iXiliX

Several common error messages are related to problems in the file system or drives. These usually occur when booting the system. It may also happen when attempting to log in or to access a drive. The common ones are the following:

• Missing Operating System
• No ROM Basic – System Halted
• Boot Error Press F1 to Retry
• Invalid Drive Specification
• Invalid Media Type
• Hark Disk Controller Failure

Missing Operating System

This error indicates problems in the master boot record or partition table entries. The partition table entries might be pointing to a sector which is not the actual beginning of a partition. This can also be triggered by invalid BIOS settings, in some cases resulting from a dead or dying battery. Another cause can be virus damage to the MBR. This error can also occur if no active partition is defined in the partition table.

You can solve this problem by correcting the invalid BIOS settings. The LBA translation and the BIOS settings for drive parameters must be set to the same values as when the drive was partitioned and formatted to read the drive correctly. You can try FDISK/MBR to repair a broken MBR on a FAT drive or FIXMBR with a NTFS drive. Other types of damage require more sophisticated use of a disk editor utility or repartitioning and reformatting the drive to start over.

No ROM Basic – System Halted

This error is generated by the AMI BIOS when the boot sector or master boot record of the boot drive is damaged or missing. You may also get this error when the boot drive has been improperly configured or is not configure at all in the BIOS. In this case, data in the partition might be valid and undamaged but no bootable partition exists.

IBM systems in this situation used to drop into a built-in BIOS version of BASIC, but most non-IBM BIOS manufacturers did not license this code from Microsoft. So, instead of dropping into BASIC, they displayed this cryptic massage. The typical solution to this problem is to run FDISK and set the primary partition as active because the most common cause of this type of error is a failure to set at least one partition as active (bootable). If this is not the problem, the solution is to repair the damaged MBR or correct the improper BIOS settings.

Boot Error Press F1 to Retry

This error is generated by the Phoenix BIOS when the hard disk is missing a master boot record or boot sector or when there is a problem accessing the boot drive. It is a problem similar to NO ROM Basic does on an AMI BIOS. No active partition is defined is the most common cause of this message.

Invalid Drive Specification

This error occurs when you attempt to log in to a drive that has not been partitioned or for which the partition table entry has been damaged or is incorrect. You can check the existing partition using FDISK or use FDISK to partition the drive. If they are damaged, you probably should use a data recovery tool including REMO to rectify the problem.

REMO is a Mac Recover Software that could also be used for Mac file Recovery. It will recover data on a failed hard drive and recover formatted memory card. It can also be used on Windows.

Another solution is to repartition the drive from scratch, but this causes any existing data on the drive to be overwritten.

Invalid Media Type

This indicates the partition table is valid, but the volume boot sector, directory, or file allocation tables are corrupt, damaged, or not yet initialized. For example, if you try to access a drive that has been partitioned but not yet formatted, you would normal receive this error. The volume boot record (VBR), file allocation tables, and directories on the disk are created by the format command.

The repair typically involves using a data recover utility or redoing the high-level format on the drive. Because high-level formatting does not actually destroy the data, one technique to recover is to high-level format (OS Format) the volume and then immediately unformat it using the unformat utility.

Hard disk controller Failure

You would get this error message when the hard drive controller has failed, the hard drive controller is not set up properly in the BIOS, or the controller can not communicate with the attached drives due to cable problems.

The solution is to check out the drive installation and ensure that the cables to the drive are properly installed, the drive is getting power, it is spinning, and the BIOS setup definitions are correct. If all these are correct, the drive, cable, or controller may be physically damaged. Substitute them with know-good spares one by one until the problem is solved.

Recovery data from flash memory devices such as USB keychain drives and card used in the digital cameras and digital music players come be a challenging task. From an user standpoint these devices emulate conventional disk drives. They have file allocation tables similar to those found on floppy disks and can usually be formatted through the Windows Explorer. Many data recovery programs that work well with conventional drives can not be used to recover data from flash memory devices-especially when the device has been formatted.

Data loss can happen with a flash memory devices under several circumstances. Formatting of the media when the device is connected to the computer through a card reader can cause data loss. When the device is inserted into a digital camera, deletion of one or more photos or files can cause data loss. When photos are deleted, the file locations and name listings in the file allocation tables are changed in the same way as when file are deleted from magnetic media: The first character of the filename is changed to a lowercase sigma, indicating the file has been erased. Just as with magnetic media, undelete programs that support removable devices can be used to retrieve deleted files on flash memory devices in the same way that they retrieve deleted files from magnetic media.

