[piggyprobe]

ok, right now we're at about 10% and I've got CHKDSK is performing additional checking or recovery...appearing 4 times

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That's normal to that point. If you see a lot of bad files during stages 4 and 5, we may have a problem.

[wannabe1]

That's normal to that point. If you see a lot of bad files during stages 4 and 5, we may have a problem.

[piggyprobe]

ok. at 25% completed I get this message:
The volume appears to contain one or more unrecoverable problems.

and I am given the C prompt.
it does not appear to still be scanning.

Edited by piggyprobe, 22 June 2008 - 12:17 PM.

[The Skeptic]

I only wanted to comment that I have seen numerous cases in which Repair option was not available. I could never make any sense of when it's available or not. I suspect it has something to do with XP's version but that is sheer speculation. There are few things that are annoying as this.

[wannabe1]

The error message will indicate one of two things. Either the hard drive is bad...or the file system has become so corrupt as to become unrecoverable.

Do you have data on the drive that needs to be recovered?

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

The repair will only be an option if the Windows installation is recognized. If the file system becomes too corrupt, it will not be seen as a Windows installation and the repair option will not be presented.

[piggyprobe]

yes, I have a ton of data on that drive - if I can recover it, in some fashion that would be a huge relief. I can deal with the bad drive as long as I can save my data.

[wannabe1]

That being the case, I would recommend doing no more to this drive.

Is this a notebook or desktop machine?

[piggyprobe]

desktop

[wannabe1]

Probably a worthwhile course of action for you would be to install a new HDD and install Windows on it. Then jumper your current drive as a slave and install it in the machine. With any luck at all, you will be able to see and recover your data from the new Windows installation.

[piggyprobe]

I saw something on another forum that I am less familiar (and confident in) a method of connecting the bad hd as a cd drive to collect data. of course now i can't find the site, but is this something you are familiar with and it it reliable?

also, I have another xp desktop available to me. Can I attempt to connect my corrupt hd as a slave with out a whole new install on the other machine?

Edited by piggyprobe, 22 June 2008 - 01:07 PM.

[wannabe1]

I have no idea how one would go about what you suggest unless the information you saw was about connecting the drive as a slave in another machine. The drive types are inherently different and would be recognized as such by the other hardware.

What you CAN do is to pick up an enclosure for the bad HDD and connect it (via USB) to another machine to recover the data. That's the closest I can think of to connecting it as a cd drive.

Doing as I suggested earlier will leave you with a drive in your machine you can format (after retrieving your data) and use for storage.....a good place to backup your important data.

[The Skeptic]

also, I have another xp desktop available to me. Can I attempt to connect my corrupt hd as a slave with out a whole new install on the other machine?

Yes you can. Just jumper it as slave. It should show up in My Computer of the other machine. Now you can copy from the affected disk (hopefully) and paste to the the other machin's disk.