Manually delete MFT no?

[TAPtech]

Hey guys,

I have a good one here. Vista 32bit machine, with some chkdsk problems. When chkdsk runs, it gets stuck on "correcting error in index $I30 for file 334660" and just repeats that over and over. Tried letting it chew on that for 24 hours, no change.

Imaged the drive to a new one, which replicates the problem. SFC scannow does not resolve the problem. I tried a repair install, which succeeds, but on first reboot it goes right into the chkdsk which I cannot cancel.

I get the prompt to hit any key, but it does not recognize input from the keyboard and there is no PS/2 input on the board.

Is there a way for me to manually delete the file "334660"? I've found a program called DiskExplorer for NTFS, which locates the file, but cannot delete it.

 

[jbartlett323]

Have you tried chkdsk offline? or just the "Reboot" way? I usually have more luck offline.

I would not go messing with the MFT unless you are very knowledgeable about how to recover it when it goes bad. Many considerations to take into account while editing, such as file location, index location, header info, re-indexing everything else, data shifts, etc. And I hope your comfortable with hex editing, because to my knowledge that's the only way to successfully edit an MFT record.

 

[TAPtech]

Already have a full image based backup, and have actually been doing any mods on a different hard drive.

I have tried offline chkdsk, and it gets to about 99% and just hangs there. I tried the same with MiniTool, but it gives the same status as CHKDSK does.

 

[Markverhyden]

The error says

correcting error in index $I30 for file 334660

May be a problem with the index and not the file since you have already imaged and worked with it on a new drive.

Here is a link discussing that matter.

http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/...and-does/3c3bec75-0e1c-4800-9a41-0a7b568affec

 

[TAPtech]

So here's where I'm at now:

I've recorded the offending MFT No from the CHKDSK results. I'm looking at the disk with DMDE, and have found the MFT No. It says the file name is CL56HOUE.

Is there a way to manually edit this entry? Can I just delete it? I want to perform a repair install. To do that I need CHKDSK to complete.

 

[jbartlett323]

So here's where I'm at now:

I've recorded the offending MFT No from the CHKDSK results. I'm looking at the disk with DMDE, and have found the MFT No. It says the file name is CL56HOUE.

Is there a way to manually edit this entry? Can I just delete it? I want to perform a repair install. To do that I need CHKDSK to complete.

As stated above, you can only edit an MFT with a Hexadecimal editor. There is no other way to my knowledge. If there is, please somebody tell us! Otherwise, Hex is your only answer. And you will find that by editing it in hex (also as said above) it will open a whole other can of worms, with issue such as index values, header values, file locations and data shifts. If you try to just zero out the offending entry, you will most definitely corrupt the MFT, therefor it is pretty useless. Your best bet would be to change it to something else. What that something else would be that wouldn't corrupt the MFT and allow your chkdsk to finish, I couldn't guess...

Good Luck, If you find a solution be sure to fill us in!

 

[TAPtech]

Well, I tried quite a few sneaky methods but ended up just throwing in the towel on this one.

Fortunately Easy Transfer was one of the few working windows components. This was a good time to upgrade to an SSD anyways.

Thank you everyone for the suggestions. I wish we could have nixed this one but it was becoming wayyyy too much of a time hole.