Can't remove secure zone -MFT bitmap corrupted

Can't remove secure zone -MFT bitmap corrupted-SOLVED

Hi,
I have been using Try & Decide with Acronis 11 occasionally and it created an unallocated space on my C drive. I have decided I want that space back joined to my C drive and so tried to remove it using Acronis but after the reboot; it starts the repartition process but then stops with a message on the C drive: Operation error:MFT bitmap corrupted.
How do I fix this error and reclaim the secure zone space?
Tried a scandisk but it got stuck at 23% and would not continue. My system seems to be working fine though.
Thanks for any help.

SOLVED: Solution posted below.

 

If you look at the 'limitations of try & decide' in the help you will see that that operations such as managing partitions are one of them.

Do you mean that this unallocated space has arisen because you were using T&D rather than what you did using it?

 

If it created an unallocated space when you tried to make the SZ, then something went terribly wrong!

If it happened after you removed the SZ, something didn't go terribly right!

In Windows Disk Management (I'm assuming here we're talking XP) see if this space shows up. If it does, then if you feel like it you should be able to allocate a partition letter and format it. However, you probably don't want to do that.

Next solution would be to follow MudCrab or is DWNDirty advice and boot the computer with the rescue CD - choose make a SZ - make it as large as the unallocated partition - don't activate it, go back to the main menu and then select manage a SZ and delete it. When asked what to do with the deleted SZ - choose to add it back in to your current partition.

Remove the CD - reboot.

Colin

 

Thanks for the ideas, but I fixed it by calming down, being more patient, and following the directions I found in other threads on this forum:
1. I did a scandisk/chkdsk on my C drive by typing chkdsk c: /f /r in vista start/run box
2. Waited all afternoon for the scandisk to complete at the end of which there was a line saying the MFT bitmap problem had been fixed
3. (I had an unallocated space of 40 GBs in Disk Management when I started)In Acronis 11 I CREATED a Secure Zone and moved slider ALL the way to the right to use ALL space.
4. Waited patiently for an hour while the Secure Zone was created by Acronis
5. After booting into Windows, immediately used Acronis to REMOVE the Secure Zone I had just created.
6. After Acronis spent about half an hour doing that, Windows Vista rebooted and I had all the space now allocated to the C Drive and NO UNALLOCATED space.
Hope this helps someone else.

 

Hello Hope,
Normally creating a secure zone, resizing or removing it only takes a minute or two at the most.
The times you report suggest that you need to run some housekeeping and diagnostics on your computer to bring it back to speed.
You mention using scandisk.This suggests that you are using a version of Windows which predates XP and may indeed not be fully compatable with TI V11.

Xpilot

 

Mmmm, XPilot, I said in my solution post I am using Vista. I have 53 GB's of files on my drive so I don't think 3 or 4 hours for chkdisk is that bad. I have a new HP m8100y Intel Quad 4 desktop with 4 gigs of RAM (Vista only uses 3.25 of it but, oh,well) and an NVidia 8600 video card. The computer is defragged frequently on schedule. The computer is only a few weeks old and has had tons of "housekeeping" done to it. I've been using computers since the Vic 20 and the Commodore 64 (remember those?) and used to build my own. I'm a 65 year old lady so don't insult my computer maintenance abilities, please! It's bad for my blood pressure.
If it only takes seconds for you to do those tasks with Acronis 11, you must not have Vista or a new computer.

 

Those tasks on my rather elderly PC do really only take a few seconds. I am still using XP SP2 and after my initial flirtation with V11 I went back to V10 and sanity was restored.
I was not insulting your housekeeping abilities but the long time you quoted must be due to something being amiss.

Xpilot