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RECOVER Fixed/Floppy Disk FAT32/16/12 v3.0 Release 3
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Recovering files under multiple disk error conditions - How-to

This page is recommended by Microsoft personnel



For the easiest way to analyze your floppy disk on WINDOWS XP/2000/ME
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Command lines, on-screen results, error analysis, and Recovery Reports are given below. By reading this page you get to know how to recover your precious files. What is below explains recovering files from an 1.44 MB floppy disk that reports bizarre error conditions to the OS because first FAT sector is bad (at least two customers reported they faced similar error conditions).

We recommend this shortcut: Please download ANALYZER for RECOVER Fixed/Floppy Disk v0.3 FREEWARE to know if Boot Sector, FAT and/or Root Folder on your (1.44 MB / 1.2 MB / 720 KB / 360 KB) floppy disk have got damaged. If you suspect that Boot Sector or First FAT sector or both on the floppy disk are damaged, please run ANALYZER for RECOVER Fixed/Floppy Disk v0.3 from True DOS or after booting your WINDOWS 9x system into DOS through System->Shut Down->Restart in MS-DOS mode.



Analyzing a Damaged Floppy Disk - WINDOWS Error Messages:

WINDOWS XP displays this error message when a floppy disk has a bad Boot Sector / damaged FAT / damaged ROOT Folder
The disk in drive A: is not formatted
Do you want to format it now

 Yes              No
Recovering files from floppy disk having bad Boot Sector and/or damaged FAT and/or damaged ROOT Folder


WINDOWS 2000 displays this error message when a floppy disk has a bad Boot Sector / damaged FAT (even just one sector) / damaged ROOT Folder (even just one sector)
The disk in drive A: is not formatted
Do you want to format it now

 Yes              No
Recovering files from floppy disk having bad Boot Sector and/or damaged FAT and/or damaged ROOT Folder


WINDOWS NT 4 displays this error message when a floppy disk has a bad Boot Sector / damaged FAT (even just one sector) / damaged ROOT Folder (even just one sector)
Drive A: is not accessible
Data Error (cyclic redundancy check)
or this error
The Drive cannot find the sector requested
Recovering files from floppy disk having bad Boot Sector and/or damaged FAT and/or damaged ROOT Folder


WINDOWS 98SE displays one of these error messages:

The disk in drive A: is not formatted
Do you want to format it now

 Yes              No
A: is not accessible
The system cannot read from the specified device

        Retry           Cancel
See below to know the exact reason for an error message.

I you don't want to get involved with the error messages, read more at this link:

Recovering files from inaccessible or reformatted floppy disk


WINDOWS 98SE displays this error message when floppy disk has a bad Boot sector:

The disk in drive A: is not formatted
Do you want to format it now

 Yes              No
Recovering files from floppy disk having bad Boot Sector


WINDOWS 98SE displays this error message when floppy disk has a bad first FAT sector in FAT copy 1 (even if Boot sector is really good and whether or not ROOT Folder has a bad first ROOT Folder sector):

The disk in drive A: is not formatted
Do you want to format it now

 Yes              No
Recovering files from floppy disk having bad First FAT Sector


WINDOWS 98SE displays this error message when floppy disk has bad sectors (or a single bad sector) at the very beginning of ROOT Folder:

A: is not accessible
The system cannot read from the specified device

        Retry           Cancel
To analyze your floppy disk please download ANALYZER for RECOVER Fixed/Floppy Disk v0.3 FREEWARE




RECOVER Floppy Pro v1.0

is floppy disk level data recovery software for inaccessible floppy disks and reformatted floppy disks.

It is recommended for recovering files from floppy disks on WINDOWS XP, WINDOWS 2000, WINDOWS NT, WINDOWS 98/98SE, and WINDOWS 95/95 OSR2 if you don't want to care about what sectors in the system area of your inaccessible floppy disk got damaged.

On WINDOWS XP, WINDOWS 2000, WINDOWS NT whatever may be the floppy disk error condition, a single command (run from a DOS session) is enough to recover all the files on the floppy disk.

RECOVER Floppy Pro v1.0

runs recursively to recover files from all the folders on the floppy disk.

On WINDOWS XP and WINDOWS 2000, files having (LFN) Long File Names will be recovered in their original names.

On WINDOWS NT Long File Name support is not available.

Recovered files are saved to identical paths in destination.

