Hard drive directory corrupt after partition merge?

[Chas Uno]

Forum PC experts, your advice is needed!

I have a 160GB hard drive in my computer that was originally partitioned into 4 x 40GB partitions. The first partion (C: ) is where Windows and all the program files live, and the other three (D:, E: and F: ) were simply storage space for my files. I only used one of the partitions (D: ) until it started getting full. At this point I used Partion Magic (PM) to merge D: with the empty E: to create a bigger 80 GB partition. This left me with the following:

C: 40 GB
D: 80 GB
E: 40 GB

Recently D: was starting to fill up and E: was empty, so I decided to merge the two together to create a 120 GB partition. However, Partition Magic told me that there wasn't enough space on the D: drive to merge it with E: Therefore to deal with this I moved one of my file directories from D: to E: to give enough room on D: for PM to work. With this done PM merged the two partions with the files/ folders moved onto the old E: drive put into a folder called "2nd" on the expanded D: drive partition.

PM stated that the merge had been successful and my 160 GB drive was now partitioned into C: 40 GB and D: 120 GB. All my files/ folders from the original D: drive are accessible and intact. However, the files moved onto the old E: drive (now supposed to be in a folder called "2nd" on the expanded D: drive) cannot be opened. If I try to open it I get the error message -

"D:\ 2nd is not accessible. Access is denied" (see attached screen shot).

Right clicking on the "2nd" and "old" directories and viewing their properties informs me that the sizes on the disk are 0 bites and that they both contain 0 files and 0 folders. Therefore the only folder that contains any files is "My Documents".

However, the properties for drive D: states that 75.6 GB has been used. Yet the properties for the only folder that is accessible on D: - "My Documents" - states that it has a size of 55.4 GB and a size on disk of 41.3 GB (See attached screen shot). There is no other information on D: that is shown up as accessible so there is a big discrepency between the properties of used hard disk space and the amount of space used by the files and folders. My suspicion is that the files in the "2nd" directory are still taking up this extra space even though I can't access the folder.

To be on the safe side I used a file recovery program called "Recover My Files". This located the lost files from the merged partition and I saved these onto two 8 GB memory sticks and also some free space on the C: drive. However, the idea was to then transfer these back onto the new 120 GB D: drive but with something amiss with the file system and the incorrect properties it's not a good idea.

Additionally, I ran a program called "Test Disk" (http://www.cgsecurity.org/wiki/TestDisk) that did a search of the D: drive, identified ALL the folders and allows me to access the missing "2nd" directory that I can't via Windows. It also allows me to access and copy files from the "2nd" directory, confirming my suspicion that these files exist on my hard drive but that the directory has become corrupted during the partition merge. You can see Test Disk in one of the windows in the attached picture showing the "2nd" directory.

Also I've run the Windows "Check disk" from the "Tools" tab by right clicking "D:" and "Properties", but this hasn't changed or shown up any problems.

So what's my best option? I'm assuming that if I can somehow get the directory system on D: repaired then all the files and folders will show up and the correct disk useage will be displayed. Is this possible and is there a program that can do this? The only other thing I can think of is buying an external hard drive and copying EVERYTHING from D: onto that, including the missing "2nd" folder by using Test Disk, then re-formatting D: and transferring everything back.

Apologies for the long post but hopefully I've given enough information for someone to give me the best advice. Any help or suggestions greatfully received!

 

[Ucof]

If I remember rightly, this is actually a permissions error rather than a corruption error.
Right-click the folder, then properties, then permissions. Make sure your username has "Full" check box ticked. Then hit apply.


You say you ran "Check disk" - was this a scan disc, or an actual "ChkDsk"? (Did you do a full scan and attempt for recovery of bad sectors?)

 

[Chas Uno]

If I remember rightly, this is actually a permissions error rather than a corruption error.
Right-click the folder, then properties, then permissions. Make sure your username has "Full" check box ticked. Then hit apply.

I don't seem to get this check box when I do this for the directory called "2nd" - see attached picture. It tells me to drag the folder into the "Shared Documents" folder, but when I attempt to do this I get an "Error Copying file or folder" window pop up. Again, this is in the attached screen shot showing this happening.

I'm running Windows XP Pro SP2 by by the way.

You say you ran "Check disk" - was this a scan disc, or an actual "ChkDsk"? (Did you do a full scan and attempt for recovery of bad sectors?)

This was a "check disk" that you instigate when right clicking on the drive letter, then selecting "properties" and then selecting "tools". Then you can select the top option "Error Checking" by clicking on the "check now button". When I tried it the utility didn't find any errors.

I think my only option is to back up all the information by copying and using the Test Disc program, and then reformatting the dodgy partition as I suspect that the directory in it has become corrupted. I've ordered a 500 GB external drive so when this turns up I shall be able to do this. Unless there's a program out there that can attempt a repair of the directory structure?

Would this be the best solution or would I still have problems after reformatting the drive?

Thanks for trying to help by the way

 

[Ucof]

Do you get the "Permissions" or "Security" tab on any other folders?

