computer components & hardware - Corrupt NTFS filesystem

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Corrupt NTFS filesystem

For those who have been following this tortured saga of the Corrupt
NTFS Filesystem, I think I finally fixed it.

I am running Win2K which was built from an InPlace Upgrade of a
previous installation of Win2K in another computer, which was built
from a previous installation of NT4 in yet another computer. The
original NT4 was first installed in the first part of 1997, so this
current version of Win2K traces back 10 years.

I know, I should reinstall Win2K from scratch. But I refuse to do it
because 1) I have close to 100 installed applications, many of which I
do not even recall the customizations. It would take months to
reinstall all that software to the same configuration I now have; 2) I
refuse to cave in to the absurd demands of Windows having to be
reinstalled every 6 months just because MS won't spend the money to
fix it. Maybe I will install Vista from scratch, but not XP or Win2K.

So I have no choice but to work around the many problems that a 10
year old installation of Win NT and its spawn have to offer. This one,
the corrupt NTFS filesystem problem, has been plaguing me for over a
year. If I reboot Win2K and run it normally for over 1 day, when I
reboot I find either CHKDSK wants to run or once in a while I get a
BSOD. In every instance but one, I have been able to recover the
corrupted disk by mounting it as D: and running CHKDSK D: /f on it.
All sorts of crap fills the screen - stuff about broken files all over
the place, mostly having to do with security descriptors and empty
space in the MFT.

So I think I may have fixed this fiasco - no more "corrupt NTFS
filesystem". Do you really want to know how I did it?

I converted to a FAT32 filesystem, and guess what - no more corrupt
NTFS filesystem. Pretty cool, eh.

--

"Nothing in the world can take the place of perseverence. Talent
will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent.
Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education
will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and
determination alone are omnipotent."
--Calvin Coolidge

Corrupt NTFS filesystem

Citizen Bob wrote

For those who have been following this tortured saga
of the Corrupt NTFS Filesystem, I think I finally fixed it.

I am running Win2K which was built from an InPlace Upgrade
of a previous installation of Win2K in another computer, which
was built from a previous installation of NT4 in yet another
computer. The original NT4 was first installed in the first part
of 1997, so this current version of Win2K traces back 10 years.

Urk.

I know, I should reinstall Win2K from scratch. But I refuse to do
it because 1) I have close to 100 installed applications, many of
which I do not even recall the customizations. It would take months
to reinstall all that software to the same configuration I now have;

Fine.

2) I refuse to cave in to the absurd demands of Windows having to be
reinstalled every 6 months just because MS won't spend the money to fix it.

That isnt true of either 2K or XP.

Maybe I will install Vista from scratch, but not XP or Win2K.

XP has a files and settings transfer wizard
which should bring the config stuff across fine.

So I have no choice but to work around the many problems that
a 10 year old installation of Win NT and its spawn have to offer.

That is just plain wrong, you do have a choice.

This one, the corrupt NTFS filesystem problem,
has been plaguing me for over a year.

And if you had done your backups properly, you could have
stepped back to the copy you had before the problem showed up.

If I reboot Win2K and run it normally for over 1 day, when I reboot
I find either CHKDSK wants to run or once in a while I get a BSOD.
In every instance but one, I have been able to recover the corrupted
disk by mounting it as D: and running CHKDSK D: /f on it. All sorts of
crap fills the screen - stuff about broken files all over the place, mostly
having to do with security descriptors and empty space in the MFT.

So I think I may have fixed this fiasco - no more "corrupt NTFS
filesystem". Do you really want to know how I did it?

I converted to a FAT32 filesystem, and guess what
- no more corrupt NTFS filesystem. Pretty cool, eh.

You'll likely find that if you convert it back to NTFS now it will be fine too.

Corrupt NTFS filesystem

Citizen Bob wrote:

I know, I should reinstall Win2K from scratch. But I refuse to do it
because 1) I have close to 100 installed applications, many of which I
do not even recall the customizations. It would take months to
reinstall all that software to the same configuration I now have;

instead you're a year down the line.

So I think I may have fixed this fiasco - no more "corrupt NTFS
filesystem". Do you really want to know how I did it?

I converted to a FAT32 filesystem, and guess what - no more corrupt
NTFS filesystem. Pretty cool, eh.

Yes, and it works the other way round too. FAT32 has some strange
issues, so if/when they surface you can convert back to ntfs :)

NT

Corrupt NTFS filesystem

On Tue, 24 Oct 2006 15:52:52 +1000, "Rod Speed"
wrote:

XP has a files and settings transfer wizard
which should bring the config stuff across fine.

If you mean the User Profiles, then I can do that with Win2K.

But will this transfer wizard also copy registry settings for
installed applications? If not then I would have to reinstall nearly
100 apps.

If this transfer wizard is just an IPU, then it will copy the
contaminated parts of the Registry.

So I have no choice but to work around the many problems that
a 10 year old installation of Win NT and its spawn have to offer.

That is just plain wrong, you do have a choice.

I am interested. Please expand. My son runs XP Pro so I can have him
research anything you comment on before I try it.