Command line to recover all files on the disk:


RFLOPPY   A:   /X   <ENTER>

100% recovery of all files is assured. If the ROOT Folder is in a damaged condition, files in the ROOT Folder will be saved in new names if their original names would not be available because of bad sectors in the ROOT Folder.

If it is a reformatted disk, a popup will ask if it is reformatted. Just hit <ENTER> to reply "YES".

In the case of a reformatted floppy disk, 100% recovery of all files is assured if the ROOT Folder contained only subfolders.

Look in the RFP.RPT Report File for the list of files recovered and their paths.




A Damaged 1.44 MB Floppy Disk - having a bad Boot Sector:

Errors:
  1. The DOS command DIR A: produced this error message in
    Windows 98SE DOS Box:

    General failure reading drive A
    Abort, Retry, Fail?

  2. The DOS command DIR A: produced this error message in
    Windows 98SE True DOS:

    Data error reading drive A
    Abort, Retry, Fail?

  3. The floppy disk has a bad Boot Sector.

  4. The Root Folder on the floppy disk is not damaged.

  5. Both the FAT copies on the floppy disk are not damaged.


Run 1:

Switches to specify are switch /SB4 and switch /X. Switch /E can be added for Extended FAT Readability Status.

Command line to recover files from ROOT FOLDER, using RFD v3.0 Release 3:

RECOVRFD   A:\   /SB4   /X   /E   <ENTER>

Result on screen:

RECOVER Fixed/Floppy Disk FAT32/16/12 V3.0 Copyright 2001-2004 Systech Software
                        G.Namasivayam and G.Gurupandian

                        Time 07:09:52  Date 11/01/2005

                             Volume Name:
                    Volume Serial Number:

      Readability of FAT's (a zero indicates an unreadable FAT sector):
      FAT  Copy  1:    1    2    3    4    5    6    7    8    9
      FAT  Copy  2:    A    B    C    D    E    F   10   11   12

                           Sectors per Cluster:  1
                 FAT Type: FAT12  FAT copy used: FAT copy 2

Drive & Path B:\

File Name             1st LSector  FAT Sector  #Clusters   #Fragments
IO.SYS           -         21           A         1B3           1     Done
AUTOEXEC.BAT     -        1D4           B           3           1     Done
CONFIG.SYS       -        1D7           B           2           1     Done
FILE1.BAT        -        1D9           B           3           1     Done
FILE2.TXT        -        1DC           B          1D           1     Done
FILE3.EXE        -        1F9           B           E           1     Done
FILE4.SYS        -        207           B          19           1     Done
FILE5.SYS        -        220           B          1D           1     Done
FILE6.SYS        -        23D           B          2B           1     Done
FILE7.SYS        -        268           B          3A           1     Done
FILE8.SYS        -        2A2           B          3D           1     Done
FILE9.SYS        -        2DF           C          46           1     Done
FILE10.SYS       -        325           C          4A           1     Done
FILE11.SYS       -        36F           C          50           1     Done
FILE12.SYS       -        3BF           C          7E           1     Done
FILE13.EXE       -        43D           D          B7           1     Done
FILE14.EXE       -        4F4           D          7D           1     Done
FILE15.BIN       -        571           D          87           1     Done
FILE16.COM       -        5F8           E          B8           1     Done
FILE17.SYS       -        6B0           E          41           1     Done
FILE18.SYS       -        6F1           F          51           1     Done
FILE19.CAB       -        742           F         214           1     Done

Number of files            22

Command line to recover files from ROOT FOLDER, using RFD v2.2:

RECOVRFD   A:\   /SB4   /X   /E   <ENTER>

Result on screen:

     RECOVER Fixed/Floppy Disk V2.2  Copyright 2001-2004  Systech Software
                        G.Namasivayam and G.Gurupandian

                        Time 07:15:11  Date 11/01/2005

                             Volume Name:
                    Volume Serial Number:

      Readability of FAT's (a zero indicates an unreadable FAT sector):
      FAT  Copy  1:    1    2    3    4    5    6    7    8    9
      FAT  Copy  2:    A    B    C    D    E    F   10   11   12

                           Sectors per Cluster:  1
                 FAT Type: FAT12  FAT copy used: FAT copy 2

