FAT Data Error

Noel,

I did what you recommended, and here's what happened:

First, I get the same results from any DIR command (14 files), and here are
the results:

ATTRIB EXE 15,252 06-07-00 8:05P
CHKDSK EXE 27,968 06-07-00 8:05P
COMMAND COM 93,040 06-08-00 5:00P
DEBUG EXE 20,490 06-07-00 8:07P
EDIT COM 69,854 06-07-00 8:17P
EXT EXE 13,229 02-04-98 6:00P
EXTRACT EXE 53,767 06-08-00 5:00P
FORMAT COM 49,415 06-07-00 9:15P
HELP BAT 36 02-06-98 5:47P
MSCDEX EXE 25,473 06-07-00 8:13P
README TXT 12,661 06-08-00 5:00P
SCANDISK EXE 245,324 06-07-00 11:04P
SCANDISK INI 7,329 03-03-99 4:22P
SYS COM 21,943 06-07-00 8:14P

14 FILES 655,851 BYTES

TOTAL FILES LISTED:
14 FILE(S) 655,851 BYTES
0 DIR(S) 1,427,456 BYTES FREE

The HELP.BAT file contained:
@ECHO OFF
EDIT %RAMD%:\README.TXT

FYI: I tried to boot using the ME Startup disk with Option 2 (i.e., CD ROM
assist) and got a message that it couldn't set up windows because there was
no C: DRIVE

All things considered (i.e., it's not my computer and I'm trying to debug
remotely, all indications are that something major happened to the C: drive,
etc.), I'm leaning toward turning the problem over to a local PC fix-it guru
who has the horsepower (hopefully) to diagnose the problem, fix it, and
(possibly) save some of the data.

What do you think?

Also, thank you for your help, thus far.


"Noel Paton" wrote:

If you have no folders there, then you have problems - BIG time!!

Do the DIR again, and make a note of the names and dates of all the .EXE and
..COM files - copy to your response

open any .BAT files (use the command TYPE C:\filename.BAT), copy the
contents to your response.

try this command -

DIR C:\ /S

see what that reports

--
Noel Paton (MS-MVP 2002-2005, Windows)

Nil Carborundum Illegitemi
http://www.btinternet.com/~winnoel/millsrpch.htm
http://tinyurl.com/6oztj

Please read http://dts-l.org/goodpost.htm on how to post messages to NG's

"Walter P" wrote in message
...
Noel,

Thanks for the reply, and sorry for the slow response. I only have 1 shot
a
day at debugging the computer, so please hang in there with me.

I tried running SCANDISK from DOS. This time, it ran for all of 2 seconds
and found no errors.

I then did a DIR for drive C, and it came up with 14 entries, all EXE,
COM,
BAT, TXT, or INI files. No sub-directories showed up, but I'm no DOS
expert
and I'm not sure that they should when using this command.

I then tried DIR C:\windows and it respnded with an "invalid path" error
message.

I'm afraid that something's been clobbered, big time.

Anyway, I didn't take your advice establishing a new folder because I
don't want to start wrinting anything until I'm sure it's safe.

Any suggestions?

"Noel Paton" wrote:

Presumably, you're getting to DOS mode using a startup disk?
If so, then try running SCANDISK from there, and see if that clears
enough
space to get to the boot.

While in DOS, check and see how many entries there are in the root
directory - if it's more than 112, then that may be one of your
problems -
try creating a new folder

MD C:\TESTFOLD

what message results? - is the folder created?

--
Noel Paton (MS-MVP 2002-2005, Windows)

Nil Carborundum Illegitemi
http://www.btinternet.com/~winnoel/millsrpch.htm
http://tinyurl.com/6oztj

Please read http://dts-l.org/goodpost.htm on how to post messages to NG's

"Walter P" wrote in message
...
Joan,

Thanks for the info. I've printed the instructions and will give them
a
try.

Meanwhile, I misspoke in my original post. I was never able to finish
a
boot into SAFE or any other mode. However, I can get to DOS mode, so
the
instructions might work.

I plan on going down the route you supplied, below, and other routes if
necessary, but the boot and every other approach I've seen all sooner
or
later call for doing a SCANDISK, and that's what I'm asking about.

Should I press on, regardless, or is there something I need to do to
resolve
the SCANDISK error before proceding? I'd hate to blunder into losing
all
my
data, for example, if there's something simple I can do up front.

