File Check Files

Discuss software and how to tweak more performance out of your system.
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Jim
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Posts: 1745
Joined: Wed Jan 21, 2004 7:10 pm
Location: Toronto

File Check Files

Post by Jim »

One of the more depressing things that happens to we amatuer computer users, is going to defrag and being informed that there are errors on the drive; and that we must run "Scandisk" to correct the errors before attempting to defrag. YUCK!!

You know the result. "Scandisk" finds some "file chains" which are reported as being in use but are really lost file fragments that are not in use; would you like to delete them, or would you like "Scandisk" to save them as "File Check" Files?

So you have "Scandisk " save them, in the forlorne hope that just maybe you can figure out what they are, what they belonged to, and what file is damaged and needs to be replaced.

The next step is to use "Notepad" or "Wordpad" to open the filecheck file(s) to see if you can figure out from the insane gobbledegook that they are composed of, what was their source of origin. Fat Chance! (I have occasionally managed to do it; but that is the exception, not the rule.)

Which brings me to the point of this post. Wouldn't it be nice if programmers would take the trouble to insert the filename as a "comment" every so often in their software? Since these stupid "File check files" seem to run from 4K upwards, sticking in a six or seven character filename every 4K would enable positive identification of damaged files. They could even use a protocol, say for example : #$filename$#. which would enable the user to easily identify the filename.

Which brings me to my final point; oddly enough for a nobody, I have been fairly influential in a variety of ways. A number of my suggestions have been adapted. Do you suppose that this one might be?
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KachiWachi
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Post by KachiWachi »

How often do you see this? How often do you run Scandisk and/or Defrag?
Moderator - Wim's BIOS

PC #1 - DFI 586IPVG, K6-2/+ 450 (Cyrix MII 433), 128 MB EDO. BIOS patched by Jan Steunebrink.
PC #2 - Amptron PM-7900 (M520), i200 non-MMX, 128 MB EDO
PC #3 - HP8766C, PIII-667, 768 MB SDRAM
PC #4 - ASUS P3V4X, PIII-733, 256 MB SDRAM
PC #5 - Gateway 700X, P4-2.0 GHz, 768 MB PC800 RDRAM
PC #6 - COMPAQ Evo N1020v laptop, P4-2.4 GHz, 1 GB PC2700 DDR
PC #7 - Dell Dimension 4600i, P4-2.8 GHz, 512 MB PC2700 DDR
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PC #9 - ??? ;)
Jim
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Posts: 1745
Joined: Wed Jan 21, 2004 7:10 pm
Location: Toronto

Post by Jim »

Not very often re seeing it; usually when it happens, it is because there were one or more system crashes in the interim since the last defrag. Scandisk I do not use very often. Defrag - Daily.(Usually have auto schedule setup, though sometimes it gets shutoff for a while for one reason or another). That is one of the reasons I keep backups. When I find these STUPID, (Hey "MS" what is the point of saving these, [lost cluster chains], UNIDENTIFIEABLE file fragments?) "File Check" Files, I usally just delete them, then run a restore from backup.
Superpuppy 3
K6-3+ 450 ACZ (6x100)
DFI K6BV3+/66 Rev B2 (2 Meg) w/ 2x28mm Chipset Fans
2x256 Meg PC 133 Hynix SDRAM
1x 20G Maxtor (7200)
2x 80G Maxtor (7200) Ducted w/ 2x486 Fans Mount
52/24/52/16 LG CDR/RW/DVD
8/4/3/12/24/16/32 LG Super Multi
ATI 9000 aiw Radeon AGP
SB Audigy 1 MP3 Sound
CMD 649 IDE Controller
NEC USB 2 Card
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