Chkdsk keeps finding the same problem - Orphaned Files.

[Brds7t7]

Hey All,

I've been running chkdsk on my external drive (Data Backup). Every time I run it I get the same error that it's found a problem and fixed it. But if I run it again I get the same Error again that it keeps finding the same orphaned file. I don't seem to be able to fix it.



Drive has been running with no problems. Have scanned for bad sectors and found nothing.

Any help would be appreciated.

 

[cyclic]

Have you run it with the /F switch as in the report, it says it should belong to Dir 17, but not that it was fixed.

 

[Brds7t7]

Hi Cyclic,

Yes I've tried it with /F from the command prompt, still the same result when I run it again.

 

[chrisf8657]

Have you tried it from the Recovery console command prompt? Sometimes that works as I have found in rare cases...if that doesnt work, we got some serious issues...

 

[seavixen32]

I don't know how practical this would be, but I recently had an external drive with a similar problem and I moved the data off it then wiped the partition, created a new partition and moved the data back.

So far, so good.

 

[Brds7t7]

Thanks for the replies. I'll try from the recovery console and report back as I'm not at home at the moment.

Sorry if this is a weird question but If I was to copy the data to another drive would it also copy the errors as well?

 

[seavixen32]

Good question. I don't know, but all being well someone else will.

 

[Brds7t7]

OK, So I tried running from Recovery, still the same outcome every time.

 

[seavixen32]

Have you tried wiping the drive and creating a new partition? Thinking back to when I did the same it did clear the problem so my guess is it's worth a try.

Even if moving the data back gives you the same problem you're no worse off and if it doesn't you're home and dry.

 

[Brds7t7]

Well my T: drive is my data backup drive and My D: drive is where I keep all my original data. The D drive shows no errors.
I'm just worried that if I wipe my D: drive and copy all the files from T to D I'm going to have errors on my D drive as well. It's about 520GB of Data so it's a bit of a concern. I've got nowhere else to save that much Data at the moment.

 

[seavixen32]

Well, short of buying another drive, I don't see what other options you have. How about just copying files from your backup drive to your D drive using the copy/replace option?

The only data to be affected will only be that which has been updated and you'll then have free rein to wipe your backup drive and see if you can create a fresh partition on it.

 

[Brds7t7]

Sorry I should have explained a bit more. The files I have on my T Backup drive also have the correct timestamps for my files. All the files on my D drive have messed up file timestamps. This was my own fault really as I was moving files from drive to drive after a reinstall. I'm thinking the only way really is like you said just to wipe my Backup partition and start again.
Will it cause any problems losing all the original timestamps though?

 

[seavixen32]

I'm not sure what you mean by a timestamp.

Do you mean the time the file was created, last altered, moved or what?

As long as the files themselves are intact I would have thought you should be OK to start over again.

 

[Brds7t7]

Yes the created, modified, accessed. I've got some files that were created all the way back to 2004. But when I copied them over it changed all the created dates to 2012.

Sorry if I'm wandering off here! I appreciate the advice by the way seavixen!