Thanks.

"Joan Archer" wrote:

See if this helps courtesy of MikeM.
Joan

VMM32.VXD is a composite file that is built from thirty or more other
files
when Win Me is installed and differs from system to system depending
upon
the
hardware in use. If you boot to DOS using a floppy can you see if you
have
the file vmm32.vxd in your C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM folder? If not then you
may
well
have to reinstall Win Me. One way you can check whether vmm32.vxd is
missing
or not is by typing the following at the A:\ prompt:

DIR C:\VMM32.VXD /S
Does this find the file? If yes, is it in your windows\system folder?

If present you should see something like:

Directory of C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM

VMM32 VXD 1,032,968 15/08/00 14:34 VMM32.VXD
1 file(s) 1,032,968 bytes

Don't worry about the details, your date and size will most likely be
different, what is important though is to locate the file and confirm,
hopefully, that it is in your windows\system folder)

but if absent you will see:
File Not Found

If the file is still present, and I hope it is, see MS KB258471 -
"Error
Message: The Following File Is Missing or Corrupted:
C:\Windows\Ifshlp.sys"
(http://support.microsoft.com?kbid=258471 for a possible solution to
the
problem.
--
Mike Maltby MS-MVP



Walter P wrote:
I'm trying to get around a "missing or corrupted" VMM32.VXD file
error
message when booting. I can start up in SAFE MODE using the Windows
ME startup disk, but get the following error message when taking the
next recommended step, running SCANDISK: "SCANDISK encountered a
data
error while reading the FAT on Drive C. This error prevents
SCANDISK
from fixing the drive".

Is this a show-stopper?

Any suggestions how best to proceed would be greatly
appreciated.

This looks seriously as if someone has re-fdisked the PC, and then copied a
floppy over to the new 2GB partition. - and I suspect that they've used a
Win 98SE floppy, at that!
I have serious doubts that there's any data left to be saved, except by
serious forensics, and that costs $$$$$$$$


It may be worth trying the disk manufacturer's test program before deciding
on any attempted recovery -
download the test program from the manufacturer's website. Use it to create
the floppy boot disk, and then boot the machine and try the quick test
procedure - after reading the instructions! (some of the more rigorous tests
may break a failing drive completely, or overwrite data)


--
Noel Paton (MS-MVP 2002-2005, Windows)

Nil Carborundum Illegitemi
http://www.btinternet.com/~winnoel/millsrpch.htm
http://tinyurl.com/6oztj

Please read http://dts-l.org/goodpost.htm on how to post messages to NG's

"Walter P" wrote in message
...
Noel,

I did what you recommended, and here's what happened:

First, I get the same results from any DIR command (14 files), and here
are
the results:

ATTRIB EXE 15,252 06-07-00 8:05P
CHKDSK EXE 27,968 06-07-00 8:05P
COMMAND COM 93,040 06-08-00 5:00P
DEBUG EXE 20,490 06-07-00 8:07P
EDIT COM 69,854 06-07-00 8:17P
EXT EXE 13,229 02-04-98 6:00P
EXTRACT EXE 53,767 06-08-00 5:00P
FORMAT COM 49,415 06-07-00 9:15P
HELP BAT 36 02-06-98 5:47P
MSCDEX EXE 25,473 06-07-00 8:13P
README TXT 12,661 06-08-00 5:00P
SCANDISK EXE 245,324 06-07-00 11:04P
SCANDISK INI 7,329 03-03-99 4:22P
SYS COM 21,943 06-07-00 8:14P

14 FILES 655,851 BYTES

TOTAL FILES LISTED:
14 FILE(S) 655,851 BYTES
0 DIR(S) 1,427,456 BYTES FREE

The HELP.BAT file contained:
@ECHO OFF
EDIT %RAMD%:\README.TXT

FYI: I tried to boot using the ME Startup disk with Option 2 (i.e., CD
ROM
assist) and got a message that it couldn't set up windows because there
was
no C: DRIVE

All things considered (i.e., it's not my computer and I'm trying to debug
remotely, all indications are that something major happened to the C:
drive,
etc.), I'm leaning toward turning the problem over to a local PC fix-it
guru
who has the horsepower (hopefully) to diagnose the problem, fix it, and
(possibly) save some of the data.

What do you think?

Also, thank you for your help, thus far.


