:

Can you mount the drive externally (my favorite approach)? Or create a new working partition for a windows install and then work on recovering from there.

I have 2 HDDs attached but can only boot from 1 at a time as Dell xps 420 crashes in raid. I can use linux if there are recovery tools for it. I can also empty 1 of 4 partitions on faulty drive(1TB) and install windows just not sure how HDD makes changes to its table when we add or delete file to non windows partitions.. like if it updates entry for all partitions updates in common table or in different one for each partition.

I have copied data which is mostly corrupted so i can try any method u have to get my data back. pls recommend some tool. what i cant do right now is to clone C drive, i can try though if there are chances to recover my files. Note: I havnt done any changes to that drive's files yet.

many thanks for reply!

Why are you running a RAID? We see nothing but problems here with RAID. It isn't even redundant since you lose everything if one drive crashes, and an SSD runs faster than any RAID.

If you ran Disk Check on the RAID and it repaired the file system then any data that was scrambled is not retrievable. All data should always be backed up anyway against drive failure.

I suggest you unRAID and reinstall to a single HD plugged in alone and this time follow the steps in Clean Reinstall - Factory OEM Windows 7 which compiles everything that works best in tens of thousands of installs we've helped with here since beta.

gregrocker said:

If you ran Disk Check on the RAID and it repaired the file system then any data that was scrambled is not retrievable. All data should always be backed up anyway against drive failure.

you didnt get me there.. i have 2HDD's and only 1 is active at a time thru BIOS selection menu..i can turn off the port for other drive..and RAID is off. when i ran chkdsk this was the only drive connected.

2nd thing my drive didnt fail, it might have got some bad logical sectors due to crash but drive was 100% healthy before the crash so i didnt take backup.. and I dont want to reinstall my OS.

Pls help me with recovery of my lost files due to chkdsk file re-allocation.

Whether RAIDed or not I don't think Disk Check reallocation data loss is recoverable. But someone else may know a way.