Drive & Path B:\

File Name             1st LSector  FAT Sector  #Clusters   #Fragments
IO.SYS           -         21           A         1B3           1     Done
AUTOEXEC.BAT     -        1D4           B           3           1     Done
CONFIG.SYS       -        1D7           B           2           1     Done
FILE1.BAT        -        1D9           B           3           1     Done
FILE2.TXT        -        1DC           B          1D           1     Done
FILE3.EXE        -        1F9           B           E           1     Done
FILE4.SYS        -        207           B          19           1     Done
FILE5.SYS        -        220           B          1D           1     Done
FILE6.SYS        -        23D           B          2B           1     Done
FILE7.SYS        -        268           B          3A           1     Done
FILE8.SYS        -        2A2           B          3D           1     Done
FILE9.SYS        -        2DF           C          46           1     Done
FILE10.SYS       -        325           C          4A           1     Done
FILE11.SYS       -        36F           C          50           1     Done
FILE12.SYS       -        3BF           C          7E           1     Done
FILE13.EXE       -        43D           D          B7           1     Done
FILE14.EXE       -        4F4           D          7D           1     Done
FILE15.BIN       -        571           D          87           1     Done
FILE16.COM       -        5F8           E          B8           1     Done
FILE17.SYS       -        6B0           E          41           1     Done
FILE18.SYS       -        6F1           F          51           1     Done
FILE19.CAB       -        742           F         214           1     Done

Number of files            22

Result Analysis:

For this floppy, run 1 recovered all the files in the ROOT FOLDER successfully.


Recovering files in subfolders:

Command line to list folders in the ROOT FOLDER:

RECOVRFD   A:\   /SB4   /DO   <ENTER>

This command generates a list of folders in the ROOT FOLDER.


You can specify a folder path on the command line and list lower level subfolders:

RECOVRFD   A:\MYFolder\   /SB4   /DO   <ENTER>


You can recover files in any folder by specifying the folder path on the command line like:

RECOVRFD   A:\MYFolder\Import~1\JANDOC~1\   /SB4   /X   <ENTER>


RECOVRFD   A:\MYFolder\Import~1\FEBDOC~1\   /SB4   /X   <ENTER>







Recovering files from a damaged 1.44 MB Floppy Disk - having a bad 1st FAT sector:

Errors:
  1. The DOS command DIR A: produced this error message in
    Windows 98SE DOS Box:

    General failure reading drive A
    Abort, Retry, Fail?

  2. The DOS command DIR A: produced this error message in
    Windows 98SE True DOS:

    Data error reading drive A
    Abort, Retry, Fail?

  3. The floppy disk has a good Boot Sector (this is the fact despite the error messages listed above).

  4. The Root Folder on the floppy disk was not damaged.

  5. The floppy disk has a bad sector in FAT copy 1 (in particular, first FAT sector is bad).


Run 1:

We have to take out the Root Folder. The switches to specify are switch /SB4 (Supply Boot Record) and switch /BR (Backup Root Folder). Switch /E can be added for Extended FAT Readability Status.

Command line to recover the ROOT FOLDER, using RFD v3.0 Release 3:

RECOVRFD   A:\   /SB4   /BR   /E   <ENTER>

Our working folder is C:\temp.

Result on screen:


RECOVER Fixed/Floppy Disk FAT32/16/12 V3.0 Copyright 2001-2004 Systech Software
                        G.Namasivayam and G.Gurupandian

                        Time 07:40:03  Date 11/01/2005

                             Volume Name:
                    Volume Serial Number:

      Readability of FAT's (a zero indicates an unreadable FAT sector):
      FAT  Copy  1:    0    2    3    4    5    6    7    8    9
      FAT  Copy  2:    A    B    C    D    E    F   10   11   12

                           Sectors per Cluster:  1
                 FAT Type: FAT12  FAT copy used: FAT copy 2

                           Sectors per Cluster:  1
                 FAT Type: FAT12  FAT copy used: None

Drive & Path A:\

 Readability of ROOT DIRECTORY (a zero indicates an unreadable DIR sector):

  13   14   15   16  17   18   19   1A   1B   1C    1D    1E    1F    20

 Root directory of drive A: saved in C:\temp\AROOT.DIR

Command line to recover the ROOT FOLDER, using RFD v2.2:

RECOVRFD   A:\   /SB4   /BR   /E   <ENTER>

Our working folder is C:\temp.

