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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 the following:

• 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

It is an error that is related to problems in master boot record or partition table entries. You receive this error because the partition table entries are pointing to a sector that is not the actual beginning of a partition. Invalid BIOS settings, which sometimes is caused by a dead or dying battery, could cause this error. Another cause can be virus damage to the MBR. This error can also occur if no active partition is defined in the partition table.

The normal solution is to correct the invalid BIOS settings. The LBA translation and the BIOS settings for drive parameters must be set to the same values as when the drive was partitioned and formatted to read the drive correctly. If the MBR on a FAT drive is damaged or virus infected, you can try FDISK/MBR to repair it. Use FIXMBR with a NTFS drive. More sophisticated disk problem require disk recovering tool or repartitioning and reformatting the drive.

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.

For IBM systems, it would normally drop into a built-in BIOS versions of BASIC if it is having the similar problem. However most non-IBM BIOS manufacturers did not license this code from Microsoft. so, they would display this cryptic massage instead of dropping into BASIC. Because the most common cause of this type of error is a failure to set at least one partition as active (bootable), the typical solution is to run FDISK and set the primary partition as active. 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

when the hard disk is missing a master boot record or boot sector or when there is a problem accessing the boot drive, you may get this error, which is generated by the Phoenix BIOS. This has the same meaning as NO ROM Basic does on an AMI BIOS. The most common cause of this message is having no partitions defined as active (bootable).

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. You can check the existing partition using FDISK or use FDISK to partition the drive. You should probably make use of a data recovery tool including REMO to correct the problem 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.

A data recover utility is required to solve this problem. Another solution could be 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 check out the drive installation and ensure that the cables to the drive are properly installed, the drive is getting power, it is spinning, and the BIOS setup definitions are correct. If all these are correct, the drive, cable, or controller could be physically damaged. Replace them with know-good spares one at a time until the issue is resolved.

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 an user standpoint these devices emulate conventional disk drives. They can usually be formatted through the Window Explorer and they have file allocation tables similar to those found on floppy disks. Many data recovery programs are not able to recover data from these drives, especially when the devices have been formatted, even though these programs work well with conventional drives.

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. Traditional unformat programs can not be used 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.

Formatted Data Recovery

To recover data from a formatted flash memory card, you can use can use data recovery tools such as REMO Recover. REMO Recover (Windows) is an integrated utility suit that can be used to retrieve data from hard drive and flash memory card.. In addition , it come with features such as email backup. It may be used to fix corrupt pst as well.

If a file is deleted, the subsequent changes happen to the disk where the file is located:

• The initial character of the filename would be replaced with a lowercase sigma character.
• The file allocation table will now show two types of entries in ID column for this file and its associated long file name (LFN):
• 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. Therefore, if an undelete action is not carried out immediately, some or all of these clusters could be overwritten by new data. Depending on the file type, the loss of even one cluster could destroy the file.

File Undelete:

There can be four steps in undelete process:

• Restoring the original filename
• Finding the clusters used by the file
• Recreating the FAT entries for the file
• Relinking the LFN enteries for the file to the file

Locating the clusters used by the file and recreating the FAT entries for the file are the most import steps. However restoring a deleted program file to its original name is important. 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.

How to Recover Data

If you need to undelete the file, you can use data recovery tools such as REMO Recover. REMO Recover (Windows) is an integrated utility suit that can be used to retrieve deleted files. Additionally , it has email recovery feature that can be used to recover outlook emails.

Recovering lost data can be as simple as opening the Window’s Recycle bin, or it may require spending a lot of money on specialized data recovery software or services. In the worst case scenario, you may have to deliver your hard drive to data recovery center. Below are the factors that affect the degree of difficulty you can have in recovering your data:

• How and when the data is deleted.
• Which file system was used by the drive on which the data was stored?
• The type of hard drive. Is it a magnetic, magnetic, optical, magneto-optical, or flash memory media?
• Which operating system is used?
• Is there any data protection software installed?
• Any physical damages to the hard drive?

Recyclin Bin of Windows

When you delete a file in the Windows, it is deleted from its normal location and it is sent to Recycle bin. Windows reserves about 1% of hard drive space for Recycle bin and whatever is sent to the Recycle bin is actually protected from being overwritten by the system. However, the Recycle bin will eventually kick out older files when it is full. 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. In this case, the data recovery software is need to retrieve the lost data.

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

The hard drive’s file allocation table, which is used to determine the location of the files, is lost when it is formatted. The original file system and partition information is lost if a hard drive has been repartitioned with FDISK or another partitioning program. 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 software that could unformat the drive
• use a program that could 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 have to make use of a program that will read disk sector directly.