Solved How can I Check Integrity of Files on HDD ?

[lehnerus2000]

Multiple Possible Causes

I've come across quite a few videos that will run properly for many minutes and then suddenly lose all video & audio.

Do you think that this corrupted video/audio is a fault of the original capture (or editing) or a fault with the storage hardware ?
Every last video that I have stored here and there was skipped and skimmed through as soon as it got to the computer and seemed to be in good health at that time.

I don't have a video camera or smart phone.

The examples I've seen have all been in videos downloaded from the Internet.
Sometimes the error is present in the original (when viewed on the site itself).

I think that there are multiple possible causes:

• Error during the original creation
• Corrupted during Copy/Move (like in my 1st post)
• Failure of the storage media (dodgy blocks)
• Corruption during network transfers (lost packets)

The only suggestion I have is to make a backup (on an external HDD?) of all of the videos, before you delete any, just in case you accidentally delete a good version.
Obviously this might not be practical due to cost and space issues.

I have Master OS Backup Images stored on at least 4 different HDDs.


BTW, I find it weird that operating systems don't check integrity, by default, during copy/move operations.
What's the point of making a copy of a file, if the copy is defective?

 

[wither 2]

I think it's obvious that playing a video file for a few seconds isn't going to verify that it will play properly all the way through. If you have one that plays properly all the way through, then you can use MD5 to check each copy against it to verify that they are the same in every way.

There are many reasons for an edited video to have unwanted effects such as some of those mentioned here. A lot of them are due to the user using improper specifications for the output and others may be due to the software or problems with the original videos, such as dropped frames, which aren't seen during playback.

 

[BuckSkin]

Hi BuckSkin,



One way to do it is to set aside say 15 minutes or so when you have time and open them individually. I know it will be a pain but you would be able to open many videos within the 15 minutes or so time frame. You only need to see that they load and work and then close them. It might be a lot quicker doing it this way than waiting for and experimenting with alternative options. Also, you will definately know that when the time comes to view them, they will work!

Just a suggestion!

Just a thank you for convincing me to go ahead and do what I was hoping to avoid.
Other than a few strays here and there, I have the mission accomplished; and, it is amazing how little time it took per video --- but with a lot of videos, it still took some time.

What got me in this mess to begin with is first, I am poor --- I am talking almost dirt-floor poor; and, when money comes around that I should be spending on big HDDs, there is a thousand more pressing matters needing it.
For several years, we had only a single machine, and being poor, they were of the bargain-barn variety = small on storage and short on life; thus, I have a pile of various small HDDs that have been salvaged from these machines; each one with a mixture of whatever needed a place to be.
Add to this four little soccer-mom 1TB externals, purchased one at a time and all brimming full.

We now have four working machines, each of them nearly full to capacity.

One thing I learned in my stockyard days is you can't sort cattle without having a bunch of empty pens to sort them into; so, I let some more important things go and rounded up ten 2TB 3.5" HDDs and have went on a data organizing crusade.

I appreciate the help and ideas.

 

[Paul Black]

Hi BuckSkin,

Just a thank you for convincing me to go ahead and do what I was hoping to avoid.
Other than a few strays here and there, I have the mission accomplished; and, it is amazing how little time it took per video --- but with a lot of videos, it still took some time.

You are very welcome, I am glad you have sorted it out!