Chkdsk Don’t Run Check Disk Until You Back Up Your Data

I would say that I get about four to five calls a week that start out with, “My hard drive crashed what can you do for me?” I always answer this question the same way, By crashed what exactly do you mean happened to the hard drive? From here the conversation becomes a back and forth of giving and taking, I ask questions which then are answered, one of the main questions I ask is “did you notice if chkdsk ran or not?” Now with all the things I need to know in order to best trouble shoot the customers problem why would this question be so important to me?

The answer is because when we look at chkdsk and its relationship to the operating system we come up with one absolute truth. This utility is not designed to maintain the integrity of your data. What it does care about is the integrity of the file system, and ultimately getting Windows to load.

The Follies and Pitfalls of Chkdsk

Keeping this in mind, we need to note a couple of things when and if chkdsk does run.

1. How long did it run for?
2. Did it say it was deleting truncated files

Now for arguments sake lets say that chkdsk did take along time to run and that it did delete files. In this situation you are left a group of CHK folders that are of little or no help to you. What I suggest in this particular situation is that you purchase a raw file recovery piece of software like Fast File Finder. You may be able to carve out some of the data you are looking for with a piece of software like this. You can also send it to a data recovery house for what is called a Logical Recovery.

The best bet is to always stop chkdsk from running and contact an expert in data recovery.

There are tricks to stop chkdsk from running.

NOTE: The following information can cause damage to your file system and you should tread lightly.

First we need to get to a DOS prompt. If you can not get into Windows, then I would suggest booting in safe mode command prompt only. If you are in Windows you can click Start, Run, CMD.

Now at the command prompt you can type :

Chkntfs /x C: <where C is the drive you want it to stop running chkdsk on :>

The next time you reboot now chkdsk should not run.

This is not a permanent fix but it should allow you to gain access to the disk, move your data off to a safe location, and then run chkdsk on the dive. It is very likely that the file system still has major problems.

The fact is if you are looking for data recovery services, something very bad has happened! Give DTI the chance to work for you. Call Toll Free: 1-866-438-6932 or fill out an online quote form if you need Data Recovery.