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Subject: Re: [gentoo-user] OT: Rebuilding an NTFS directory structure
Date: Sat, 9 Jan 2010 19:27:37 +0000
References: <201001091148.35575.peter@humphrey.ukfsn.org> <201001091234.38364.michaelkintzios@gmail.com> <201001091649.50224.peter@humphrey.ukfsn.org>
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On 9 Jan 2010, at 16:49, Peter Humphrey wrote:
> On Saturday 09 January 2010 12:34:26 Mick wrote:
> ...
>> It resets the ntfs journal and when the drive is booted into  
>> MSWindows
>> it'll run a chkdsk - make sure you do not interrupt this!
>
> The disk in question is an external USB disk.
>
>> In your friend's case you can force a chkdsk by right-clicking on the
>> drive in Windows Explorer/Properties/Tools/Error-checking.
>
> The only Windows system I can run at the moment is on my laptop; as  
> soon as
> I plug the disk in I get a BSoD, so that's no help.

I _believe_ that if you leave the USB drive, with the corrupt  
filesystem, plugged in when the laptop boots, then during the boot  
process the `chkdsk` will be performed.

I was not aware of `ntfsfix`, and have been of the opinion that the  
best way to repair a corrupt NTFS filesystem was to use `chkdsk`, this  
being MS's own tool for the job. If the `chkdsk` does indeed run  
during boot, I would probably do a second one, just to be sure. If you  
initiate `chkdsk` at the command line, instead of using the UI as  
described by Mick, you get some extra options. `chkdsk /?`

>> Other than that I think we're into a file recovery mode involving  
>> tools
>> like photorec and dd_rescue.
>
> Photorec is what I've used to extract a few thousand files - the  
> ones I
> mentioned with the unhelpful names. Maybe dd_rescue will help.

The problem with dd_rescue (GNU ddrescue is better, if I am  
remembering the underscore spelling correctly) is that it will produce  
an exact image of the disk, with the filesystem intact and (in your  
case) still corrupt. However you might use this as a backup image of  
your starting point, to give you multiple chances at repairing the fs  
using different approaches.

Stroller.