File system corruption in Windows XP is one of the most common reasons for unbootability of the computer system. The reasons responsible for damage in file system are unexpected system shutdown (due to power outage or human mistakes), virus infection, MFT (Master File Table) damage, and more. An easy way to get past the file corruption issues in a Windows XP system is by executing CHKDSK/F command. This command checks the physical and logical integrity of the file system and repairs it in case of any damage.

Although the command is a life-saver in most of the situations, it does not guarantee 100% success in every file system corruption issue. In such cases, when the CHKDSK command fails to repair, an ideal alternative is to reinstall Windows XP and restore data from an updated backup. However, in case no backup is available, the user can easily recover data using a commercial Windows Recovery application.

Consider a practical scenario to explain the above situation. You encounter the below error message at the startup of Windows XP operating system:

“C:\$MFT is corrupt and unreadable. Please run the chkdsk utility.”

After the above boot error message pops up, your system becomes unbootable and its data gets inaccessible. As suggested in the error message, when you run CHKDSK utility, you encounter another error message:

“CHKDSK discovered free space marked as allocated in the master file table (MFT) bitmap. CHKDSK discovered free space marked as allocated in the volume bitmap. Windows found problems with the file system. Run CHKDSK with the /F (fix) option to correct these.”

As suggested in this error message, when you execute CHKDSK utility with '/F' parameter, it shows the same error message. Since the system could not be started, the data saved in the Windows based hard drive remains inaccessible.

Resolution:

Follow the below steps to overcome the CHKDSK/F failure error message:

1.Reinstall Windows XP on your system. 2.Restore the data from an updated backup. In case no backup is available, use a commercial Windows Data Recovery utility. Such windows data recovery tools use effective recovery techniques to perform complete recovery of all formatted files and folders.

Stellar Phoenix Windows Data Recovery ensures complete recovery of lost, missing, and formatted data from NTFS and FAT file system based hard drives. The Windows Recovery supports Windows 7, Vista, 2003, XP, and 2000 operating systems.