"Noel Paton" wrote:

If you have no folders there, then you have problems - BIG time!!

Do the DIR again, and make a note of the names and dates of all the .EXE
and
..COM files - copy to your response

open any .BAT files (use the command TYPE C:\filename.BAT), copy the
contents to your response.

try this command -

DIR C:\ /S

see what that reports

--
Noel Paton (MS-MVP 2002-2005, Windows)

Nil Carborundum Illegitemi
http://www.btinternet.com/~winnoel/millsrpch.htm
http://tinyurl.com/6oztj

Please read http://dts-l.org/goodpost.htm on how to post messages to NG's

"Walter P" wrote in message
...
Noel,

Thanks for the reply, and sorry for the slow response. I only have 1
shot
a
day at debugging the computer, so please hang in there with me.

I tried running SCANDISK from DOS. This time, it ran for all of 2
seconds
and found no errors.

I then did a DIR for drive C, and it came up with 14 entries, all EXE,
COM,
BAT, TXT, or INI files. No sub-directories showed up, but I'm no DOS
expert
and I'm not sure that they should when using this command.

I then tried DIR C:\windows and it respnded with an "invalid path"
error
message.

I'm afraid that something's been clobbered, big time.

Anyway, I didn't take your advice establishing a new folder because
I
don't want to start wrinting anything until I'm sure it's safe.

Any suggestions?

"Noel Paton" wrote:

Presumably, you're getting to DOS mode using a startup disk?
If so, then try running SCANDISK from there, and see if that clears
enough
space to get to the boot.

While in DOS, check and see how many entries there are in the root
directory - if it's more than 112, then that may be one of your
problems -
try creating a new folder

MD C:\TESTFOLD

what message results? - is the folder created?

--
Noel Paton (MS-MVP 2002-2005, Windows)

Nil Carborundum Illegitemi
http://www.btinternet.com/~winnoel/millsrpch.htm
http://tinyurl.com/6oztj

Please read http://dts-l.org/goodpost.htm on how to post messages to
NG's

"Walter P" wrote in message
...
Joan,

Thanks for the info. I've printed the instructions and will give
them
a
try.

Meanwhile, I misspoke in my original post. I was never able to
finish
a
boot into SAFE or any other mode. However, I can get to DOS mode,
so
the
instructions might work.

I plan on going down the route you supplied, below, and other routes
if
necessary, but the boot and every other approach I've seen all
sooner
or
later call for doing a SCANDISK, and that's what I'm asking about.

Should I press on, regardless, or is there something I need to do to
resolve
the SCANDISK error before proceding? I'd hate to blunder into
losing
all
my
data, for example, if there's something simple I can do up front.

Thanks.

"Joan Archer" wrote:

See if this helps courtesy of MikeM.
Joan

VMM32.VXD is a composite file that is built from thirty or more
other
files
when Win Me is installed and differs from system to system
depending
upon
the
hardware in use. If you boot to DOS using a floppy can you see if
you
have
the file vmm32.vxd in your C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM folder? If not then
you
may
well
have to reinstall Win Me. One way you can check whether vmm32.vxd
is
missing
or not is by typing the following at the A:\ prompt:

DIR C:\VMM32.VXD /S
Does this find the file? If yes, is it in your windows\system
folder?

If present you should see something like:

Directory of C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM

VMM32 VXD 1,032,968 15/08/00 14:34 VMM32.VXD
1 file(s) 1,032,968 bytes

Don't worry about the details, your date and size will most likely
be
different, what is important though is to locate the file and
confirm,
hopefully, that it is in your windows\system folder)

but if absent you will see:
File Not Found

If the file is still present, and I hope it is, see MS KB258471 -
"Error
Message: The Following File Is Missing or Corrupted:
C:\Windows\Ifshlp.sys"
(http://support.microsoft.com?kbid=258471 for a possible solution
to
the
problem.
--
Mike Maltby MS-MVP



Walter P wrote:
I'm trying to get around a "missing or corrupted" VMM32.VXD file
error
message when booting. I can start up in SAFE MODE using the
Windows
ME startup disk, but get the following error message when taking
the
next recommended step, running SCANDISK: "SCANDISK encountered a
data
error while reading the FAT on Drive C. This error prevents
SCANDISK
from fixing the drive".

Is this a show-stopper?

Any suggestions how best to proceed would be greatly
appreciated.

