Invalid Allocation Entry

Hi,While using Win2k partition I am frequently getting msgs for truncation of entries due to invalid first allocation entry, especially for files present in temp folders etc. Uninturrupted sessions too are not many, often sys freezes and hard reboot shows truncation msgs or conversion of lost chains to files or folders. Does it signify that install was faulty ? Or any registry fixing patch may resolve the issue without going all the way through re-install ?Thx in advance for your comments and tips.-- RKS (mp_rks@hotmail.com)

Common problem with sys crashes on FAT32 partitions. (don't tell me it's NTFS coz then i'll just look stupid 😛) You can just ignore them unless any files or programs are getting corrupted. But if u want a permanent solution, do a clean install of Win XP on an NTFS partition if possible. Crash ur system all u want after that and u still won't get those errors.

You are suggesting NTFS presuming current one to be FAT32 while sadly the guy who did it preferred to stick to FAT. Infact navigation through webspace leads to frequent IE crashes, downloads or mail checks too are leading to IE crash or worst system freezes and hard reboot merely brings the limping sys back but session life till next crash is always a matter of speculation so I trust your tip of clean install would resolve the ambiguities and reboot loops.Thx.-- RKS

I usually don't recommend re-installing the OS n stuff. It's too much work and usually the problem is easily fixed with sustained torubleshooting. I was merely suggesting u switch to NTFS to get rid of those annoying file system errors. And the only way to do that is formatting ur hard drive w/ NTFS and doing a clean install. You never mentioned in ur original post that it was infact IE which was causing ur OS to crash (explains the temp internet files getting corrupted). Which version are u using. Microsoft released some critical update a couple of weeks back which is reported to be causing IE to crash. They have released a fix for this so first thing i'd suggest is go to the windows update website and download any new patches that are available. If that doesn't work out, try repairing IE in Add/Remove programs. if it's not listed then run Setup.exe from your Programs\Internet Explorer\Setup folder or simply downloading from the MS site and re-installing it on top of the previous installation. (that is if ur using IE 6)To repair IE 5, 1. Click Start, and then click Run.2. In the Open box, type the following command, and then click OK:rundll32 setupwbv.dll,IE5Maintenance "C:\Program Files\Internet Explorer\Setup\SETUP.EXE" /g "C:\WINDOWS\IE Uninstall Log.Txt"

@waterloo ..good solution but why take so much trouble?simply use Firefox/Opera ...also if the copy of windows is not licensed, the "genuine check " may give problems while updating.

To change the filesystem to NTFS, there is no need to re-install windows. All you need is an imaging program like Ghost & a partition manager like Partition Magic

- Ghost the existing partition to a file and save it some place, a different partition for example.
- Use Partition magic to delete the partition, create a NTFS one in its place.
- Restore the ghost image back to the newly created NTFS parition.

This will be better than just using the NTFS tool to convert from FAT32 to NTFS it will also have the added benfit of automatically defragging the system when you copy back.

Before doing this, make sure you can see the saved image file from the imgaing program, or you wil not be able to restore.

Your problem sounds like a combination of factors, i'm inclined to think some important system files have been corrupt, hence the crashes, this could be due to a failing HD even.

Check the HD to see if it has any errors, using HD Tune

My other suggestion was to get rid of Win2K and install XP instead. Unless Partition Magic can do that too 😛 Besides, there is no point in switching an already screwed up install to NTFS.

Thx buddies. Had dowanload been functional may be some of the tips I would have tried but thx for so many opinions. These would definitely help the guy who did install in first place. Looks like clean install on NTFS would resolve the weired behaviour.-- RKS