Several common error messages are associated with problems in the file system or drives. These usually occur when booting the system. It might also happen when attempting to log in or to access a drive. The common ones are listed below:
- 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 is an error that is related to problems in master boot record or partition table entries. You get this error as the partition table entries are pointing to a sector which is not the actual beginning of a partition. Invalid BIOS settings, which sometimes is triggered by a dead or dying battery, could cause this error. You will get this error when MBR is damaged by virus. The trouble occurs for the reason that there is no active partition found in the partition table.
The normal solution is to correct the invalid BIOS settings. The BIOS settings for drive parameters and LBA translation 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
For an AMI BIOS, when the boot sector or master boot record of the boot drive is damaged or missing, you will get this error. 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, although bootable partition does not exist the data in the partition may still be valid and undamaged.
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, they would display this cryptic massage instead of dropping into BASIC. 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. This has the same meaning as 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. Use FDISK to partition the drive or to check out the existing partitions. You should probably make use of a data recovery tool such as REMO to rectify the issue if the partitions are damaged.
REMO is a Mac Recover Software that could also be used for Mac file Recovery. It could recover data on a failed hard drive and recover formatted memory card. It could 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 format command is what creates the volume boot record (VBR), file allocation tables, and directories on the disk.
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
This message indicates the hard disk controller has failed, the hard disk controller is not set up properly in the BIOS, or the controller can not communicate with the attached drives (such as cable problems).
The solution is to look into the drive installation and ensure that the cables to the drive are properly installed, the drive is receiving 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. Change them with know-good spares one at a time until the problem is solved.
Flash memory devices such as USB keychain drives and cards used in the digital cameras and digital music players present a unique challenge to data recovery programs. From a user point of view, these devices are similar to the 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.
Under several conditions, data loss can occur with a flash memory device. Some of them, such as formatting of the media or deletion of one or more photos or files, can occur when the device is connected to the computer through a card reader or whether flash memory device is inserted into a digital camera. 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. Undelete programs that support removable devices can retrieve deleted files on flash memory devices 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.
You may use data recovery tools, for instance REMO Recover, if you need to recover data from a formatted flash memory card. REMO Recover (Windows) is an integrated utility suit that can be used to retrieve data from hard drive and flash memory card.. It also come with features such as email backup. It can be used to fix corrupt pst as well.
The subsequent 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. They are:
- Erased. An erased file
- Del LFN. An LFN belonging to an erased file.
The operating system will image the clusters in which the file is stored are accessible for reuse. Because of this, these clusters might be overwritten by new data if an undelete action is not executed instantly. Depending on the file type, loosing even one cluster could destroy the file.
File Undelete:
The file undelete process consists of four steps:
- The original file name would be restored.
- The clusters where the file is stored will be recognized.
- FAT records for the file are going to be recreated.
- LFN records for the file will be linked to the file.
Of these four steps, the most critical are locating the clusters used by the file and recreating the FAT entries for the file. However restoring a deleted program file to its original name is necessary. If not the program would not function properly. Restoring the LFN entries enables a Windows users accustomed to long filenames to more easily use the file.
If you wish to undelete the file, you can use data recovery tools such as REMO Recover. REMO Recover (Windows) is an integrated utility suit which can be used to retrieve deleted files. It also has email recovery feature that will 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 requires specialized data recovery software or services that could you cost big money. For some serious cases, your hard drive may need to be sent 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.
- What is the file system of the hard drive?
- 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, when deleted file exceeds the capacity of Recycle bin, windows will overwrite the older files in Recycle bin. 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. Retrieving lost data at this point requires data recovery software.
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. You have to use data recovery software, such as REMO Recover, if you want to retrieve files that are not in the Recycle bin. 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
When a hard disk, floppy disk, or removable-media drive has been formatted, its file allocation table, which is used to determine the location of the files, is lost. 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 a software program that can bypass the newly created FAT and browse disk sectors directly to discover and retrieve data.
To retrieve data from a drive which is partitioned, you need to use a program that will read disk sector directly.
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