Noel,

That looks more like the content of the RAM drive created by a Win Me boot
floppy than of C: The dates and sizes are bang on. This raises the
question as to whether C: is visible or not. Not having read the start of
this thread what does fdisk tell us about C:?
--
Mike Maltby MS-MVP



Noel Paton wrote:

This looks seriously as if someone has re-fdisked the PC, and then
copied a floppy over to the new 2GB partition. - and I suspect that
they've used a Win 98SE floppy, at that!
I have serious doubts that there's any data left to be saved, except
by serious forensics, and that costs $$$$$$$$


It may be worth trying the disk manufacturer's test program before
deciding on any attempted recovery -
download the test program from the manufacturer's website. Use it to
create the floppy boot disk, and then boot the machine and try the
quick test procedure - after reading the instructions! (some of the
more rigorous tests may break a failing drive completely, or
overwrite data)


"Walter P" wrote in message
...
Noel,

I did what you recommended, and here's what happened:

First, I get the same results from any DIR command (14 files), and
here are
the results:

ATTRIB EXE 15,252 06-07-00 8:05P
CHKDSK EXE 27,968 06-07-00 8:05P
COMMAND COM 93,040 06-08-00 5:00P
DEBUG EXE 20,490 06-07-00 8:07P
EDIT COM 69,854 06-07-00 8:17P
EXT EXE 13,229 02-04-98 6:00P
EXTRACT EXE 53,767 06-08-00 5:00P
FORMAT COM 49,415 06-07-00 9:15P
HELP BAT 36 02-06-98 5:47P
MSCDEX EXE 25,473 06-07-00 8:13P
README TXT 12,661 06-08-00 5:00P
SCANDISK EXE 245,324 06-07-00 11:04P
SCANDISK INI 7,329 03-03-99 4:22P
SYS COM 21,943 06-07-00 8:14P

14 FILES 655,851 BYTES

TOTAL FILES LISTED:
14 FILE(S) 655,851 BYTES
0 DIR(S) 1,427,456 BYTES FREE

The HELP.BAT file contained:
@ECHO OFF
EDIT %RAMD%:\README.TXT

FYI: I tried to boot using the ME Startup disk with Option 2 (i.e.,
CD ROM
assist) and got a message that it couldn't set up windows because
there was
no C: DRIVE

All things considered (i.e., it's not my computer and I'm trying to
debug remotely, all indications are that something major happened
to the C: drive,
etc.), I'm leaning toward turning the problem over to a local PC
fix-it guru
who has the horsepower (hopefully) to diagnose the problem, fix it,
and (possibly) save some of the data.

What do you think?

Also, thank you for your help, thus far.

Noel and Mike,

Thanks for your input.

To recap: it all started with an error message at bootup saying that there
was a missing or corrupted VMM32.VXD file, and to insert a boot diskette into
DRIVE A:, which I did. I could hear the hard drive actively searching for
stuff.

After inserting the WINDOWS ME Startup Disk and hitting enter, there were 4
options:
1. HELP
2. Start with CD support
3. Start without CD support
4. Minimal start

Started with option 1, which provided some guidance and eneded up
recommended doing a SCANDISK, which I did.

The first SCANDISK took a LONG time before issuing the following error
message before terminating.

"SCANDISK encountered a data error while reading the FAT on Drive C. This
error prevents SCANDISK from fiixing this drive."

Since then, SCANDISK takes about 2 seconds and finds no errors.

Meanwhile,the error messages at bootup indicate a missing or corrupt FAT or
FAT32 file, and to insert the boot diskette.

I've tried all the options on the startup disk, in succession, and ended up
in DOS every time, with various error messages explaining why, most stating
that the problem could be caused by a virus or physical problems with the C:
drive, and when I do a DIR for C:, I get the same results (i.e., the 14
files mentioned in my previous post.

