Ext3 is the most commonly used and stable file system of Linux operating system. This journaled Linux file system divides hard drive space into blocks. These blocks are managed in block groups. Every block group is defined by an individual data structure, which stores critical information, known as Group Block Descriptor. Every block group is assigned data structure to access it.

The data structure is also useful because it contains inode table, inode bitmap, and location information of block bitmap. The group descriptors are arranged sequentially and together create group descriptor table. In such situations, the block group descriptors get damaged and your system becomes inaccessible. It causes data loss and requires Linux Data Recovery if there is no backup in place.

When the Group Descriptors get damaged, the entire Linux file system is considered corrupt. Corruption is generally caused by unexpected system shutdown, internal system errors, virus infection, and other such cases. Since the group descriptors are damaged, Linux machine does not boot up and shows various error messages similar to the following one:

“EXT3-fs error: ext3_check_descriptors / group descriptors corrupted”

For every block group in Linux, group descriptor table is positioned immediately after the copy of superblock. Linux duplicates the group descriptors for every block group to avoid data loss and the need for Data Recovery Linux in case of file system corruption. Only the first copy of block group descriptors is used when system boots normally.

You can try repairing the damaged file system in such situations using fsck command-line utility. The fsck tool checks integrity of your Linux hard drive, finds errors on the drive, and tries to fix them. It mostly fixes minor file system errors. However, extensive damage can not be handled by fsck. In such situations, you need to replace the damaged file system with a new one.

A new file system can be created by formatting the hard drive and reinstalling the operating system. Formatting makes your hard drive new, removing all the errors, applications, operating system, and data. Although, it sorts out the problem, it also leads to severe data loss and you require Linux Recovery to get your data back.

Recovery can be done using advanced third-party tools, known as Ext3 Recovery software. These software employ advanced scanning algorithms to ensure absolute recovery in all data loss situations. With non-destructive behavior and interactive design, they are totally safe and simple to use.

Stellar Phoenix Linux Data Recovery software helps you to recover valuable Linux data from almost all types of popular storage media. The software recovers data from Ext4, Ext3, Ext2, FAT32, FAT16, and FAT12 file system volumes. It works well with all major distributions of Linux operating system, such as Red Hat, SUSE, Debian, Mandriva, and Fedora.