corrupt index (I think): how to fix?

[superboyac]

Windows 7 x64

So I just reinstalled Windows a couple of weeks ago.  One of my huge (3TB) external drives (connected esata) had some issues where I think the index got corrupted.  All the files are still there and I can move/copy them and do whatever I need to do.  But for some files, like a video file, I'll open it in the video player, but another file (an audio file) will start playing instead.  So instead of expecting to watch a astronomy documentary, I'll be listening to Wynonna Judd.  But the file is the video file in all the properties and everything, I don't get it.

So I figured I had a corrupt index.  I did a chkdsk twice, it found some stuff (not too sure what exactly), but the problem still remains.  Any clue how to deal with this?  Should I be worried and get rid of the drive?

[40hz]

Sounds like you've got cross linked files where the allocation table index is pointing to the wrong physical data sectors. (Very bad if. And it can caused by a variety of things.)

Do you remember exactly what chkdsk reported?

[IainB]

Nasty.
Not sure if this is of any use or if you have "been there/done that". I did a quick google (corrupted allocation table index NTFS -FAT) and found these for a start:

Repair-corrupt-master-file-table
Source: http://www.ehow.com/how_6585291_repair-corrupt-master-file-table.html
The master file table is a portion of new technology file systems (NTFS) that store information regarding all files and directories on a particular drive, making it a crucial part of your computer. Repairing a corrupt master file table is accomplished by using the disk repair tools in your operating system, a procedure that will take anywhere from 20 minutes to more than an hour depending on the state and speed of your hard drive and computer.

Instructions

• 1. Click "Start," "Programs" and open "Accessories."
• 2. Right-click "Command Prompt" and select "Run as Administrator."
• 3. Type "chkdsk x: /r" and press "Enter," replacing "x" with the letter of the drive containing the corrupt master file table.
• 4. Press "Y" to confirm the scan and repair.
• 5. Restart your computer. The PC will automatically scan the drive for errors at start-up, repairing errors that are found and repairing the master file table.

Rebuild-corrupt-master-file-table
Source: http://www.ehow.com/how_6524427_rebuild-corrupt-master-file-table.html
The Master File Table contains all data concerning the logical structure of information on a hard drive, including operating system locations, operating system boot options and the logical placement of all data on the drive. Due to any number of factors, this table can become corrupt through hard drive failure or malicious software. The Windows operating system provides a simple tool for rebuilding the Master File Table.

Instructions

• 1. Click the "Start" button located in the lower-left corner of the Windows desktop.
• 2. Type "chkdsk /f C:" in the text box next to the "Run" heading without quotes. Change the letter "C" if that is not the drive you are attempting to recover.
• 3. Click the "OK" button on the dialog box that appears to begin the recovery process. This launches the check disk utility that scans the entire drive for logical errors in an attempt to correct them. If the master file table is recoverable, it is fixed during this process. Depending on the size of the hard drive, this may take several minutes to several hours.

[superboyac]

i believe I've already tried both methods indicated by IainB.  I think it found stuff both times, I just didn't catch what.  i don't think any bad sectors were found, though, i was keeping an eye on that one.

here's the log:

One of your disks needs to be checked for consistency. You
may cancel the disk check, but it is strongly recommended
that you continue.
Windows will now check the disk.                        

CHKDSK is verifying files (stage 1 of 3)...
 563712 file records processed.                                          File verification completed.
 8640 large file records processed.                                      0 bad file records processed.                                        0 EA records processed.                                              0 reparse records processed.                                       CHKDSK is verifying indexes (stage 2 of 3)...
 645710 index entries processed.                                         Index verification completed.
 0 unindexed files scanned.                                           0 unindexed files recovered.                                       CHKDSK is verifying security descriptors (stage 3 of 3)...
 563712 file SDs/SIDs processed.                                         Security descriptor verification completed.
 41000 data files processed.                                            CHKDSK is verifying Usn Journal...
 35521720 USN bytes processed.                                             Usn Journal verification completed.
Correcting errors in the Volume Bitmap.
Windows has made corrections to the file system.

  2861458 MB total disk space.
  2755039 MB in 514017 files.
   228144 KB in 41001 indexes.
        0 KB in bad sectors.
   754295 KB in use by the system.
    65536 KB occupied by the log file.
107991256 KB available on disk.

     4096 bytes in each allocation unit.
732533503 total allocation units on disk.
 26997814 allocation units available on disk.

[Stoic Joker]

Have you run the drive manufacturers diagnostic (usually a boot CD) on the disk to see what it finds/wants to fix?

[40hz]

Have you run the drive manufacturers diagnostic (usually a boot CD) on the disk to see what it finds/wants to fix?

Yup. What Stoic said. That's what you want to do.

Sounds like an intermittent controller issue may be the culprit. Something glitched and soiled the sheets. You'll want to check and see if there's updated firmware for that specific drive available from the manufacturer. Ditto for your mobo since the problem could have originated there rather than on the drive controller itself. Depending on the age there may be updated chipset drivers and BIOS updates that fix weird timing and related issues.

