FAT recovery info

[livelong]

I recently had a Western Dig 80G hard drive that quit on me after cancelling a large folder copying command. I believe that the FAT32 is missing/broken/FU. So.....

Has anyone used any programs or known directly anyone who has that are actually GOOD at recovering/rebuilding/repairing the FAT, or just reading the disk to get my data off? Obviously higher percentage of recovred files = better. I know there are several options, but ive read that many of them are poor, so Im searching for recomendations. For pay programs are fine.

BTW--Ive looked into manually rebuilding the FAT with a disk editor, too damn complicated. Thanks.

[JimP]

Originally Posted by livelong

I recently had a Western Dig 80G hard drive that quit on me after cancelling a large folder copying command. I believe that the FAT32 is missing/broken/FU. So.....

Has anyone used any programs or known directly anyone who has that are actually GOOD at recovering/rebuilding/repairing the FAT, or just reading the disk to get my data off? Obviously higher percentage of recovred files = better. I know there are several options, but ive read that many of them are poor, so Im searching for recomendations. For pay programs are fine.

BTW--Ive looked into manually rebuilding the FAT with a disk editor, too
damn complicated. Thanks.

Hi, I don't really know what the latest is, but traditionally all formats provided for two Fats. They were kept identical by the system. If the main fat (first one) became unusable you could copy the second one to the first and usually things would be OK. Don't know whats available today, but a search of the internet should turn up a program to do the job. I used to use Nortons older editors and etc. to do such things. Debug could also do it. Older Norton utilities would tell you which sectors to move. I have a feeling that the WINDOWS system takes care of it automatically and if so, I would guess your problem is more than just a blown fat. Hope this helps a little, Jim

[livelong]

Ive read that information several times before about the mythical and elusive 2nd copy of the FAT. The problem is I search like mad all over the internet for explicit instructions on how to do so, but cant find any. I always see, make sure you know what to look for in hexidecimal format. I didnt know Norton disk doctor(or which ever editor) actually told you which sectors to move, as this process seems to take substantial experience to know what your doing on your own.
I am reasonably certain its the FAT, so before I try any 'copy and rescue' programs that usually get only 80-90% of the data, I want to try the best and most direct method of accessing the FATs and seeing if theyre there or what. Thanks for the reply though

[JimP]

Originally Posted by livelong

Ive read that information several times before about the mythical and elusive 2nd copy of the FAT. The problem is I search like mad all over the internet for explicit instructions on how to do so, but cant find any. I always see, make sure you know what to look for in hexidecimal format. I didnt know Norton disk doctor(or which ever editor) actually told you which sectors to move, as this process seems to take substantial experience to know what your doing on your own.
I am reasonably certain its the FAT, so before I try any 'copy and rescue' programs that usually get only 80-90% of the data, I want to try the best and most direct method of accessing the FATs and seeing if theyre there or what. Thanks for the reply though

Hi again, There is nothing mythical about two fats but maybe the brains that write this stuff today have done away with it. I have a disk editor that works on the late stuff. It's not loaded now. Will load it and see what I can find. Fats start at the second sector if I remember correctly. Unused clusters show up as all F's so the fats should be easy to spot. Half way in the second fat should be identical to the first one. See you later, Jim

[JimP]

Originally Posted by JimP

Hi again, There is nothing mythical about two fats but maybe the brains that write this stuff today have done away with it. I have a disk editor that works on the late stuff. It's not loaded now. Will load it and see what I can find. Fats start at the second sector if I remember correctly. Unused clusters show up as all F's so the fats should be easy to spot. Half way in the second fat should be identical to the first one. See you later, Jim

And again (10 min later), Found the editor, but it doesn't edit, so wont fix your problem. It does show the two fats very easily so may be worth it to download. It does recover deleted files. It's at "the absolute.net\sware" and is called Disk Investigator. Will look for a real editor and get back to you. Jim

[JimP]

Originally Posted by JimP

And again (10 min later), Found the editor, but it doesn't edit, so wont fix your problem. It does show the two fats very easily so may be worth it to download. It does recover deleted files. It's at "the absolute.net\sware" and is called Disk Investigator. Will look for a real editor and get back to you. Jim

Hi, Searched the net for DISK EDITOR and got dozens of hits. Most are shareware, but you should be able to find one to do your job. Luck, Jim

[Cheney]

You can use DataRecoveryWizard.