I’m trying to resolve a problem with an older PC (HP) with a 4GB hard drive & Windows 98SE. The drive thrashes constantly, but has been recently scanned & defragged; there is over 2GB of free disk space and few installed apps. I thought there was a virus, but nothing detected (unable to read the BOOT partition though). However, programs are not running right, if at all. The system boots to both regular and safe mode OK.
Here’s what I suspect: something has trashed or damaged the FAT table. I tried running scandisk, but it cycles from checking the FAT to folders back to FAT, etc. without doing anything. It is possible the system has suffered a power surge.
My question: What should I do?
1. Is the FAT table repairable with a utility?
– or –
2. Should the drive be FDISKed, FORMATed and re-loaded?
I’m trying to save the user’s data and don’t trust the drive to try and copy anything reliable/readable from it the way it is.
Thanks!