However it is much more difficult to recover data from a formatted flash memory device, whether it has been formatted by a digital camera or through Windows. Because the flash memory devices are accessible only from within the Windows GUI and command-line programs are designed to work with BIOS-compatible devices such hard and floppy drives, traditional unformat programs are not useful for cases like these.

Formatted Data Recovery

To recover data from a formatted flash memory card, you can use can use data recovery tools for instance REMO Recover. REMO Recover (Windows) is an integrated utility suit that can be used to retrieve data from hard drive and flash memory card.. In addition , it come with features such as email backup. It may be used to fix corrupt pst as well.

The following changes occur to the disk when a file is deleted:

• Windows replace the first character of the filename with a lowercase sigma character.
• Two entries, one for the deleted file and one for its associated long file name (LFN) are created in file allocation table. These include:
• Erased. An erased file
• Del LFN. An LFN belonging to an erased file.

The clusters where the file is recorded are marked by the operating system as clusters which can be reuse. For that reason, these clusters could be overwritten by new data if the undelete action is not carried out promptly. Based on the file type, the loss of even one cluster could destroy the file.

File Undelete:

The file undelete process involves four steps:

• Restoring the original filename
• Locating the clusters used by the file
• Recreating the FAT entries for the file
• Relinking the LFN enteries for the file to the file

Locating the clusters used by the file and recreating the FAT entries for the file are the most import steps. However restoring a deleted program file to its original name is important. Otherwise the program would not function properly. Restoring the LFN entries enables a Windows users accustomed to long filenames to more easily use the file.

How to Recover Data

If you wish to undelete the file, you can make use of data recovery tools such as REMO Recover. REMO Recover (Windows) is an integrated utility suit which can be used to retrieve deleted files. In addition , it has email recovery feature that can be used to recover outlook emails.

Recovering lost data can be as simple as restoring files from Window’s Recycle bin. It can be complicated task that needs specialized data recovery software or services which could you cost big money. In the worst case scenario, you might have to deliver your hard drive to data recovery center. The factors that affect the degree of difficulty of data recovery are the following:

• In what way the data is deleted.
• Which file system was used by the drive on which the data was stored?
• Whether the drive uses magnetic, optical, magneto-optical, or flash memory to store data.
• Which operating system is used?
• Whether you have data protection software installed on your system.
• Any physical damages to the hard drive?

The Windows Recycle Bin

When you delete a file in the Windows, it is deleted from its normal location and it is sent to Recycle bin. The size of Recycle bin is about 1% of hard drive space. All files stored in Recycle bin are actually protected from being overwritten by the system. However, the Recycle bin will eventually kick out older files when it is full. Thus, the quicker you realize that a file has been sent to Recycle bin, the more likely it is you can retrieve it. To retrieve a file from Recycle bin, open the Recycle bin, select the file, right click it and select Restore. Windows will list the file in its original location and removes it from the Recycle bin. If a file is deleted when you hold down the Shift key, the Recycle bin is bypassed. In this case, the data recovery software is need to retrieve the lost data.

Recover Files that Are Not in the Recycle Bin

The Recycle bin is a useful first line of defense against data loss but it can be bypassed when you select file for deletion. Besides, files stored in Recycle bin are eventually kicked out by the newer deleted files. If you want to retrieve files that are not in the Recycle bin, it is necessary to use data recovery software such as REMO Recover. REMO Recover (Windows) is an integrated utility suit for windows and Mac that offers many features which include deleted partition recovery and laptop hard drive recovery. It is also en email recovery software which would recover the lost e-mails.

Recovering Data from Partitioned and Formatted Drives

The hard drive’s file allocation table, which is used to determine the location of the files, is lost when it is formatted. If a hard drive has been repartitioned with FDISK or another partitioning program, the original file system and partition information is lost. In such cases, more powerful data recovery tools much be used to retrieve data. To retrieve data from an accidentally formatted drive, you have two options:

• use a program that could unformat the drive
• use an application that can bypass the newly created FAT and read disk sectors directly to discover and retrieve data.

To retrieve data from a drive that has been partitioned, you must use a program that will read disk sector directly.