Microsoft KB Archive/60372

Use of RECOVER On Hard Disks Not Recommended PSS ID Number: Q60372 Article last modified on 01-22-1993 PSS database name: O_MSDOS

2.x 3.x 4.00 4.01

MS-DOS

Summary:

On Page 113 of the “Microsoft MS-DOS Version 4.00 User’s Reference,” it states the following for the RECOVER command:

WARNING: Since the root directory can only hold a finite number of entries, some of the recovered files may be lost. If all files on a disk need to be recovered, recover the files one at a time. Do not attempt to recover the files by subdirectory or by recovering entire disk at one time.

RECOVER should only be used on a floppy disk. The result of using the command RECOVER C: can be harmful to the data of the hard disk if the number of files to be recovered will cause the root directory to try to contain more than its fixed number of entries. The root directory cannot hold more than a fixed number of entries. The remaining files that have not been recovered are usually still intact as lost clusters.

If you are not familiar with the workings of MS-DOS, we do not recommend that you try to use any of the following workarounds. We instead recommend that you use the Norton Disk Doctor program.

Three workarounds to this problem are listed below:

  Move the FILEnnnn.REC files from the root directory to a FLOPPY disk. (DO NOT save anything on the hard disk at this time!) Run CHKDSK /F to convert the lost clusters into chains. Once all of the lost clusters have been converted into chains, use a file examination utility program to determine the original filename of each chain. Use the RENAME feature to restore the original filename.   Reconstruct each file chain with a utility such as DEBUG.   Use a disk-repair program, such as Norton Utilities “Recover from DOS’s Recover” Utility found on the Disk Doctor. Please note that the products mentioned here are manufactured by vendors independent of Microsoft; we make no warranty, implied or otherwise, regarding these products’ performance or reliability. Consult the software manufacturer for details. 

Additional reference words: 2.x 3.x 4.00 4.01 noupd

Copyright Microsoft Corporation 1993.