Defrag Corrupted Files

[Dust Storm]

All the files that got defragmented that were an MP4 are now corrupt on a harddrive I use to store recorded gameplay footage. Anything that was simply moved is still ok, but if it was defragged, it's gone. Thankfully, most of them are up on YouTube, but there are some I can't get back and have lost. Doubt that there's anything I can do, but this is pretty bad for a defrag program to corrupt files.

[eL_PuSHeR]

That doesn't make too much sense because DF is quite safe when defragmenting. I would perform a checkdisk on that drive first and check for hardware issues afterwards too. Is it an internal drive or an USB external one? If so, check USB connections as they tend to dislodge after some time.

[Dust Storm]

Chkdsk showed nothing wrong with the Harddrive. It's an internal 2Tb Western Digital that's only about 3 months old. I wouldn't think Defraggler would do something like this either, but the last modified time and date corresponds directly with the last time I ran Defraggler on the drive.

[Alan_B]

Defraggler may be the last one to touch them,

but they could have been corrupted earlier.

 

Did you validate any of them immediately BEFORE defragging ?

[eL_PuSHeR]

I am reading some other posts where Defraggler could have some issues with very large hard drives (2TB+). I don't know if it's related to the OP issue or not.

[Super Fast]

You may not have truly lost them.

 

I would backup all the good files to another drive.

Then, you can unplug the drive your using to back up to using safe eject.

Better yet, do that for both drives. Be sure the "corrupted" drive is properly connected, as sometimes a weak/bad connection will cause file/MFT error messages.

Not often, but it happens!

 

After you verify that the drive is securely connected, perhaps you can run system restore back to a date when everything was known to be working, since you have all your things on your backup drive.

 

This may work, or it may not!

If not, you can try Recuva or some other data recovery program to see if they can bring your files back.

 

And lastly, did you even mention what OS version you are using? XP with no service pack has a known drive size limitation well below 2 TB, or even below 1 TB.

SP1, 2, & 3 are supposed to fix this, I believe.

 

At any rate, why don't you try, if none of these suggestions work, a fresh/clean install of Windows, or perhaps use a Windows 7 laptop/desktop to connect to, to see if that is what causes a problem?

 

If you are using AVAST, AVira, you might can switch to something such as AVG to see if that corrects it, or vice versa. Sometimes A/V programs have a bad problem with blocking script behavior they think are malware, when they are not. Some generate fewer false reports than others.

 

Hopefully, at least 1 of these suggestions will work, just be sure to back everything up first!

[Alan_B]

I wouldn't think Defraggler would do something like this either, but the last modified time and date corresponds directly with the last time I ran Defraggler on the drive.

I am unsure whether the time stamp is relevant.

 

If defragmenting a file altered the time stamp then how would we ever know when a file had been edited ?

 

I suggest that at the same time Defraggler was running something else was looking at and interfering with your MP4 files.

I was going to suggest your A.V.,

but MP4 makes me think of the perils of Digital Rights Management and how Apple love to be in control.

Then there is the Bonjour service that Apple poisons Windows with.