I have problems with a hard drive. Upon start-up, I get a message
saying...
"Log file initialization error drive G"

I seem to have many corrupt MP3 files. They cannot be moved from one
drive to another without getting an error message "the request could
not be performed because of a I/O device error". Or it says "the file
is in use". My MP3 player is Music Match. Some can play and some
cannot. The drive itself shows a file initiation error.

How do I recover the MP3 files?

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Clarification of Question by gbgc-ga on 08 Oct 2002 13:21 PDT

The computer is a Sony VAIO which originally ran ME, something (maybe
a virus) corrupted the boot sector. It wouldn't boot to the OS and I
got some sort of message about low memory and vxd something-or-other.

So... not being able to boot ME, I installed a fresh hard drive as the
master and made the existing(ME)drive as slave. I installed Windows
2000 as the OS and once that was working, I tried to move the MP3
files from the original drive to the new drive. Only about 20% will
move, the rest prompt a "I/O error" message. Some of the MP3's can
still be played, but won't move. Many won't play and won't move.

There are about 40GB of MP3's, and I would like to save them if
possible.
Thanks

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Clarification of Question by gbgc-ga on 08 Oct 2002 13:28 PDT

Yes it has a G drive, and yes I have done a virus check. I tried to do
a scan disk, but it stops with a message sonething like... cannot
complete, due to disc errors.

Hi gbgc, 

Your FAT or directory structure seems affected by whatever happened to
your bootable hard drive which has these MP3 files.

Please try this. Boot as usual from your new hard drive and try
copying the files from the DOS prompt. You will need to run COMMAND
PROMPT for this. You will find it under Program > Accessories.

If this does work fine. Otherwise, please figure out the exact path of
the folder (or master folder), reboot Windows 2000 and run it in SAFE
MODE with command prompt. When you get to the command prompt, go to
the directory one step above the directory that houses the MP3s and
try the DOS copy function to copy all the contents to your other
drive.

If you have problems with the copy function or anything else, do let
me know and I will explain in detail.

If this does not work at all, we will try other methods of salvage. I
feel you may not be able to get all the stuff through in any case. But
with 40Mb of material, I am sure a lot of effort has gone into its
collection and you will be happy to retrieve as much as possible!

warm regards
vinods-ga

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Request for Answer Clarification by gbgc-ga on 09 Oct 2002 05:30 PDT

I just tried both of the solutions. It skips over the files with the
I/O error, which is good, to a point. Two considerations
1- The MP3's are in directories by artist and sub'd by album. This
requires changing the directory hundreds of times.
2- How do I recover the ones with errors? 
Solving part two should solve part one.
Thanks for your help.

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Clarification of Answer by vinods-ga on 09 Oct 2002 05:49 PDT

Hi, 

Unfortunately there is no short cut to this. There is one but it
depends totally on the way you have stored your fles. If the directory
structure is like a tree:

Root>>>>Branch A (genre)
    >>>>Branch B
    >>>>Branch C >>>> Sub-branch a (sub-genre)
                 >>>> Sub-branch b
                 >>>> Sub-branch c >>> Artist X 
                                   >>> Artist Y >> Album 1
                                                >> Album 2 > Song 1
                                                           > Song 2
...

... and you have to copy a number of 'sub-sub-branches' or Artists at
one time, you can copy the entire Sub-branch. I am sure you
understand. If you have not saved your with this kind of arrangement
of directories, you will have to manually copy the folders /
directories one by one.

I suggest you just save the entire thing, forget trying only the ones
with errors. You can always deal with any duplication later. What's
important is that you get all the files you want out of that hard
drive as soon as possible and in as little operations as possible,
before the situation gets worse!

I'm around if you need any more help!

warm regards

vinods-ga

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Request for Answer Clarification by gbgc-ga on 09 Oct 2002 08:21 PDT

I have copied all the known good file to where I want them... BUT BUT
BUT...
I still have about 6000 tracks which seem to be corrupt. I also have
about 40 files which are described as fragment and a directory called
found.000

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Clarification of Answer by vinods-ga on 09 Oct 2002 08:40 PDT

Hi, 

raybass-ga has been kind enough to contribute to the answer your
question. Thanks!

As for the 'corrupt' files, it may be difficult for you to put them to
use even if you manage to copy them. If you have run scandisk with a
surface scan and a virus scan and if the drive shows I/O errors, you
may not even be able to copy them. You can try the DOS 'xcopy' command
with the 'heck' switches as mentioned by raybass.

I guess you will have to make do with what you have managed to
recover.

warm regards
vinods-ga

Off to great start... half of the problem is solved.

Please furnish the following information: 

-Computer configuration including number of driver and location of the MP3 files
-Operating System

and I will be able to work this out...

Warm regards
vinods-ga

It sounds like u have a virus, check that first by going to
http://housecall.antivirus.com/ and getting a free virus check. If you
havent got a virus then the problem is ur pc is setup wrong inside.  U
need to change the IDE cables around, you shouldnt even have a G
drive. get someone who knows what they are doing to change the IDE
cables around until it works properly (unfortunatly these things are
generally trial and error), that would sort it if its not a virus.

Whether it is a virus or not, I do not know, but I/O errors sound a
little bit more serious than general corruption.  With Windows2K you
should be able to run error checking (scandisk) on the drive, and do
an extended surface scan to see if there are any hardware problems on
the drive.  If anything, it should give you an idea if your problem is
pure hardware or pure software.  Only after you're sure that the disk
is fine should you do a virus check.  If it truly is a hardware
problem then the drive is probably almost dead, in which case you
should just copy what you can and ditch the bad drive.

I would do your copying from the command prompt, if possible.  Safe
mode should not be necessary, as long as no other programs (your mp3
player) are trying to access that drive.

Also, the windows "copy" command is insufficient for copying
directories.  You need to use "xcopy" ("xcopy32" in a 9x enviroment)

This is the proper syntax for copying all your MP3 files, or anything
else for that matter:

xcopy /h /e /c /k G:\MP3\*.* C:\MP3

Of course, replace the drive letter and path with the correct ones,
and I will explain the "heck" switch.

/h copies hidden and system files as well as normal ones
/e copies recursively, including empty directories
/c continues copying if errors occur (very important for you)
/k keeps file attributes (h, r, s, a)

"heck" is just so easy to remember also.  This command can also be
used for transferring a FAT32-based system from one hard drive to
another.  Let's say you buy a new 5000 gig hard drive and you want to
copy your puny Win98SE off of the 5 gig drive you have now.  Load it
up, do a full format in windows of the new drive, then run that
xcopy(32) command with the switches and C:\*.* D:\ as the path, and
all you will need to do to boot the drive is activate the partition in
FDISK using a boot disk.

Wow, I got off track.  But, that's what I would do....  (A little more
than the "answer" you paid for)

thanks to raybass-ga for his straightforward advice on xcopy. You and
vinods have done great!!! I'm still stuck with the corrupt files,
should I ask for help with this as another question?