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Recovering Lost Files


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#1
BigChief

BigChief

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Hi everyone, I got a massive problem here!


Some background info:
Today when I attempted to turn on my computer, I got a mysterious blue screen about Unmountable Boot Volume, with the second parameter reading (c000006) <---apparently that part's important or something, I dunno. Anyway, I managed to resolve this problem using the XP CD-ROM's Recovery Console and using the "chkdsk /r" command in the Command Prompt. I then exitted the Command Prompt and ran Windows as you normally would.

Everything booted up nicely, but I got some weird error messages (the ones in the window with the red circle and a white cross, you know those things) that I had never encountered before; something about an error and 'BigChief', which is the account name I use for Windows. I thought I'd re-restart just to make sure everything was normal, which is when everything messed up!


My current problem:
When Windows booted up again everything seemed like the way it was when I had first installed Windows XP; an empty desktop with only the Recycle Bin in the bottom right corner and a wallpaper of a flushing green meadow. My first impression was that the Recovery Console had completely formatted C: drive, which would certainly explain the length of time it took to complete! Upon further inspection, some of my old programs which didn't come default with XP (Photoshop for example) were still present and working, but the settings had been defaulted.

The only evidence of my My Documents files (specifically, BigChief's My Documents files), or for that matter any of my saved pictures, videos and audio files, was the name BigChief itself and the picture of a popular video game character I had saved for the account; all else is nowhere to be found!

To make things more complicated - at least for me - is that my C: drive is still about 90% full, just as I had left it (and in case it matters, I have about 80gigs of Hard Disk space in total).


So, What the... is going on?!!! How can I recover all my files and settings, and what do you guys think caused the problem in the first place? Any help would be greatly appreciated. =]


Cheers,
BigChief
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#2
Retired Tech

Retired Tech

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An outside chance

Items in blue which are underlined are clickable to give more information about the process

Start the System Restore Utility at a command prompt

1. Restart your computer, and keep tapping F8 during the initial start-up until you get options, select Safe Mode with a Command Prompt then press enter.

2. Log on to your computer with an administrator account or with an account that has administrator credentials.

3. Type the following command at a command prompt, and then press ENTER:

%systemroot%\system32\restore\rstrui.exe

4. Follow the instructions that appear on the screen to restore your computer to an earlier state.

Look for the most recent system checkpoint created before the errors to restore from

For additional information about the Safe mode with a command prompt, click 315222 to see a description of the Safe Mode Boot Options in Windows XP

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