Drive c: corrupted?

[RogueIce]

So I start up my computer (Win7 Professional 64-bit) and the check disk thing runs, saying it has to check for consistency. So it tries, but fails because of some bad software package error and it tells me to restore to an earlier point. So I try system restore, but that fails because it tells me drive c: is corrupted and I need to run the scan disk thing next time I start up. So neither of the things it tells me to do work because neither one can work without the other not fixing the problem!

Anyone know what's going on? I can't install various security updates for Win7, so this isn't something I can really ignore...

[RogueIce]

I've been thinking back, and the only thing I can think of that's changed since last time I was on (and it worked fine then) was that I accidently saved a save game into the base drive c: and then, when realizing my error, moved it into a folder in My Documents. Otherwise I can't think of any other changes or things I may have done that would cause problems.

[charlemagne]

The drive might just be broken.

I'd check with the manufacturer website if it offers any tools to diagnose their harddiscs. Maybe it's something that can be fixed outside of Windows trying to fix it. But my bet with basic tools like checkdisc failing is that some sectors are physically kaputt.

[Kuroji]

When a hard drive becomes corrupted, it usually has little to do with anything you've done to it, unless you were deliberately messing with things like the file allocation table that most people wouldn't mess with. More likely it's just a hardware failure.

You're probably going to want to find a way to boot the machine that doesn't rely on that drive, and back up as much as you can.

[RogueIce]

It's the file system that's corrupted, not the drive itself. At least, so the error messages tell me. Which may be the same thing, for all I know.

[Torben]

Had the same issue with my wife's laptop Monday night...Win7 Pro 32 bit. chkdsk ran on boot, found and fixed errors, rebooted, ran, found and fixed errors, etc, etc. Since all she has installed is Windows, MS Office, and a web browser, and all documents are stored on a separate partition, simply nuked and paved. Much easier than trying to track down some erroneous file system error.

Now...if you do not have your data saved to a separate partition, and it is not backed up, I would recommend downloading and burning a linux live cd, booting to that, and grabbing your data, then formatting and reinstalling Windows. Recommendation #2: if you are not currently separating your data from your OS partition, set that up as soon as possible, and after you reinstall everything and reconfigure everything, use CloneZilla to image your drive, such that if anything should happen again, just reimage the drive. Mind, you will want to update the image if/when you make any major software changes/installations/deletions.

While it is most likely possible to fix the file system issue with the appropriate software and knowledge, most times it is far more efficient to simply reinstall the OS.

Thats my $.02