Resolving Index Corruption in NTFS

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To index file system data, NTFS (New Technology File System) employs B+ tree structure to allow fast look up times. All the filenames are generally indexed individually in their own directory and with separate MFT entry, attributes, and security descriptors. NTFS users can experience critical data loss problems if NTFS indexes undergo corruption for some reasons. Such problems can be detected by unusual system behavior while accessing the corrupted partition. However, to deal with these issues, one may need to reformat the drive and restore the data from backup. But if no updated or valid backup is available, situations arise that can necessitate the use of NTFS recovery software.

Following is a realistic problem that will help you comprehend such problems in more detail. Consider one or more of your hard drive partitions are formatted to NTFS. When you try to access or open any of the NTFS partitions, it shows few or all of the given symptoms:

• You open 'Windows Explorer' and try to expand the NTFS partition, but the computer hangs

• On running chkdsk for the same partition, it reports NTFS index errors, such as below:

“Deleting index entry in index of file of file ”

• Some of the Windows applications fail to start because of missing files (.exe or .dll files)

Cause

NTFS index structure is damaged. This can occur for common reasons like, unexpected power outage, bad cables, and system issues.

Other probable causes can be newly or faulty installed hardware and disabled 32-Bit Disk Access for the IDE controller setting in BIOS.

Solution

Run system diagnosis to find out the problematic hardware. Remove it and see if the problem still persists. If this doesn't resolve the issue, check for the above mentioned BIOS settings. In case the problem still persists, NTFS structure is damaged.

You need to reformat the NTFS hard drive partition to resolve the NTFS corruption issue, which requires you to restore deleted data from backup. But if it is not feasible to restore from backup, it is suggested to use a NTFS data recovery utility. These are exclusive products designed to perform hard drive recovery in all logical crash scenarios, safely and easily.

iPhone Overtakes Windows Mobile Users In U.S.

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The iPhone now has more U.S. users than Microsoft’s Windows Mobile, new research shows. Apple’s iconic handset had an average of 8.97 million users in October, compared to Microsoft’s 7.13 million. This is the first time the iPhone has led Windows Mobile cell phones in actual user numbers.

Microsoft has admitted Apple’s iPhone “caught us all napping.” Windows Mobile 7 is not expected until the end of 2010. Morgan Stanley recently said Apple has a two- to three-year lead on its competitors.

The new numbers from Internet metric firm comScore means Apple has the second-largest U.S. marketshare in smartphones. Research in Motion continues to lead the pack with 14.96 million U.S. BlackBerry users. Compared to the iPhone and BlackBerry’s accelerating growth, Windows Mobile has been at a near stand-still.

Palm grew to around 2.84 million U.S. users, while Android and Symbian had about 1.02 million and 1.3 million U.S. users, according to comScore.

Credit for Apple passing Windows Mobile users is the iPhone 3GS, launched just prior to the three-month October period.

Related articles

• iPhone overtakes Windows (cultofmac.com)
• Mac Data Recovery (stellarinfo.com)
  

How to Solve when Hard Disk is Not Auto-Detected in BIOS?

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Almost all Computer BIOSes are now available with an IDE device auto-detection feature that controls the setup of IDE devices on the computer. This utility generally comes in two major forms: Dynamic IDE auto-detection and Manual IDE auto-detection. The former form is a fully automatic mode, in which the BIOS automatically detects the newly connected drive (particularly hard disk drives) at each boot-up and sets its correct options. However, the latter one is the manual mode that requires you to select auto-detection option to let BIOS set the IDE parameters for the newly detected devices. The BIOS then saves the parameters permanently. A hard disk usually appears as physically failed if BIOS auto-detection feature cannot detect the hard drive, however, there can be other causes as well. But if you conclude at hard disk failure, hard disk recovery service can help you to rescue the lost data.

Consider an instance when you boot-up the computer and BIOS refuses to detect the hard drive. The BIOS seems to search the drive and finally reports that it cannot find the drive This can be a critical situation for a user with important data on the hard drive as it cannot access the data until the hard disk is visible to the BIOS. The problem can be related to drive set up rather than within the drive, thus a user is recommended to consider the following basic suggestions in such conditions:

• In case you are trying to detect a new hard drive or the one that has been moved to a new or upgraded system, the problem might be related to system assembly issues.

• Try to move and attach the hard drive to another computer. If it is detected, the hard disk controller might be defective.

• Make sure that the hard disk is properly powered up

• Check if hard disk properly spinning up. If you hear that the hard disk spins up and spins down quickly or not spinning at all, the hard disk failure is most likely.

• Ensure that the jumpers are correctly configured

• Make sure that the IDE controller is enabled and IDE cable is healthily connected

• Consult the manufacturers to take care of your specific issue

• If the hard disk is completely dead, seek disk recovery experts' help to recover the data. hard disk recovery service provider companies have special equipments and technology to diagnose and extract data from any kind of hard drive.

Resolving 'System hive error' in Windows after Unexpected Shutdown

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As one of the prime components of Windows operating system, the registry should be kept away from errors that can otherwise lead to system crashes and operational issues. The most common causes of Windows registry errors are malicious software, incompatible software installation, improper removal of a program, unexpected power outage, and the like. If computer does not start, one of the typical reasons can be the corruption of registry hives. This makes it essential that you should either repair or replace the corrupted registries or reinstall Windows. But in case of backup unavailability, these situations can also compel you to use a Windows Data Recovery product.

For instance, consider a problem when you experience unexpected shutdown with your Windows based computer. The next time when you start the computer, it cannot boot and give the below error message:

“System hive error”

The error results into data loss as you cannot boot the computer further.

Cause

Windows registry hive is corrupted. When you use the computer, it saves registry in the memory. As you shut down the computer, all the changes are committed to system registry. In case of system failure or unexpected outage, the memory contains the damaged entries, which also leaves registry corrupted.

Solution

Use the following measures to solve the above error:

• Boot the computer using Windows installation disc and start Recovery Console/ Recovery Environment. Restore the computer to the previous working state

• Use the Startup Repair option to repair the computer

• Identify the corrupted registry files and try to replace with the corresponding copies on the installation disc

• Reinstall Windows and restore from the last backup

There can be situations when you don't have valid data backup. The backup might be corrupted or incomplete. In such cases, you are suggested to use a Windows partition recovery utility.

A Windows data recovery product uses efficient and safe scanning algorithms to analyze the logically corrupted hard disk and restore the lost data. These software are reliable to use because of their non-destructive nature. Also, the data recovery products are easy to use with their self-explanatory interface.