Again, any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

"Mike M" wrote:

Noel,

That looks more like the content of the RAM drive created by a Win Me boot
floppy than of C: The dates and sizes are bang on. This raises the
question as to whether C: is visible or not. Not having read the start of
this thread what does fdisk tell us about C:?
--
Mike Maltby MS-MVP



Noel Paton wrote:

This looks seriously as if someone has re-fdisked the PC, and then
copied a floppy over to the new 2GB partition. - and I suspect that
they've used a Win 98SE floppy, at that!
I have serious doubts that there's any data left to be saved, except
by serious forensics, and that costs $$$$$$$$


It may be worth trying the disk manufacturer's test program before
deciding on any attempted recovery -
download the test program from the manufacturer's website. Use it to
create the floppy boot disk, and then boot the machine and try the
quick test procedure - after reading the instructions! (some of the
more rigorous tests may break a failing drive completely, or
overwrite data)


"Walter P" wrote in message
...
Noel,

I did what you recommended, and here's what happened:

First, I get the same results from any DIR command (14 files), and
here are
the results:

ATTRIB EXE 15,252 06-07-00 8:05P
CHKDSK EXE 27,968 06-07-00 8:05P
COMMAND COM 93,040 06-08-00 5:00P
DEBUG EXE 20,490 06-07-00 8:07P
EDIT COM 69,854 06-07-00 8:17P
EXT EXE 13,229 02-04-98 6:00P
EXTRACT EXE 53,767 06-08-00 5:00P
FORMAT COM 49,415 06-07-00 9:15P
HELP BAT 36 02-06-98 5:47P
MSCDEX EXE 25,473 06-07-00 8:13P
README TXT 12,661 06-08-00 5:00P
SCANDISK EXE 245,324 06-07-00 11:04P
SCANDISK INI 7,329 03-03-99 4:22P
SYS COM 21,943 06-07-00 8:14P

14 FILES 655,851 BYTES

TOTAL FILES LISTED:
14 FILE(S) 655,851 BYTES
0 DIR(S) 1,427,456 BYTES FREE

The HELP.BAT file contained:
@ECHO OFF
EDIT %RAMD%:\README.TXT

FYI: I tried to boot using the ME Startup disk with Option 2 (i.e.,
CD ROM
assist) and got a message that it couldn't set up windows because
there was
no C: DRIVE

All things considered (i.e., it's not my computer and I'm trying to
debug remotely, all indications are that something major happened
to the C: drive,
etc.), I'm leaning toward turning the problem over to a local PC
fix-it guru
who has the horsepower (hopefully) to diagnose the problem, fix it,
and (possibly) save some of the data.

What do you think?

Also, thank you for your help, thus far.

If DIR C: is giving you the output you report, namely the contents of the
RAM disk created when using the Win Me boot floppy, this would imply that
the partition on your hard drive is no longer recognised and therefore not
available and thus why you are unable to launch Win Me.

The message "SCANDISK encountered a data error while reading the FAT on
Drive C. This error prevents SCANDISK from fixing the drive" suggests
that the File Allocation Table (FAT) is either damaged or corrupt and
therefore made the contents of the hard drive inaccessible.

If you boot to DOS using a floppy, launch FDISK, click Y for large disk
support, and then click 4 to display partition information what does fdisk
report as being the status of the drive and its partitions?
--
Mike Maltby MS-MVP



Walter P wrote:

Noel and Mike,

Thanks for your input.

To recap: it all started with an error message at bootup saying that
there was a missing or corrupted VMM32.VXD file, and to insert a boot
diskette into DRIVE A:, which I did. I could hear the hard drive
actively searching for stuff.

After inserting the WINDOWS ME Startup Disk and hitting enter, there
were 4 options:
1. HELP
2. Start with CD support
3. Start without CD support
4. Minimal start

Started with option 1, which provided some guidance and eneded up
recommended doing a SCANDISK, which I did.

The first SCANDISK took a LONG time before issuing the following error
message before terminating.

"SCANDISK encountered a data error while reading the FAT on Drive C.
This error prevents SCANDISK from fiixing this drive."

Since then, SCANDISK takes about 2 seconds and finds no errors.

Meanwhile,the error messages at bootup indicate a missing or corrupt
FAT or FAT32 file, and to insert the boot diskette.

I've tried all the options on the startup disk, in succession, and
ended up in DOS every time, with various error messages explaining
why, most stating that the problem could be caused by a virus or
physical problems with the C: drive, and when I do a DIR for C:, I
get the same results (i.e., the 14 files mentioned in my previous
post.

Again, any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Mike,

Well, I tried FDISK from the A: prompt and got the following message before
it went back to the A: prompt.

"No Fixed Disks Present"

Now that I think about it, maybe I should have switched to the C: drive first?

Anyway, I'm pretty resigned to MAJOR problems. My only hope is to be able
to salvage some of the data files.

Any suggestions?

