# Recovering Orphaned Files Taking Forever!



## dj4cdplay

From what I have read, my HD is probably going bad.


Recently, I have had some file corruption that has caused Windows 7 CHKDSK to want to run on boot-up. I have let it run several times overnight but it stopped after stage 2 of 3 and would not progress any further. So, I turned off the power and re-booted skipping the CHKDSK option so I could use my machine.


After getting a registry-fix program, there were many registry files shown as missing, so the program repaired them. I then re-booted and allowed the CHKDSK to run. It finally passed stage 2 of CHKDSK and is now recovering orphaned .jpg files for the last 60+ hours (over 1,400,000+ files) and shows no sign of when or if it will ever complete. I have seen others complain about 2 to 3 hours and even one person say it took 21 hours, but this is ridiculous!


I am assuming the best advice is just to keep letting it run and eventually it will complete? Hopefully, this will be in my lifetime!


If and when I can reboot, sensing that the HD is failing, is it still OK to get an image of the HD to use on a new laptop? I don't want to lose my programs and still prefer to keep my Windows 7 OS on the next one.


Just looking for advice.


Thanks!


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## Mark1956

FYI: Even the legitimate free Registry Cleaner/System Optimizer programs are not to be trusted as they can and do make mistakes. All a cleaner does is remove orphaned registry keys and broken links, all too often they remove something your software or Windows needs to operate normally. You should never edit the registry unless you really know what you are doing and certainly should not trust any third party item of software to make any changes to it. The registry can operate without any noticeable drop in system performance even if it has 1000's of orphaned registry keys and you are very unlikely to notice any difference if you remove them. If there is a genuine problem in the registry it needs to be diagnosed by someone who knows what they are doing, both to correct the error and more importantly to find out what caused it.

All of the free Registry Cleaner/System Optimizer programs come bundled with Adware that will infect your browsers, causing redirects and/or pop up adds to appear. Some of these programs are borderline scams that will show hundreds of problems with your system and demand payment to have them removed. Don't believe a single word of all the hype, these types of programs are bad news for your PC, they are of no benefit and you won't find a single person with good PC knowledge that will recommend there use.

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As your system has prompted a disc check to run that is a bad sign that the hard drive is failing and with the disc check finding so many orphaned files that is further proof the drive is beyond being trusted. You could try to create a disc image from it once the repairs are complete, but it is impossible to know how much damage has been done and using a registry fixer may have made things worse.

Your best bet is to back up all your important files to an external hard drive, flash drive or CD/DVD's and then replace the drive and re-install everything from scratch.

To further confirm the state of the drive, run this diagnostic program below, if it shows a Fail at the end of the test then you should replace the drive.

You can create the Seatools disc on any fully functional PC with a CD burner or use any PC to create the Flash Drive.

Open Internet Explorer and click on this: Seatools

Save the download to your desktop.

In Windows 7 right click the ISO file, select *Open With*, then select* Windows Disc Image Burning Tool* then follow the prompts.
For all other versions of windows (if you do not have an ISO burner) download this free software. ImgBurn Install the program (make sure you uncheck any boxes that will install bundled software) and start the application. Select the top left hand option to *Write image file to disc* and then on the next window click on the small yellow folder icon and browse to the ISO file on your desktop. Then click on the two grey discs with the arrow in between (bottom left) and leave it to complete the operation.

You will need a blank recordable CD or a re-recordable CD. If your PC has no CD/DVD drive or you would prefer to run Seatools from a Flash Drive follow this guide: How to run Seatools from a USB Flash Drive

When the CD has been burned boot the PC into the Bios setup and set the CD/DVD drive to 1st in the boot sequence Bios Boot Order Guide. Insert the disk in the drive then reboot and the disc will load into DOS. Click on Basic Tests and select the Long Test. If using a Flash Drive you need to set USB to 1st in the boot order, if there is no USB available in the boot order you will have to run the test from a CD.

A full set of instructions can be found here: Seatools instructions

When the test completes it will show a Pass or Fail.


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