Data recovery and disk repair questions and discussions related to old-fashioned SATA, SAS, SCSI, IDE, MFM hard drives - any type of storage device that has moving parts
Post a reply

Bad characters files names after electric problem!

February 17th, 2011, 9:18

On my external hard disk the files name is changed to bad characters.
See the image in attachments.

I used chkdsk /r but now all files disappeared.
When I see disk properties the disk space is right free space and used space, but cannot see any file on hard disk.
Only there is hidden folder name Found.*
Help pleases..
Attachments
hdd bad characters.jpg

Re: Bad characters files names after electric problem!

February 17th, 2011, 10:54

You probably have a hardware problem (e.g. bad data line). Running chkdsk was a very bad idea.

You have to diagnose and fix the underlying hardware problem (if any) before you address the software issues.

Jon

Re: Bad characters files names after electric problem!

February 17th, 2011, 12:02

thanks..
what to do now!

Re: Bad characters files names after electric problem!

February 17th, 2011, 16:35

If data is important, contact a pro.

Dizi

Re: Bad characters files names after electric problem!

February 17th, 2011, 19:40

Clone your drive and use data recovery software on the clone. If it's a logical problem, then you won't need professional recovery services.

OTOH, if your drive has bad sectors, then use a cloning tool (eg ddrescue, dd_rescue) that understands how to work around them.

BTW, it doesn't sound like a hardware fault. A "bad data line" would prevent you from seeing the drive. In your case you can see the MBR and boot sector.

Re: Bad characters files names after electric problem!

February 18th, 2011, 0:35

Fzabkar,

Of course, some drives that I've seen with bad connections or bad logic boards that produce the same symptom (and were subsequently fixed after part repair or substitution) COULDN'T have been hardware failure. I yield to your superior knowledge and experience. My apologies to the OP . . .

Re: Bad characters files names after electric problem!

February 18th, 2011, 3:04

jono-ats,

When I said it doesn't sound like a hardware fault, I specifically had your "bad data line" diagnosis in mind. I have spent a large part of my working life chasing errant data and address bits in discrete digital logic. My experience would suggest that your diagnosis doesn't fit the symptoms, although I'm prepared to be proven wrong.

BTW, I have a hardware and software configuration that produces similar file system corruption. In my case it is very reproducible.

I have a USB enclosure with a JMicron JM20337 USB-PATA bridge chip. I have no problem reading data from any hard drive inside the enclosure. However, I cannot write more than a few hundred MB before the interface hangs. Afterwards the FS (FAT32) is corrupted in a similar manner to that of the OP's drive. I can reproduce this behaviour on two Win98SE boxes, one with an SiS7001 USB 1.1 host controller, the other with an SiS7002 USB 2.0 controller. My brother has a third motherboard with an SiS7001 OHCI running under Win XP. His box has no problems reading or writing. A friend's Intel box also has no problems under Win XP.

The culprit would appear to be Win98SE or its drivers, but the same setup handles flash drives, digicams, scanners, and printers without any data corruption issues.

I am aware that the JMicron chip has an insiduous, silent write bug, but that doesn't appear to account for my problem.

Re: Bad characters files names after electric problem!

February 18th, 2011, 4:54

I would suggest to mount the drive directly to a pc motherboard via sata or ide port.
Then carry out diagnostics!
Post a reply