"Mike M" wrote:

If DIR C: is giving you the output you report, namely the contents of the
RAM disk created when using the Win Me boot floppy, this would imply that
the partition on your hard drive is no longer recognised and therefore not
available and thus why you are unable to launch Win Me.

The message "SCANDISK encountered a data error while reading the FAT on
Drive C. This error prevents SCANDISK from fixing the drive" suggests
that the File Allocation Table (FAT) is either damaged or corrupt and
therefore made the contents of the hard drive inaccessible.

If you boot to DOS using a floppy, launch FDISK, click Y for large disk
support, and then click 4 to display partition information what does fdisk
report as being the status of the drive and its partitions?
--
Mike Maltby MS-MVP



Walter P wrote:

Noel and Mike,

Thanks for your input.

To recap: it all started with an error message at bootup saying that
there was a missing or corrupted VMM32.VXD file, and to insert a boot
diskette into DRIVE A:, which I did. I could hear the hard drive
actively searching for stuff.

After inserting the WINDOWS ME Startup Disk and hitting enter, there
were 4 options:
1. HELP
2. Start with CD support
3. Start without CD support
4. Minimal start

Started with option 1, which provided some guidance and eneded up
recommended doing a SCANDISK, which I did.

The first SCANDISK took a LONG time before issuing the following error
message before terminating.

"SCANDISK encountered a data error while reading the FAT on Drive C.
This error prevents SCANDISK from fiixing this drive."

Since then, SCANDISK takes about 2 seconds and finds no errors.

Meanwhile,the error messages at bootup indicate a missing or corrupt
FAT or FAT32 file, and to insert the boot diskette.

I've tried all the options on the startup disk, in succession, and
ended up in DOS every time, with various error messages explaining
why, most stating that the problem could be caused by a virus or
physical problems with the C: drive, and when I do a DIR for C:, I
get the same results (i.e., the 14 files mentioned in my previous
post.

Again, any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Walter,

You have major problems in so far as fdisk cannot see your hard disk nor
can it be seen when booting to DOS from a floppy which is why the RAMdisk
is allocated C: rather than D: or later. If you go in to the BIOS (boot
with say a floppy in the drive and then start tapping DEL (or whatever key
combination it tells you on the initial screen) until you access the BIOS
and then check whether the BIOS can see your hard disk or not. If yes,
then the problem is probably with the hard disk itself but if not then the
problem is either that the disk is either dead or has no power or that the
connection between the disk and the motherboard has become broken in some
way or that the controller on the motherboard has failed.

If you aren't confident of how to continue this might well be a good time
to ask for help from a friend who has some experience of working inside a
PC.
--
Mike Maltby MS-MVP



Walter P wrote:

Mike,

Well, I tried FDISK from the A: prompt and got the following message
before it went back to the A: prompt.

"No Fixed Disks Present"

Now that I think about it, maybe I should have switched to the C:
drive first?

Anyway, I'm pretty resigned to MAJOR problems. My only hope is to be
able
to salvage some of the data files.

Any suggestions?

Mike and Noel,

Thanks for your help.

I'm going to turn the problem over to a PC repair guy who was recommended by
a friend.

Will let you know how it turns out.

Thanks, again.

"Mike M" wrote:

Walter,

You have major problems in so far as fdisk cannot see your hard disk nor
can it be seen when booting to DOS from a floppy which is why the RAMdisk
is allocated C: rather than D: or later. If you go in to the BIOS (boot
with say a floppy in the drive and then start tapping DEL (or whatever key
combination it tells you on the initial screen) until you access the BIOS
and then check whether the BIOS can see your hard disk or not. If yes,
then the problem is probably with the hard disk itself but if not then the
problem is either that the disk is either dead or has no power or that the
connection between the disk and the motherboard has become broken in some
way or that the controller on the motherboard has failed.

If you aren't confident of how to continue this might well be a good time
to ask for help from a friend who has some experience of working inside a
PC.
--
Mike Maltby MS-MVP



Walter P wrote:

Mike,

Well, I tried FDISK from the A: prompt and got the following message
before it went back to the A: prompt.

"No Fixed Disks Present"

Now that I think about it, maybe I should have switched to the C:
drive first?

Anyway, I'm pretty resigned to MAJOR problems. My only hope is to be
able
to salvage some of the data files.

Any suggestions?

Mike,

Well, it turns out the hard drive is fried. Am having it replaced, but the
data was lost.

