On system start, chkdsk corrected errors and all data lost

Question

Today when I turned OFF my PC, all was well and System Restore was also enabled on all critical partitions. In the evening when I turned ON my PC, chkdsk took control before Windows could start. It corrected free space errors, deleted a lot of entries and when Windows started, I found entire data of partition F lost. I ran a simple Undelete Utility that comes with TuneUp Utilties, but it only recovered index information and not the folders and files.

I started System Restore but it is showing "No restore point available". I am shocked with this tragic situation. How all System Restore Points disappeared suddenly?

Is there any way to recover the data back?

I am using Windows 7 which is installed on partition G. Partition F needs to be recovered which also was NTFS partition.

Answer 1

Always be sure you have a valid backup a backup before you shutdown: it does not have to be made today but you need to check that you have made a backup from a time when your Windows 7 was running perfectly Do not rely on system restore which does not save all system files If chkdsk starts when you have not called for it, skip it and go into your boot drive and make a backup. then reboot again and run chkdsk As general rule do not use chkdsk in Windows 7 64bit: it is a very old tool and no one can explain why sometimes it works and sometimes fouls up the system. If your system is running Ok do not use chkdsk there are better ways of checking your system, just use chkdsk as a last resort when eveything else fails and you have a distinct backup on another disk then keep your fingers crossed. Very often it does not help!