When you ran the scan disk, did you click the two check boxes that come up? "Automatically fix file system errors" and "Scan for and attempt recovery of bad sectors".

 

[Chas Uno]

Do you get the "Permissions" or "Security" tab on any other folders?

When you ran the scan disk, did you click the two check boxes that come up? "Automatically fix file system errors" and "Scan for and attempt recovery of bad sectors".

No, I don't get the "Permissions" or "Security tab" on any other folder. I only get the "Sharing" tab as shown in the picture in my previous post.

I wonder if it's any significance that when I click on the properties for this folder I can't access (called "2nd") it tells me that it contains 0 files/ folders and takes up 0 space? The "My Documents" folder on the same drive gives all the details of number of files/ folders and disk space used. :chin:

And when I ran "Error Checking" from the drive "properties" and "tools" tab I did tick the two check boxes to select "automatically fix file system errors" and "scan for and attempt recovery of bad sectors". It ran for quite some time and didn't seem to come up with any errors.

Oh, and apparently "Scan Disk" has not been supplied with Windows from XP onwards? Or is the disk "Error checking" function "scan disk" under another name?

 

[Ucof]

Scan disc is with XP.
Its probably called "Error checking", but it is the same thing.

I'd give testdisc a go.

If you are still having problems DO NOT FORMAT the drive, I will send you a PM instead if it doesnt work

 

[smokeyjoe03]

Its not a permission problem, you can rule that one out. You can see the permissions of the folders in the 1st screen shot of the test disk program.

DR stands for directory
X stands for execute
R stands for read
W stands for write
- separates one user from another.

The 1st XR is for the user
The 2nd XR is for the group
and the 3rd XR is for everyone else

So DR-XR-XR-X basically means He has access to the files, other users on his computer do but every1 else doesn't i.e. he has permission.

 

[Ucof]

Thanks
Need to commit those letters to memory. How do you pronouce the one that looks like two V's next to each other?

Im sure I had a problem like this a while ago that was caused by incorrect permissions. However, it could have been an "Access is denied" error rather than ...wait.. that is what you are getting..


Hmmmm...

Surely if it was corrupted it would say "Unable to read from file or directory" rather than "Access is denied" - that's the error message you get if you don't have the permissions.

 

[Hellcat]

Be nice to have the normal folder security settings rather than the 'simple file sharing'

Open windows explorer then click on Tools->Folder Options
Click on the View Tab.
Scroll to the bottom and deselect (uncheck) the option that reads 'use simple file sharing'
This will allow you to see the security tab when viewing the properties of a file/folder.

 

[Chas Uno]

Cheers all, and thanks Rob Hellcat for the advice on security tabs. I've done what you suggested and now get the security tab for the folder I can't open. Screen shot attached of what it shows.

My 500GB external drive turned up today so if all else fails the big back up and file/ folder transfer will take place!

 

[Chas Uno]

Oops, buggered up attaching the screenshot. Here it is:

 

[Hellcat]

Can you add your username there with full control?

Option 1.

Click advanced, tick "inherit from parent......"

If not you may need to take ownership:

Click 'advanced'
Then in the window that opens choose the 'owner' tab.
Add your username, tick 'replace owner on subcontainers and objects'
Then you should be able to add yourself as a full control.

 

[Chas Uno]

Can you add your username there with full control?

Option 1.

Click advanced, tick "inherit from parent......"

If not you may need to take ownership:

Click 'advanced'
Then in the window that opens choose the 'owner' tab.
Add your username, tick 'replace owner on subcontainers and objects'
Then you should be able to add yourself as a full control.

Mr. Hellcat = :worship: :worship: :worship: :worship: :worship: :worship:

Option 1 worked! I can now access this folder all all its contents. Checking through them it appears all is intact and wonderful. Of course the 500GB stand alone drive turned up today and it's not needed now. Typical Still, now I'm going to back up my entire system drives onto it regularly so hopefully it won't happen again.

One last question though. Why did this folder become inaccessible only after the partition merge? It was perfectly accessible before

Thanks again Rob

 

[Hellcat]

meh it's my job.. well it used to be until my job became dealing with red tape surrounding change process

Dunno why it made the folder system only... it's strange.

 

[Ucof]

See!
I f*cking knew it was a permissions problem!
I just couldn't remember the last bit

Good going Mr.Hellcat!

Yep, ditto about not knowing why it made the change. Just something that goes asquiff I reckon,

 

[Stu DemonD]

Its not a permission problem, you can rule that one out.

See!
I f*cking knew it was a permissions problem!

Glad it got sorted in the end

 

[Ucof]

yeah, made me giggle too

 

[Hellcat]

Its not a permission problem, you can rule that one out. You can see the permissions of the folders in the 1st screen shot of the test disk program.

DR stands for directory
X stands for execute
R stands for read
W stands for write
- separates one user from another.

The 1st XR is for the user
The 2nd XR is for the group
and the 3rd XR is for everyone else

So DR-XR-XR-X basically means He has access to the files, other users on his computer do but every1 else doesn't i.e. he has permission.

Baffle them with science :devil: