windows xp files have all become weird symbols

Windows xp refused to boot. Blue screen with error message. No safe mode, recovery did nothing. When I tried to boot with the xp disk, I could get to dos but there was no windows directory in c. The memory check from UBCWin showed that something was taking up space but again I couldn't see the files. So.... booted into Ubuntu from a CD. There is a 160 GB file system - xp I presume_ but all the files in it are weird symbols. Is there any hope of getting the files off the drive? If so, help!

 

Sounds like your HD is on its way out. Do you have another HD or PC available? Get yourself a drive enclosure or plug it into another PC as a secondary drive and you should be able to get your data off. When you say the files are wierd symbols do you mean the file names are made up of wierd symbols or the icons have changed to wierd symbols?

 

Both names and icons are weird. I will try the hard drive on another computer tonight. Thanks.

 

Doesn't sound good. I would recomend you get whatever you can off then consider replacing the disk. Might be worth trying chkdsk C: /r /f in command prompt to look for any disk errors. Note that if you run the from another PC the the C: will change to whatever the letter represents the suspect disk.

 

OK, on the other pc, this 160 GB drive shows up as 10 MB with 2.x MB used. Chkdsk found 7 or so MB of fragments but nothing else. Not even the weird files show up on through the xp os. Is there any way to get these files to show themselves? My skill level has been reached but I'm willing to learn.

 

I hate to say that I think you are going to need to do some data recovery. The only free software I know is TestDisk but that is more for reparing the Master Boot Records and fixing partitions that have vanished. Yours sounds more like a corruption. but it might be worth a shot. See the guide below.

http://www.cgsecurity.org/wiki/TestDisk_Step_By_Step

The other option is a paid solution like Get Data Back. I think there is a free trial that may tell you whether it will recover your data. The full version is about £80 so it will be up to you whether your data is worth that. Failing that I think it is a new HD and fresh install loosing your data.

Whilest it is no use to you now this situation illustrates the importance of regular data backups. Once you are back up and running you ought to consider a new secondary hard disk and an automated backup schedule using something like Cobian; a free backup utility.

 

Tueur, you were right. The drive is fried. Thanks for the help. It is much appreciated.

 

OK, I got a copy of Spinrite which found 2 partitions. One was 10 mb and the other the rest of 160 gb. It found no problems on either partition but when I look at the drive, only the 10 mb is visible. I will try the TestDisk tomorrow.

 

It worked!!! All the files are accessible. Thank you, thank you, thank you!

 

What did? test disk?

 

TestDisk brings hard drives back from the dead
Spinrite is also a great app for excessive data corruption IMO.

 

Right, I was too excited to be specific. It was test disk followed by chkdsk which revealed the hidden treasure. Everything seems to be fine except it still won't boot. At this point I am content to slave it and recover the data ( my sons' non-backed up jazz collection ).I am now moving it all to dvds.
I really appreciate the quick response and spot on advice. Thanks again.

 

No worries. Test disk will only repair the partition stucture. It wont repair corrupt files. Once you have your data backed up reformat and restore. Again I repeat my earlier post of get yourself an external HD and download and install Cobian backup. It is completely automated backup system and will protect your data.