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COMPUTER EXPERTS: One of my hard drives went from NTFS to RAW

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brentspeak Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Nov-22-05 07:42 PM
Original message
COMPUTER EXPERTS: One of my hard drives went from NTFS to RAW
It now reads "RAW" format, and 0 bytes, and is called "local" drive D.

Earlier today, it was still NTFS format, but the folders and files were not listed, and a "corrupt file" was being listed, but nothing specific. And it wouldn't let me checkdisk. Now this.

Is there a way to regain my data?

(I don't know if it is hardware malfunction, or if someone hacked into and played around with my system while my system was hooked into bittorrent.)
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Deja Q Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Nov-22-05 07:45 PM
Response to Original message
1. Ouch.
Might be virus or malware... or a corrupted header that's making the drive look bad. (via hacking or a dying hard drive...)

I saw that happen once to a C: Drive, except it was bootable. Some user accounts could still see the drive; others could not. Have you tried logging in as the Administrator account (or as a different account if you do use Administrator?)

Booting into safe mode might help you out. But if it is a corrupt header, other means will be necessary...

Glad autocheck did not kick in; I doubt it would fix the problem or make it fixable via 3rd party options. But that leads me to think it's a hacker and not a bad drive...
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brentspeak Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Nov-22-05 07:51 PM
Response to Reply #1
3. How do I log in as administrator?
I did check the logs, and there was a lot of security activity going at around the same that the drive first began to have problems (I was asleep when it was happening.) But I can't tell it that's normal, or if someone from 3000 miles away was screwing around with my computer.

I can cut-and-paste some entries here, if that would help. I just need to know what you need to see.
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Crazy Guggenheim Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Nov-22-05 07:50 PM
Response to Original message
2. I assume you have an XP system. Can you boot it into Safe Mode?
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brentspeak Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Nov-22-05 07:51 PM
Response to Reply #2
4. I can try
What should I do then?
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Crazy Guggenheim Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Nov-22-05 07:58 PM
Response to Reply #4
5. Reboot the computer and it's starting up keep hitting F8. Then
a screen will come up with a variety of options asking what you want to do. Select Safe Mode with No Networking. Then wait until you can sign in and you will be able to choose between you, any other users and Administrator. If you can't sign in as Admin then sign in to your account. Run an Adware/Spyware Scan and see what comes up.

Reeboot into Normal Windows and get back to me.
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brentspeak Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Nov-22-05 07:59 PM
Response to Reply #5
6. OK, I'll try it out.
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Crazy Guggenheim Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Nov-22-05 08:00 PM
Response to Reply #6
7. Wait a minute. Also do this when you are in Safe Mode. Run the
Error Checker. Do you know how to do that?
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brentspeak Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Nov-22-05 08:15 PM
Response to Reply #7
8. I ran away too fast
Edited on Tue Nov-22-05 08:16 PM by brentspeak
Just did you suggested in the first post - no adware or spybots. And in safe mode, drive D is still unaccessible because of a "corrupt or unreadable file".

How do I do the error check?

(I should add that I can boot just fine - it's this computer which I'm typing on.)
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Crazy Guggenheim Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Nov-22-05 08:23 PM
Response to Reply #8
9. Ok. Click on "My Computer" - Right click on D: Drive - choose
Properties. Click on the Tools tab and click on the Error Checker. In the Dialog Box that comes up check both Fix and there's something else. Then run it. A message will asking if you want to run it on reboot then click Ok. Then Reboot and try to boot onto your D: Drive. It will take approx. 20 minutes or so. See what happens after the reboot.
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Crazy Guggenheim Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Nov-22-05 08:24 PM
Response to Reply #9
10. Note: Go through "My Computer" and not the Shortcut.
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brentspeak Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Nov-22-05 08:27 PM
Response to Reply #9
11. I tried that before the disk became RAW
and it wouldn't let me do the scan. I just tried it again, pressed "start", but this time, there's not even a message asking if I want to reboot. That small window goes away and I'm left with the "tools" windows. I'll try rebooting anyway, and see what occurs.
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Crazy Guggenheim Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Nov-22-05 08:28 PM
Response to Reply #11
12. I'll get back to you. I know about this but I have to reseach it. However
Edited on Tue Nov-22-05 08:31 PM by Crazy Guggenheim
do you have your AV and Antispyware software updated?
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brentspeak Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Nov-22-05 08:31 PM
Response to Reply #12
13. Thanks, much appreciated
I rebooted, but I'm not sure how to reboot using the bad (D) drive.
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Crazy Guggenheim Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Nov-22-05 08:33 PM
Response to Reply #13
14. Oh. Is the D: Drive a data drive or the like?
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brentspeak Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Nov-22-05 08:36 PM
Response to Reply #14
15. Yes, a data drive
Windows is on my C: drive. I just checked "system restore". It says D: is "offline", while C: is "monitoring".
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Crazy Guggenheim Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Nov-22-05 08:41 PM
Response to Reply #15
16. Is D: a virtual drive or physical hard drive?
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brentspeak Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Nov-22-05 08:44 PM
Response to Reply #16
18. A physical hard drive
That once (before this morning) had 28 Gig capacity and a whole bunch of files, but now 0 bytes, and in RAW format.
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Crazy Guggenheim Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Nov-22-05 08:46 PM
Response to Reply #18
19. Ok. Hold on a minute and I'll get back to you.
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Feron Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Nov-22-05 08:44 PM
Response to Original message
17. Have you run an anti-trojan program??
Anti-viruses and spyware programs aren't very good at detecting trojans. A good one is TrojanHunter: http://www.trojanhunter.com/

It is trialware ,but worth the install just to clean up the crud. Make sure you update the file definitions before scanning (this goes for any malware removal product).
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brentspeak Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Nov-22-05 08:46 PM
Response to Reply #17
20. I ran a virus check this morning
when the D: drive was still NTFS (but was nevertheless inaccessible). It checked it for about one second and said "nothing there", but that's because it couldn't access the files. My C: drive came up with no viruses.
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Crazy Guggenheim Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Nov-22-05 08:47 PM
Response to Reply #20
21. Ok. I think I know what's going on. Give me a couple of minutes.
I think you got hit with something and it corrupted your files.
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Crazy Guggenheim Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Nov-22-05 09:07 PM
Response to Original message
22. I think I am on to something. But I have to step out for a few minutes.
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brentspeak Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Nov-22-05 09:10 PM
Response to Reply #22
23. Ok, thanks for checking it out
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Crazy Guggenheim Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Nov-22-05 09:37 PM
Response to Original message
24. Try this .......
Start - Run - cmd - Ok.

At the prompt type D: hit enter.

Then type chkdsk - Enter

See what happens.
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brentspeak Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Nov-22-05 09:57 PM
Response to Reply #24
25. Doesn't work
Under the DOS prompt, I can't switch from C: to D: -- a message tells me what the commands in Windows were also telling me: "The file or directory is corrupt and unreadable."

It looks like the drive has been reformatted or something similar. My brother says he has software which might be able to restore some of the missing files, so I'll see how that goes. Thanks for your help, though.
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Crazy Guggenheim Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Nov-22-05 10:00 PM
Response to Reply #25
26. LOL. I was just going to say I'll get back to you in a few .....
days. :applause:

Check your PM in a couple of minutes.
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