files messed up after check disk - how to recover correctly?

Robin,

I tried the same method of buying another enclosure but seems the changes made to file system is permanent by chkdsk/f, can you advise how to get the previous files back correctly. I am having the same problems of the cannot be opened or filename is not same as content etc..

appreciate your help urgently!!!

robin77 said:

EDIT:
just to save you from reading the rest which I already wrote earlier in this post.

>Files are all back and ALL are working correctly now!
All I did was to unplug the Disk and put it into a different (faster) external Box.
I guess windows still might have had the corrupted version of the filesystem cached. (I did not reboot after the checkdisk)
So thanks again for being so helpful!!!



===================================


Thanks to everyone.
Before I go the next step I just want to make sure one more time if I have phrased the question correctly and write down a few more details.

The real problem in this case is, that all the files that I am looking for "are basically there" as I mentioned in the first post. The problem is that the "contents" of many of these files are messed up - "swapped". For example there are contents of file "examplefile 1" visible when I open file "examplefile 3"
It's not like they were manually deleted and I am 99.9% certain that it's a disk hardware issue.
As I also mentioned I have successfully recovered lost files from HDs in the past - even rebuilt a lost RAID 0.

I have VERY rudimentary knowledge about file systems and from what I know the problem here is something like this.
Windows has some files that act like a index. this index tells it where to look when a file is opened. larger files are ususally fragmented into many smaller chunks. and the locations of these chunks are all recorded in some place.

in my case something like the following has happened:
When the last BSOD occured that I mentioned earlier, windows was writing to this index and a few parts got messed up. As a result some folders were missing in explorer. > The files are still there.... windows just did not know where they are located since the index was messed up. So I used Disk Check to fix this as I have often done in the past.
Now here comes the problem.
Windows "Fixed" all the lost files. I can see them all in explorer. its just that some of them contain the wrong data.

Recuva was actually the first program that I've used before I made the first post. But the thing is... and maybe I am making a mistake here because I havn't digged very deep yet -
Recuva doesn't seem to see any problem with the "lost" files. Because they are already there when I open recuva. They don't appear to be deleted or anything. So when I mark them for recovery it will just recover the same corrupted version - right?

Anyhow - if I have missed something please let me know

plz help,my important files were gone!
I have a 1T external hard drive( NTFS, my passport Western Digital) .yesterday i right click on drive in windows 7 my computer --> properties --> tools --> check now --> and i check both these boxes :
-Check Disk dialog box Automatically fix file system errors
-Scan for and attempt recovery of bad sectors
after about 2 hour, process finished.but when i go to my external hard drive. i just found 30 gb of my files and folder was remain and other(about 900 gb!) were lost! and the free space of disk wasn't changed that maybe shows folder and files are not deleted.

why were the data deleted? Chkdsk tell nothing me when it completed! If data disappears it usually is because files are damaged and the Chkdsk utility attempts to separate the damaged files out BUT there aren't any files or folders with such as these names "found.000" or "*.chk" in my external hdd.( showing hidden and system files is on)

note: i found my chkdsk log in event view in windows cp :
there ware a lot of records like this : Deleting orphan file record segment 60010.

plz help to find prob and get my files back .

This thread is high on the google search for related keywords and functions as repository of knowledge for those facing this kind of problem. I consider the following to be directly related to the discussion (or issue) so take the liberty of posting here.

Sometimes I am forced to use chkdsk when Windows 7 says that I must format an external drive in order to access it.

This often results in chkdsk making any broken folder hierarchy invisible (although the files inside it appear to be still taking up space inte drive).

In the past I have found that after chkdsk removes my main folder tree, that if I go to the place where the folder should be the folder is found. E.g. if the disk is M: and appears to be empty, going to M:\Foldername has in the past allowed me to access the files. But not this time.

Programs like Recuva (for which there are many, often expensive, but I have yet to find one better) do seem to find most of the files lost by chkdsk but instead of being in a tree format they are Recuva-ed to a folder on another drive (it is important to Recuva to another drive so as not to overwrite lost files).

1) Instead of a file recover program it would be nice to find a folder recover program but I fear that the damage done by chkdsk is permanent.

2) Another possibility would be to use something other than chkdsk in the face of the "you must format this drive" error.

should anyone have any suggestions on either of these two options, at any point in the future, then I would be most grateful for them.