Result on screen:

     RECOVER Fixed/Floppy Disk v2.2  Copyright 2001-2004  Systech Software
                        G.Namasivayam and G.Gurupandian

                        Time 07:41:24  Date 11/01/2005

                             Volume Name:
                    Volume Serial Number:

      Readability of FAT's (a zero indicates an unreadable FAT sector):
      FAT  Copy  1:    0    2    3    4    5    6    7    8    9
      FAT  Copy  2:    A    B    C    D    E    F   10   11   12

                           Sectors per Cluster:  1
                 FAT Type: FAT12  FAT copy used: None

Drive & Path A:\

 Readability of ROOT DIRECTORY (a zero indicates an unreadable DIR sector):

  13   14   15   16  17   18   19   1A   1B   1C    1D    1E    1F    20

 Root directory of drive A: saved in C:\temp\AROOT.DIR

Result Analysis:

This shows that all sectors in Root Folder are OK. All sectors in Root Folder are safe and are saved to a file named AROOT.DIR.



Run 2

Switches to specify are switch /SB4 switch /LAROOT.DIR, switch /X. Switch /E can be added for Extended FAT Readability Status.

Command line to recover files from ROOT FOLDER, using RFD v3.0 Release 3:

RECOVRFD   A:\   /SB4   /LAROOT.DIR   /X   /E   <ENTER>

Result on screen:

RECOVER Fixed/Floppy Disk FAT32/16/12 V3.0 Copyright 2001-2004 Systech Software
                        G.Namasivayam and G.Gurupandian

                        Time 07:43:15  Date 11/01/2005

                             Volume Name:
                    Volume Serial Number:

      Readability of FAT's (a zero indicates an unreadable FAT sector):
      FAT  Copy  1:    0    2    3    4    5    6    7    8    9
      FAT  Copy  2:    A    B    C    D    E    F   10   11   12

                           Sectors per Cluster:  1
                 FAT Type: FAT12  FAT copy used: FAT copy 2

Drive & Path A:\

File Name             1st LSector  FAT Sector  #Clusters   #Fragments
IO.SYS           -         1D           8          50           1     Done
MSDOS.SYS        -         6D           8          4B           1     Done
FILE1.TXT        -        112           8           8           1     Done
FILE2.DOC        -        105           8           6           1     Done
FILE3.TXT        -        10B           8           7           1     Done
FILE4.TXT        -        11A           8           6           1     Done
FILE5.TXT        -        120           8           5           1     Done
FILE6.COM        -         FD           8           8           1     Done
FILE7.GIF        -        125           8           7           1     Done
FILE8.DOC        -        12C           8           5           1     Done

Number of files              10

Command line to recover files from ROOT FOLDER, using RFD v2.2:

RECOVRFD   A:\   /SB4   /LAROOT.DIR   /X   /E   <ENTER>

Result on screen:

     RECOVER Fixed/Floppy Disk v2.2  Copyright 2001-2004  Systech Software
                        G.Namasivayam and G.Gurupandian

                        Time 07:45:36  Date 11/01/2005

                             Volume Name:
                    Volume Serial Number:

      Readability of FAT's (a zero indicates an unreadable FAT sector):
      FAT  Copy  1:    0    2    3    4    5    6    7    8    9
      FAT  Copy  2:    A    B    C    D    E    F   10   11   12

                           Sectors per Cluster:  1
                 FAT Type: FAT12  FAT copy used: FAT copy 2

Drive & Path A:\

File Name             1st LSector  FAT Sector  #Clusters   #Fragments
IO.SYS           -         1D           8          50           1     Done
MSDOS.SYS        -         6D           8          4B           1     Done
FILE1.TXT        -        112           8           8           1     Done
FILE2.DOC        -        105           8           6           1     Done
FILE3.TXT        -        10B           8           7           1     Done
FILE4.TXT        -        11A           8           6           1     Done
FILE5.TXT        -        120           8           5           1     Done
FILE6.COM        -         FD           8           8           1     Done
FILE7.GIF        -        125           8           7           1     Done
FILE8.DOC        -        12C           8           5           1     Done

Number of files              10

Result Analysis:

For this floppy, run 1 and run 2 together recovered all the files in the ROOT FOLDER successfully. FAT copy 2 was used automatically by RFD to recover files.


Recovering files in subfolders:

Run this command to list subfolders in the ROOT FOLDER

RECOVRFD   A:\   /SB4   /LAROOT.DIR   /D   /E   <ENTER>

This command lists the subfolders in the ROOT FOLDER

To recover files in a subfolder, please take out the subfolder first, by running a command like this:

RECOVRFD   A:\MyFolder   /SB4   /LAROOT.DIR   /X   /E   <ENTER>

Then pass this subfolder on command line like this to recover files (and subfolders) from it:

RECOVRFD   A:\   /SB4   /LMyFolder   /D   /X   /E   <ENTER>



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