Friday, May 21, 2010

How to Fix Dynamic Volume with 'Failed' Status

Windows users usually implement dynamic disk when they need to span a volume across multiple disks. As the name suggests, dynamic disks are meant to provide dynamic storage environment. However, similar to basic disks, if the file system of dynamic disk gets corrupt, it either starts behaving abnormally or becomes completely inaccessible to the user. The present discussion represents one of such scenarios together with Partition Recovery methods that can be implemented to extract the possible data.
Consider a realistic case when you use a Windows-based computer with a dynamic disk. The disk contains important files and folders that you cannot afford to lose. Then, suddenly you observe that a dynamic volume starts showing its start as 'Failed'. The volumes can no longer be started and accessed. Consequently, you cannot view or open the various files and folders stored on this volume.
Explanation
Such instances usually indicate data loss, however, the common causes for 'Failed' dynamic volume are:
  • You cannot start the dynamic volume automatically
  • The dynamic disk is damaged
  • The file system of dynamic volume is corrupt
User Action

Users need to perform the following action if they encounter a dynamic volume that shows its status as 'Failed':
  • Make sure that the underlying disks for dynamic volume are online. Return the disk status to 'Online' if they are not online
  • If the dynamic volume fails to come to 'Healthy' status even if the dynamic disk has returned to 'Online' status, you should reactivate the dynamic volume manually. The dynamic volume can be a RAID-5 or mirrored volume with some previous data. If this is the case, you should bring back the disks containing recent data online or restart the volume manually
  • Run chkdsk.exe on your dynamic volume if all the above measures fail. The last option to solve the problem of corrupted dynamic volume is to recreate it and restore the deleted data from backup.
At times, the data backup is either absent or you fail to restore from it. In such situations, use a Windows Data Recovery tool. These are exclusive Partition Recovery tools designed to scan and locate lost/missing partitions or volumes from Windows based disks.
Windows Data Recovery is a comprehensive tool to recover lost partitions and volumes from Windows 7, Vista, XP, 2003, and 2000 computers. This Windows Data Recovery includes advanced recovery options like disk cloning, disk imaging, raw recovery, and others.


Resource taken from :-
http://hubpages.com/hub/How-to-Fix-Dynamic-Volume-with-Failed-Status

Monday, May 17, 2010

CHKDSK Fails To Repair FAT32 File System

FAT32, like any other file system can get corrupted due to various reasons, like improper system shutdown, virus infection, operating system malfunction, and many more similar reasons. In most situations of FAT32 file system damage, a Windows user encounters a boot error message that does not allow him/her to access the data saved in the hard drive. To repair FAT32 file system and to access the data saved in the hard drive, the user needs to run CHKDSK command. Although, this command repairs FAT32 file system in most cases, it might fail to repair in case of severe corruption. In such situations, a CHKDSK failure error message flashes on the screen, and your system continues to be unbootable. To overcome a CHKDSK failure error message, the user needs to reinstall FAT32 operating system and restore data from an updated backup. However, in case of incomplete backup, the user needs to opt for a third-party FAT Data Recovery application.


To explain the above case, consider a practical scenario where the FAT32 file system gets corrupted and you run 'CHKDSK E: /F' command to repair the file system:


“The type of the file system is FAT32.
Volume Serial Number is C408-2213”


But, if you run CHKDSK command, without '/F' parameter, then you receive another error message:


“The type of the file system is FAT32.
Volume Serial Number is C408-2213
Errors found. CHKDSK cannot continue in read-only mode.”


Reason:


The above error messages occur when FAT32 file system is severely corrupted and CHKDSK command does not attempt to use its backup copy.

Solution:

To resolve the above error message and to access the data, follow the below guidelines:


1.Reinstall Windows Server 2000 to create a new set of FAT32 file system.
2.Restore the data from an updated and valid backup.
3.However, in case of insufficient or incomplete backup, you will need to search for a commercial FAT Data Recovery software.

Such FAT Recovery tools perform comprehensive recovery of almost all lost files and folders post formatting of FAT32 based hard drive. These FAT Partition Recovery tools are easy-to- understand and install.


FAT Data Recovery is a easy to use fat recovery software that recovers lost, missing, and deleted data from FAT12, FAT 16, and FAT 32 based hard drives. The tool is designed for Windows 7, Vista, XP, 2003, and 2000. It is available in two versions – complete and demo.





Resource taken from

http://hubpages.com/hub/CHKDSK-Fails-To-Repair-FAT32-File-System

 
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