This one, the corrupt NTFS filesystem problem,
has been plaguing me for over a year.

And if you had done your backups properly, you could have
stepped back to the copy you had before the problem showed up.

I did not implement the backup procedure until the problems arose. I
learned my lesson - I will *always* have a backup/restore plan
implemented. When we depended on computers in business we ran a daily
backup. But I am at home and this is not mission critical.

In defense of my laxness, I can tell you that I never had serious
problems with either NT4 or the previous installations of Win2K. It
was this last installation that screwed things up.

You mentioned that I should have had a backup before I installed that
RAID application, which is high on my list of things that likely
caused the problems I had with NTFS corruption. However I persevered
with that app for about 6 months because the factory was working with
me to fix some other problems. It is very unlikely I would have kept a
backup that long, since it would have tied up a hard disk. I suppose I
could have zipped it and laid it off on DVDs but I did not think it
was necessary.

I converted to a FAT32 filesystem, and guess what
- no more corrupt NTFS filesystem. Pretty cool, eh.

You'll likely find that if you convert it back to NTFS now it will be fine too.

I thought about that. However I do not see why I should use NTFS when
FAT 32 is working. I can't think of any substantive reason to use NTFS
in my configuration. I have a simple two-computer LAN using a NAT
router and even though I have nearly 100 installed apps, none of them
appears to require NTFS. IOW, I do not believe I need the features of
NTFS in my simple configuration. But because I am curious, I may go
back to NTFS just to see what will happen.

However, even with FAT 32, I still get two device drivers per
partition in NT Defrag and Perfect Disk. If you load NT Defrag, how
many devices do you see per partition? I asked my son to check his XP
intallation, but he is too busy making money. I have to catch him
sitting in front of his machine.

--

"Nothing in the world can take the place of perseverence. Talent
will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent.
Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education
will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and
determination alone are omnipotent."
--Calvin Coolidge

Corrupt NTFS filesystem

Citizen Bob wrote
Rod Speed wrote

XP has a files and settings transfer wizard
which should bring the config stuff across fine.

If you mean the User Profiles,

Nope.

then I can do that with Win2K.

2K doesnt have the files and settings transfer wizard. Thats its name.

But will this transfer wizard also copy
registry settings for installed applications?

Yes.

If not then I would have to reinstall nearly 100 apps.

You do have to reinstall them, but it copys the settings/config data across.

If this transfer wizard is just an IPU,

It isnt.

then it will copy the contaminated parts of the Registry.

So I have no choice but to work around the many problems that
a 10 year old installation of Win NT and its spawn have to offer.

That is just plain wrong, you do have a choice.

I am interested. Please expand.

I already did.

My son runs XP Pro so I can have him research
anything you comment on before I try it.

Have a look at the files and settings transfer wizard.

This one, the corrupt NTFS filesystem problem,
has been plaguing me for over a year.

And if you had done your backups properly, you could have
stepped back to the copy you had before the problem showed up.

I did not implement the backup procedure until the problems arose.
I learned my lesson - I will *always* have a backup/restore plan
implemented. When we depended on computers in business we
ran a daily backup. But I am at home and this is not mission critical.

Doesnt need to be 'mission critical', proper backups would
have avoided farting around for a year trying to fix that problem.

In defense of my laxness, I can tell you that I never had serious
problems with either NT4 or the previous installations of Win2K.

Thats as silly as saying that you havent had any
hardware die, so you dont need any backups.

It was this last installation that screwed things up.

It always is.

You mentioned that I should have had a backup before I installed
that RAID application, which is high on my list of things that likely
caused the problems I had with NTFS corruption. However I persevered
with that app for about 6 months because the factory was working with
me to fix some other problems. It is very unlikely I would have kept a
backup that long, since it would have tied up a hard disk.

You should have done that if it had a problem.

I suppose I could have zipped it and laid it off
on DVDs but I did not think it was necessary.

And now you know that it was.

I converted to a FAT32 filesystem, and guess what
- no more corrupt NTFS filesystem. Pretty cool, eh.

You'll likely find that if you convert it back to NTFS now it will be fine too.

I thought about that. However I do not see why I should use NTFS when FAT 32
is working. can't think of any substantive reason to use NTFS in my configuration.

The main reason is that FAT32 cant handle files over 4GB and once you start
using a digital TV tuner card, you will generate files much bigger than that.

I have a simple two-computer LAN using a NAT router and even though
I have nearly 100 installed apps, none of them appears to require NTFS.
IOW, I do not believe I need the features of NTFS in my simple configuration.

You're wrong.

But because I am curious, I may go back to NTFS just to see what will happen.

However, even with FAT 32, I still get two device drivers per partition

THERE ARE NO SEPARATE DEVICE DRIVERS.

in NT Defrag and Perfect Disk. If you load NT Defrag,
how many devices do you see per partition?

Cant readily try that, I run XP on everything.

With the Disk Defragmenter in XP I have just one entry per partition.

I asked my son to check his XP intallation, but he is too busy
making money. I have to catch him sitting in front of his machine.

You should chain him to the machine.

Corrupt NTFS filesystem