Once that's checked and (optionally) updated, I'd get a good backup of whatever you can get off that drive and then run the the most comprehensive and thorough set of diagnostics the manufacturer provides.

Be forewarned...on a 3TB drive, it's going to take a while.

Luck!

[superboyac]

Thanks guys.  I'll do that.  Looks like my weekend is shot!

Regarding manufacturer tools, I've read that using Seatools (Seagate's offering) works on other manufacturer's drive and that it's the preferred diagnostic tool.  I couldn't find a similar tool from Hitachi, but they have what's called an alignment tool I'll try:
http://www.hgst.com/support/downloads/

I'm currently running the chkdsk /f /r right now on it, it's been going since yesterday night.

I think it was caused by a power supply problem on my granite digital external box.  I think what happened was I was moving the box around a lot and the power connector (which is pretty sturdy compared to most companies) got loose or something, and there were times with intermittent power.  So I shoved the connector back in place, but I think that's where the problems occurred.

[Stoic Joker]

I couldn't find a similar tool from Hitachi

Hitachi - Drive Fitness Test v4.11 b00.rar (818.5 KB) 

[superboyac]

I couldn't find a similar tool from Hitachi

(see attachment in previous post) 

Thanks stoic, but the warning there says:

NOTE: Currently the Drive Fitness Test does not support 3TB and greater internal drives.

Do you think it would be safe to give Seatools a try instead?  or is that not a good idea.  Other forums seem to think it's fine.

[Stoic Joker]

NOTE: Currently the Drive Fitness Test does not support 3TB and greater internal drives.

Do you think it would be safe to give Seatools a try instead?  or is that not a good idea.  Other forums seem to think it's fine.[/quote]

Hm... That's a tricky one. Generally the error codes tend to be manufacturer specific, so only brand X's software will find/fix certain brand X issues. if it's a Hitachi drive try the newer Hitachi tool first (it does appear to superceed the DFT) and see what that comes up with first.

[superboyac]

OK!  chkdsk /f /r finished, here are the results:


First question: how much disk space do I need?  I have 89.2 GB left on a 2.72 TB drive.  I know that's not a lot percentage-wise, but it's a lot absolute-wise!

[Target]

do you have enough 'spare' space somewhere else to copy everything off that drive?

it might be easier to try copying/moving everything away, then wipe that disk and start again

[4wd]

Um, that's ~89GB, (23562998*4096/1024/1024/1024), of drive that chkdsk has just found to be bad, ie. the equivalent of all your free space.

I'd be taking the SJ approach here and copying all the data you can to another drive forthwith - only then would I even consider running any further tools over the drive.

[barney]

I'm a bit dubious in regard to that chkdsk message.  Had a similar response on a 2TB drive with only ~650 GB filled.  Don't think chkdsk is up to really large drives.  Ran the Seagate tool against the same drive, in benign mode (no corrective action) since it was not a Seagate drive, and saw only three (3) or four (4) problems.  Used a GParted LiveCD to correct those.  Still using that same drive, a Fantom, ~ a year-and-a-half later.  I really don't trust chkdsk on anything over 500 MB or so.

Just my experience, not necessarily definitive  .

[superboyac]

Interesting barney, I have those same feelings.  You know, now that I think about it, before I noticed any problems, I swear I had about 200GB of space left.  Now, with each test I run, it seems to be shrinking, or at least changing.

4wd & Stoic: I do, thankfully, have the exact 3TB spare sitting here in its package.  I was saving it for a charity education project I wanted to work on, but I'll use it now for this problem.

[Target]

not sure how much time you want to spend on this, but if it was me I'd copy the files off, then run eraser over the drive, then (probably) reformat, and then check/test again...

[barney]

not sure how much time you want to spend on this, but if it was me I'd copy the files off, then run eraser over the drive, then (probably) reformat, and then check/test again...

Sound advice ... just don't rely upon chkdsk  . 

[justice]

Bad clusters is a sign of problems; I've personally never seen so many. Don't store anything new on that drive, get all important information off that you still scan, don't know what the issue is - but do know you cannot trust anything on that drive. Personally I'd swap it and test it for a week see if the problem is just local to that drive you swapped out. If so bin it.

[Shades]

I'm with Justice on the 'Bin it' part. Here's why.

One should never play with the internal power plugs while the PC is running! The same is true with the SATA plugs even when it says that drives are 'hot-swappable'. Because it is more than likely that the drive is 'hot-swappable', either the controller on your mother-board or your power-supply isn't.

If you note something is loose, turn your PC off (not standby, but off). Now it is time for loosening the connector completely and reconnecting it. Do the same for other connectors, you have the PC open now anyway. When done, close up the PC and put it back in its location. Any other way will f..k up perfectly good hardware for no other reason than your own laziness. If you really have that much cash to burn, take family/friends to a dinner in decent restaurant or give it to good cause...or me.

Here's another tip that will work out great for you:
When a PC has been transported (even over a small distance like 10 cm.) it is possible that (a) connector(s) got loose. Each and every time! I can't warn people enough about that. If I got 1000 USD for each time I solved a (hairy) situation with the solution above I could have stopped working for a living 5 years ago. People underestimate this problem in so many ways that it baffles me.

[superboyac]

I'm with Justice on the 'Bin it' part. Here's why.

One should never play with the internal power plugs while the PC is running! The same is true with the SATA plugs even when it says that drives are 'hot-swappable'. Because it is more than likely that the drive is 'hot-swappable', either the controller on your mother-board or your power-supply isn't.

If you note something is loose, turn your PC off (not standby, but off). Now it is time for loosening the connector completely and reconnecting it. Do the same for other connectors, you have the PC open now anyway. When done, close up the PC and put it back in its location. Any other way will f..k up perfectly good hardware for no other reason than your own laziness. If you really have that much cash to burn, take family/friends to a dinner in decent restaurant or give it to good cause...or me.

Here's another tip that will work out great for you:
When a PC has been transported (even over a small distance like 10 cm.) it is possible that (a) connector(s) got loose. Each and every time! I can't warn people enough about that. If I got 1000 USD for each time I solved a (hairy) situation with the solution above I could have stopped working for a living 5 years ago. People underestimate this problem in so many ways that it baffles me.

You know Shades.  I think you're right, and I think that's exactly what happened.  I was moving that box every so often over a couple of years and didn't notice the power plug in the back loosening.  Then I pushed it back in without turning the computer off, and that's when some issues started.  It was strange because the granite digital plug is so tight, hard to imagine it getting loose...but gravity is a mysterious force!

[tslim]

Windows 7 x64

So I just reinstalled Windows a couple of weeks ago.  One of my huge (3TB) external drives (connected esata) had some issues where I think the index got corrupted.  All the files are still there and I can move/copy them and do whatever I need to do.  But for some files, like a video file, I'll open it in the video player, but another file (an audio file) will start playing instead.  So instead of expecting to watch a astronomy documentary, I'll be listening to Wynonna Judd.  But the file is the video file in all the properties and everything, I don't get it.

So I figured I had a corrupt index.  I did a chkdsk twice, it found some stuff (not too sure what exactly), but the problem still remains.  Any clue how to deal with this?  Should I be worried and get rid of the drive?

Why don't you try copy the video file (the problem maker) to another location with a different name and try play the latter then tells us what happen?

I would like to add this:
Bad sector only prevent you from reading or writing a file, it won't play you a song...

[Stoic Joker]

Here's another tip that will work out great for you:
When a PC has been transported (even over a small distance like 10 cm.) it is possible that (a) connector(s) got loose. Each and every time! I can't warn people enough about that. If I got 1000 USD for each time I solved a (hairy) situation with the solution above I could have stopped working for a living 5 years ago. People underestimate this problem in so many ways that it baffles me.

Move PC off desk.
Put PC back on desk
(Case flexes just enough to unseat video card)
Boot failure....

Yepper been there. 

[superboyac]

Windows 7 x64

So I just reinstalled Windows a couple of weeks ago.  One of my huge (3TB) external drives (connected esata) had some issues where I think the index got corrupted.  All the files are still there and I can move/copy them and do whatever I need to do.  But for some files, like a video file, I'll open it in the video player, but another file (an audio file) will start playing instead.  So instead of expecting to watch a astronomy documentary, I'll be listening to Wynonna Judd.  But the file is the video file in all the properties and everything, I don't get it.

So I figured I had a corrupt index.  I did a chkdsk twice, it found some stuff (not too sure what exactly), but the problem still remains.  Any clue how to deal with this?  Should I be worried and get rid of the drive?

Why don't you try copy the video file (the problem maker) to another location with a different name and try play the latter then tells us what happen?

I would like to add this:
Bad sector only prevent you from reading or writing a file, it won't play you a song...

I did that.  The file won't play.  It might make the video player crash.  It gets copied over in a form that the video player doesn't recognize.  I guess it doesn't have the other music file that it's pointing to available, so the computer is just confused.

[superboyac]

http://mediainfo.sourceforge.net/en

Mediainfo: want to hear some shady shit??  Check this out:
-- go download the mediainfo installer
--start installing, agree to the terms by pressing the "agree" button
--you'll notice there's a slight pause, and your instinct is to hit the "agree" button again because it felt like the first click didn't take
--TRICKED!!  The next screen is the AVG toolbar installer, which you can decline BUT because of the pause, you will get tricked to accepting the installation.

Folks, this is intentional.  I got tricked about this last year with some other askjeeves toolbar or something.  They put that pause there on purpose, and they are total assholes for doing so.

[4wd]

http://mediainfo.sourceforge.net/en

Mediainfo: want to hear some shady shit??  Check this out:

MediaInfo Lite - "just the facts m'am"

Always look for the lite