Will need to restore all the programs, etc., but I have the CD's, etc.

This was a friend's computer. We got ours at the same time, with exactly
the same configuration.

So, I immediately coppied all of my data files to CD-ROM, and am looking
into more tailored backup capabilities. HELP mentioned that MS has a backup
facility under START/PROGRAMS/ACCESSORIES/SYSTEM TOOLS/BACKUP, but I couldn't
find it under that path.

Will try to find it elsewhere. However, is there a simple BACKUP
technique/product that you recommend?

Thanks

"Mike M" wrote:

Walter,

You have major problems in so far as fdisk cannot see your hard disk nor
can it be seen when booting to DOS from a floppy which is why the RAMdisk
is allocated C: rather than D: or later. If you go in to the BIOS (boot
with say a floppy in the drive and then start tapping DEL (or whatever key
combination it tells you on the initial screen) until you access the BIOS
and then check whether the BIOS can see your hard disk or not. If yes,
then the problem is probably with the hard disk itself but if not then the
problem is either that the disk is either dead or has no power or that the
connection between the disk and the motherboard has become broken in some
way or that the controller on the motherboard has failed.

If you aren't confident of how to continue this might well be a good time
to ask for help from a friend who has some experience of working inside a
PC.
--
Mike Maltby MS-MVP



Walter P wrote:

Mike,

Well, I tried FDISK from the A: prompt and got the following message
before it went back to the A: prompt.

"No Fixed Disks Present"

Now that I think about it, maybe I should have switched to the C:
drive first?

Anyway, I'm pretty resigned to MAJOR problems. My only hope is to be
able
to salvage some of the data files.

Any suggestions?

Walter,

Sorry to read that the HD was kaput but to be honest was what I expected
from your posts. As to backing up your data I can't really recommend any
one solution that fits all. Take my own situation. I have a number of
PCs here on my LAN each with more than one disk. Each system has a small
system partition(s) which contains little or no data. The size of these
partitions vary from 2GB to 8GB depending on the operating system in use.
I use imaging software (in my case BING www.bootitng.com) to archive
images of these system partitions to files on a different drive. As for
data I either back up on to CD or DVD or more often maintain a backup copy
on a different drive. For example I regularly copy my Outlook Message
store (dbx files, size 1GB) to a second drive. I do the same with all
other data I consider valuable. What follows is my "standard" reply to
those asking about Microsoft Backup.

MSBackup:
The MS Backup program is in the add-ons\msbackup folder on Microsoft Me
CDs but unfortunately it appears that not all OEMs have included this
folder on the CDs they provide with new PCs. Similarly many of those OEMs
who simply provide restore CDs appear also to have omitted this program.

The executable needed to install MSBackup that Microsoft distribute on the
Win Me CD is msbexp.exe so if you have an OEM CD or a recovery CD you
might want to search the CD and see if it was included.

See also MS KB 264541 - "Microsoft Backup Tool Is Not Installed by Windows
Millennium Edition" (http://support.microsoft.com?kbid=264541). Note that
Microsoft have not made MSBackup available for download.

Note though that MSBackup is an antiquated application that is extremely
limited and was designed for use with tape drives when hard disks were
small, for example 3 or 4GB.

A number of alternative backup applications exist and which best suits you
depends on your requirements and range from imaging programs that will
back up an image of your hard disk or disk partition (applications such as
Symantec Ghost, PowerQuest's DriveImage and Terabyte Unlimited's BootItNG)
to applications that allow the back up of selected files and folders on an
incremental basis such as Stomp's BackUp MyPC
(http://www.stompinc.com/bump/bump-retail.phtml?stp) which can also access
QIC files created using MSBackup.
--
Mike Maltby MS-MVP



Walter P wrote:

Well, it turns out the hard drive is fried. Am having it replaced,
but the data was lost.

Will need to restore all the programs, etc., but I have the CD's, etc.

This was a friend's computer. We got ours at the same time, with
exactly the same configuration.

So, I immediately coppied all of my data files to CD-ROM, and am
looking into more tailored backup capabilities. HELP mentioned that
MS has a backup facility under START/PROGRAMS/ACCESSORIES/SYSTEM
TOOLS/BACKUP, but I couldn't find it under that path.

Will try to find it elsewhere. However, is there a simple BACKUP
technique/product that you recommend?