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There are several common file system or drives errors. They can happen during system boot up, log in or when you try to access a drive. You would normally get the following error messages:

• 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

This is an error that is related to problems in master boot record or partition table entries. The partition table entries could be pointing to a sector that is not the actual beginning of a partition. Invalid BIOS settings, which sometimes is triggered 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.

You can solve this problem by correcting the invalid BIOS settings. The BIOS settings for drive parameters and LBA translation 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.

IBM systems in this situation used to drop into a built-in BIOS version of BASIC, but most non-IBM BIOS manufacturers did not license this code from Microsoft. so, they would display this cryptic massage instead of dropping into BASIC. The typical solution to this problem is to run FDISK and set the primary partition as active because the most common cause of this type of error is a failure to set at least one partition as active (bootable). 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. No active partition is defined is the most common cause of this message.

Invalid Drive Specification

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 could get this type of error. You can check the existing partition using FDISK or use FDISK to partition the drive. If they are damaged, you probably should use a data recovery tool for example REMO to correct the problem.

REMO is a Mac Recover Software that may also be used for Mac file Recovery. It will 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, you would receive this error if you tried to access a drive that had been partitioned but not yet formatted. The volume boot record (VBR), file allocation tables, and directories on the disk are created by the format command.

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).

You can examine the drive installation and ensure that the cables to the drive are properly installed, the drive is getting power and spinning, and the BIOS settings for the drive are correct. If all these are correct, the drive, cable, or controller could be physically damaged. Replace them with know-good spares one by one until the problem is solved.

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 a user point of view, these devices are similar to the 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 that work well with conventional drives can not be used to recover data from flash memory devices-especially when the device has been formatted.

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 operating system marks the file as deleted and changes the first character of the filename to a lowercase sigma. 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. 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, traditional unformat programs are not useful for cases like these.

Formatted Data Recovery

You can use data recovery tools, for example REMO Recover, if you need to recover data from a formatted flash memory card. REMO Recover (Windows) is an integrated utility suit that can be used to retrieve data from hard drive and flash memory card.. It also come with features such as email backup. It could be used to fix corrupt pst as well.

The following changes occur to the disk when a file is deleted:

• The first character of the filename would be replaced with a lowercase sigma character.
• Two entries, one for the deleted file and one for its associated long file name (LFN) are created in file allocation table. These include:
• Erased. An erased file
• Del LFN. An LFN belonging to an erased file.

The operating system will indicate the clusters where the file is stored are available for reuse. Hence, if an undelete action is not carried out immediately, some or all of these clusters might be overwritten by new data. Based on the file type, loosing even one cluster could destroy the file.

File Undelete:

The file undelete process involves four steps:

• The original file name would be restored.
• The clusters where the file is stored will be determined.
• FAT entries for the file are going to be recreated.
• LFN records for the file will be linked to the file.

Of these four steps, the most critical are locating the clusters used by the file and recreating the FAT entries for the file. However, if the file is a program file, restoring the original name is a must for proper program operation, and restoring the LFN entries enables a Windows user accustomed to long filenames to more easily use the file.

How to Recover Data

You can use data recovery tools, for instance REMO Recover, if you would like to undelete file. REMO Recover (Windows) is an integrated utility suit that could be used to retrieve deleted files. In addition , 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. For most serious cases, your hard drive may need to be sent to data recovery center. The factors that affect the degree of difficulty of data recovery are the following:

• How and when the data is deleted.
• What is the file system of the hard drive?
• Whether the drive uses magnetic, optical, magneto-optical, or flash memory to store data.
• The operation system you use.
• Whether you have data protection software installed on your system.
• 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. As a result, you are more likely to retrieve the file if you discover it has been sent to Recycle bin accidentally. 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. The Recycle bin would be bypassed if a file is deleted when the shift key is hold down. Retrieving lost data at this point requires data recovery software.

Recover Files that Are Not in the Recycle Bin

The Recycle is a good first line of defense when it comes to data recovery. However it can be bypassed and it does not keep the deleted files forever. 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

When a hard disk, floppy disk, or removable-media drive has been formatted, its file allocation table, which is used to determine the location of the files, is lost. 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 a program that could unformat the drive
• use an application that can bypass the newly created FAT and browse disk sectors directly to discover and retrieve data.

To retrieve data from a drive that has been partitioned, you need to make use of a program that can read disk sector directly.