What to check if system locks up when running ZAR.

[Alexey V. Gubin]

ZAR scan in itself does not typically cause the system to stop responding. When scanning, ZAR just reads sectors from the disk sequentially and that's it. The system should handle this task pretty well.

Bad sectors on the disk, if any, will cause transient lockups and the feeling of the system being "sluggish" in handling. Additionally, the sounds of the disk clicking and probably spinning up and down are typical for a bad sector situation.

In case the system locks up completely, so as the hardware reboot is required to regain normal operation, I suggest that you check for the hardware problems first. The same procedure applies when the system randomly crashes with a STOP error (most likely with a different STOP codes).

Check for obvious overheat. Check temperatures in BIOS; check if the drive is hot to touch. To reduce overheat, open the chassis and install the office fan so as it blows into the chassis.
Check memory. There are plenty of memory testing tools around (Google search for "memory testing software" (http://www.google.ru/search?hl=en&q=memory+testing+software), our long-time favorite being GoldMemory (http://www.goldmemory.cz)).
If the drive is attached to the PCI IDE controller (and is NOT a part of the RAID array), try connecting it to the IDE port on the motherboard, and vice versa.
If the above does not solve the problem, try running the recovery on another machine to rule out possible hardware issues (other than a hard drive itself being faulty).

[wrbird]

Dear Support,

In the past I've recovered data from various 16gb CF cards successfully. Thank you so much for this program! The latest 16gb CF card I'm trying to recover ZAR stops scanning (0% CPU) at around 31%. I let about 15 min pass at 0% and figured that ZAR was just hung up. I pulled the CF card out of the reader closed ZAR -- I couldn't close ZAR until I removed the card -- reopened and scanned again. ZAR did the exact same thing at 31% and CPU at 0%. Am I doing something wrong? What else can I do to make the scan finish? Of the 31% that was complete there were no bad sectors. Thank you so much for your help!

Wayne Bird

[Alexey V. Gubin]

I suspect there is a damaged spot on the card. There is nothing we can do to improve the result.

Consider trying a different card reader.

Also, consider using a simple volume recovery mode. You can specify a volume size about 30% the size of a card to avoid ZAR touching a bad spot, and possibly salvage the first 30% of the data (should this work).

All in all, you most likely need a data recovery lab with a hardware repair capabilities.

[wrbird]

Thank you for your help. I've been able to copy some folders off the card when it randomly reads the card. Oh well, I'll get as much as I can.

Wayne

[wrbird]

Hello Alexey,

Ok, I got as much data off the card as I can by just copying the files that I was able to. I want to continue using the card if a format will take care of any problems. I would to throw away a good 16gb card. So this is what I did: formatted card, ran Win XP error-checking on the card it all passed. I also verified the card with CNetX Flash Format and it passed. Given this info I would feel confident that the format cleaned up any bad areas and the card will be safe to use. Then I decided to run ZAR on this card and ZAR still hangs at 31%. If ZAR is hanging because of bad areas on the card why does it pass error-checking with two different programs? Again, I to just throw away the 16gb card.

Thanks for all your help!

Wayne

[Alexey V. Gubin]

If you open the command prompt (on a start menu, click Run, a prompt opens; type in "cmd.exe", press OK and it gives you a console),

then type
CHKDSK X: /R
(substitute X with a drive letter for your card),
the output should be like

C:\Work>chkdsk e: /r
The type of the file system is FAT.
Volume READYBOOST created 24.07.2008 21:24
Volume Serial Number is E0FD-1813
Windows is verifying files and folders...
File and folder verification is complete.
Windows is verifying free space...
Free space verification is complete.
Windows has checked the file system and found no problems.

2 041 184 256 bytes total disk space.
98 304 bytes in 1 files.
2 041 085 952 bytes available on disk.

32 768 bytes in each allocation unit.
62 292 total allocation units on disk.
62 289 allocation units available on disk.


Does it in your case mention bad sectors just after 98 304 bytes in 1 files? Something like NNNN bytes in bad sectors?

[FranksFSAusa]

I don't have a hardware lockup problem, but ZAR 8.3 has crashed twice now with this message: An error has occurred and it is not possible ot continue execution. The program will now terminate. The error message was:
Thead fault IdentThread

This is an attempt to recover a logical volume where the hardware is probably okay, but the volume was scrambled by Partition Magic. (That's two strikes for PM; I'll never use it again.)

This drive is physically mounted in an external docking station and connected via USB-2. Host machine is WinXP, SP3.

Any ideas?

[Alexey V. Gubin]

Could you please

Delete the log file "C:\Program Flies\ZAR\logfile.txt"
Download and install the latest build available http://www.z-a-recovery.com/zar-83-053.exe
Run it again to see if it crashes again (I suppose it would).
Click OK to submit the error report so we can get it matching the latest updates we made.
Also once it crashes, the latest 100 or so lines of the log file would be useful.

[FranksFSAusa]

Could you please

Delete the log file "C:\Program Flies\ZAR\logfile.txt"
Download and install the latest build available http://www.z-a-recovery.com/zar-83-053.exe
Run it again to see if it crashes again (I suppose it would).
Click OK to submit the error report so we can get it matching the latest updates we made.
Also once it crashes, the latest 100 or so lines of the log file would be useful.

Did all the above. Zar has been running now for 4 hours and has not crashed, though it appears to be hung or stopped. Duration timer is unchanging now for 3 hours, seems to be stuck at 23 minutes, 41 seconds. Shows 86% on the disk scan operation, no change on that, either.

No disk access. No recent change in log file size. WinXP process monitor shows that ZAR is no longer using any CPU time.

At one point, though, Win XP reported increasing the size of virtual memory (2 Gbyte physical memory, originally 2 Gbyte of VM, now bumped to 2.6 Gbyte of VM).

Pulling the current log file into an editor, there are more than 7 million entries for bad sectors, similar to this:

Bad sector encountered @LBA 187277145 disk 010C

On a quick spot check many of the LBAs are sequential.

Given that this time we don't have a crash but rather what appears to be a "dead" application, I don't have a crash report to submit.

What next? Can we trust that USB is working correctly? I have not found it to be completely reliable with large, sustained transfers from external devices.

Thank you,

Frank Stearns

[LuvGlimmerTwins]

Apologies for hijacking this old thread, but it fits precisely what I
am experiencing.
Third try today to get ZAR to recover data off one of the notorious Seagate Free Agent external (1.5 TB in this case) external hard drives, prior to RMA-ing the device.

Any suggestions on how to proceed when the 'Thread fault monitor thread' error repetitively interrupts ZAR's program's progress?

[Alexey V. Gubin]

If you did submit the error report (there is only one matching your description in the relevant timeframe; hence it must be your report I'm looking at), then your problem is caused by excessive number of bad blocks on the device. So, unfortunately, this is the hardware problem, and there is nothing we can do for you in software.

[LuvGlimmerTwins]

Thank you for the courtesy of the response.
I was able to get the full 1.5 TB drive imaged with different software.
Appreciate your help, nonetheless.