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General discussion

Can't even boot up - scandisk found error in FAT32 cluster 2 that it cannot repair.

Mar 6, 2004 2:21PM PST

Friend's computer (her 17 year old has a term paper due Thursday) won't even boot up. Ran scandisk from MS DOS - scandisk found error in FAT 32 cluster 2 that it cannot repair... Let me preface the steps that I have taken by saying that I am fairly computer literate - knowing just enough to tinker and do my own minor repairs and upgrades, and enough to know when to say when and consult... I am not so familiar with MS DOS - although tonight I am feel pretty intimate, albeit inadequate. On advice form faq posted online, I have attempted to run chkdsk, unsuccessfully as it insists on scandisk instead, I have attempted to scan and restore the registry, I have booted from a disk I created on my own pc, and I have attempted to reistall Windows 98. All to no avail. I am fantastic at following directions, and humble when I ask for help... Any advice would be sincerely appreciated. Feel free to email me. Angela

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Re:Can't even boot up - scandisk found error in FAT32 cluster 2 that it cannot repair.
Mar 6, 2004 7:31PM PST

Angela,

This is serious. You don't quote any error messages other than the one from scandisk ("all to no avail" really doesn't say much), but maybe that doesn't even matter.

It seems to me the only thing left is format the hard disk. This will wipe out everything, but recreate the FAT. However, all data not on a backup (diskette, CD or another computer) will be lost.

It might well be that the hard disk is defective, and then format will give an error also. Then try fdisk to delete and recreate the partition. If the format then succeeds do a scandisk including surface check. A failing hard disk generally is a bad sign. Be extra careful backing up things, and be prepared you have to buy a new one in the near future, if not right now.

Booting from the bootdisk, you can't chkdsk and scandisk, but can you look in the folders (dir c: ), go to other folders (c:, cd \, cd "My Documents") and copy information to another diskette? That would be most helpful to retrieve files before formatting.

Otherwise, there is a lot of datarecovery software to be found. It will analyse the disk even if there's an error in the FAT, and possibly find a lot of files it can recover, including the term paper data. I don't have any experience with such software so can't give you a recommendation. Try finding such with google or on the usual download sites, or post again (possibly on the Computer Help forum, which has more visitors). Some have a free demo mode showing what they can retrieve if you decide to buy the programs. That's a sensible way of doing it, I should say.

Good luck,


Kees

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This is a serious error. The steps are...
Mar 6, 2004 10:56PM PST

1. BACKUP!

While you may wonder how to, I shared a treat with others at http://tips.oncomputers.info/archives2004/0401/2004-Jan-11.htm in which the KNOPPIX CD was booted and files backed up which they couldn't lose.

2. DANGER! REPAIRS CAN MAKE THIS WORSE!

If you think that running scandisk from a dos bootdisk will fix this, step away from the machine. I'm serious. It's time to save the files before you run any program that will diddle with clusters in the single digit areas.

3. Ouch.

After all the files are safe that one can't lose, then one can try a DRIVE FITNESS TEST from the drive maker.

4. DOS or rather COMMAND LINE SKILLS are not dead.

It just takes a reason. There are maybe five basic commands to learn so get to it. I will not teach such because there are far too many web and books on this.

Bob

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Re:Can't even boot up - scandisk found error in FAT32 cluster 2 that it cannot repair.
Mar 7, 2004 4:23PM PST

Boot to a floppy of the same version of Windows that is on the problem PC. Copy the file "fdisk.exe" onto the floppy. This file can be found in the "C:\Windows\Command" directory. When booted up and at the A:> prompt, type "FDISK /MBR" and hit Enter. This rewrites the master boot record and has fixed many of my boot problems. Warning: if a virus is the cause it could make the disk bootable but the file table and files unretreivable. Try to locate and copy that important file to a floppy first if you suspect this.

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Re:Can't even boot up - DO NOT FDISK the drive yet
Mar 7, 2004 8:33PM PST

If a bad sector is in the area where Windows is located when being installed, and you Fdisk the drive, create a new partition, W98 WILL NOT install. Old W95A would because it would run over the top of a bad sector at the front of the drive, but W98 won't. And all data will be lost.

My solution would be to get another harddrive right away, Unhook the old one for now but leave it in the case, then Fdisk, format, and install Windows on the new drive. Then after you have it booted up and the hardware is installed, shut down, hook up the old one as a SLAVE to it on the same cable (rejumper the new one as Master or Master with Slave) OR hook the old one up as a MASTER on the Secondary IDE controller. Boot back up again, and you should now have access to the old harddrive in Windows Explorer and you can salvage your files from it to the new drive by dragging and dropping.

TONI