ScanDisk - check storage card health, find and correct file system and physical errors, recover lost data, prevent data loss - straight on your Windows Mobile device.

Storage cards are susceptible to errors. Over time, clusters can become corrupted, part of files can become lost, and a range of other errors can occur. You should take the time to run ScanDisk to monitor the health of your storage cards and repair any issues found, especially if the number of files and applications are growing and your system is getting old - it may save you from a whole lot of lost data in the long run.

File system errors are the number one reason for data corruption and loss of important files and data on your Windows Mobile device. Every time a program locks up or you soft reset your Windows Mobile device because an application stopped responding, there is a risk of introducing errors on your storage card. If the mobile device is interrupted while writing information on the storage card, the resulting data is often incomplete. Most often this happens because the operating system is not able to update the FAT tables or the file chains because of the lock up/soft reset. No matter what the potential cause may be, it is quite possible that lost clusters and/or chains are on your storage card. A lost cluster or chain is data that is "lost" and cannot be accessed through the file system. This can also cause random lock-ups or application errors.

If ScanDisk is not performed on a regular basis your device may become sluggish in performance. ScanDisk is one of the essential tools used to maintain performance and error-free file management.

Wizcode ScanDisk Mobile is able to detect and fix the following FAT/media errors:

• FAT mismatches - this is the most dangerous of file system logic problems with potential for massive data loss. The File Allocation Table tracks which data cluster follows the previous cluster within files and directories, and this information is near-impossible to deduce if it is lost. For this reason, there are two copies of the FAT, and ScanDisk detects the "mismatched FAT" problem when these differ. ScanDisk "fixes" this problem by asking the user which FAT copy is the correct one, and by overwriting the contents of the other one with it. Always backup all data on the card before attempting recovery of a mismatched FAT.
• FAT errors - occasionally the entries in the FAT can become corrupted or set to invalid values. Wizcode ScanDisk Mobile will detect and correct these sorts of problems on the fly.
• Lost clusters - virtually every storage card using the FAT file system has come across this problem. Lost clusters are clusters that are marked as being used in the FAT tables but are not linked to any directory entries. This problem is often found after a system crash, when there are data clusters chained out of free space but where there is no directory entry pointing to the cluster chain thus formed. Such files were typically opened for writing at the time the system crashed, restarted, or was switched off. Often these were temporary files that would have been deleted during shutdown anyway, but they can also be data files that were in use at the time. Wizcode ScanDisk Mobile can reconstruct the lost cluster chains and save the files in the root folder of the storage card. File names of lost cluster chains cannot be recovered so ScanDisk will use generic names like FILE0001.CHK, FILE0002.CHK etc when converting the lost cluster chains to files. Lost clusters can be optionally discarded instead of being saved, thus freeing the space they occupy on the disk.
• Invalid cluster chains - sometimes cluster chains may contain invalid values like an invalid cluster number or a missing end-of-chain marker. Wizcode ScanDisk Mobile is able to detect and fix such issues.
• Cross-linked files - on rare occasions, two or more files can end up pointing to the same data on the storage card. This is a problem since each time you use either file, you will overwrite the other one(s). Wizcode ScanDisk Mobile can effectively fix this issue by making copies of the cross-linked file chains and updating the directory entries of each cross-linked file.
• Directory entry issues - very rarely, the internal structures of files or directories can become damaged so that some entries are no longer following the "rules" for how a file or directory is supposed to be laid out. An example would be difference between the file size stored in the directory entry vs. the actual calculated size from the FAT tables, or a file that has an invalid start cluster. Sometimes files get assigned an invalid date or time by a buggy piece of software. These problems can usually be fixed by Wizcode ScanDisk Mobile.
• Folder relation errors - an example would be a directory that doesn't have a pointer to its parent directory or to itself which can cause entire folders full of data to "disappear" from the storage card. Wizcode ScanDisk mobile is able to resolve such errors by checking the links between folders and reconstructing the missing directory entries if required.
• Bad sectors - a bad sector is a sector on a storage card that cannot be used due to permanent damage, such as physical damage to the disk particles (if using a micro-drive for example) or media wear (for flash based storage cards). Wizcode ScanDisk Mobile is able to detect such problems by attempting to access all sectors on a storage card and checking if there are any issues. In case of problems ScanDisk will attempt to get the data from the defective sectors and will move it to healthy sector. The bad sector will be marked as such in the FAT tables so it will not be used by the operating system anymore while the new sector will be marked as used if it was a part of a cluster chain.

Undelete Mobile is an easy-to-use but powerful file recovery and undelete software for Windows Mobile devices.

Wizcode Undelete Mobile can undelete files on any storage cards visible by the mobile device host OS when files were:

• Deleted without using recycle bin.
• Removed by virus attack, power failure or system crash.
• Removed when recycle bin has been emptied.

Deleted files can be recovered with just a few clicks. To recover deleted files just select the storage card containing the deleted files, then choose the files you wish to recover.
Features:

• Recovers deleted files from storage cards.
• Recovers the original filename and folder path.
• Recursively rescans deleted folders and recovers contained files.
• Recovers multiple files in one click.
• Restores the original creation and modification dates.
• Supports Unicode filenames.
• Restores both short and long file names.
• Supports FAT12, FAT16 and FAT32 file systems.
• Visible representation of file/folder recoverability.

Wizcode Unformat Mobile is a data recovery solution for Windows Mobile devices that is able to recover lost, deleted or damaged files and data from all major storage cards.

Unformat Mobile works by scanning the entire flash card sector by sector and analyzing the information from each sector. More than 180 file types are recognized and file system structures like folders and directory entries are taken into account. This data recovery process is highly effective especially when the file system was not fragmented and can rescue most of the data even from a formatted volume.

Use Unformat Mobile to:

• Recover deleted files.
  
• Recover lost files.
  
• Recover files from volumes with file system erros.
  
• Recover files from formatted cards.
  
• Recover data left from prior formats.

Unformat Mobile is your last line of defense with the risks of data loss. If utilities like Wizcode ScanDisk Mobile or Wizcode Undelete Mobile are unable to bring back your files, you should try Unformat Mobile.