C:\$MFT Is corrupt and Unreadable.

[mewmew]

I keep getting this message. What is that file, and how do I make the message go away?

*sigh* And of course google searches are doing me much good, but it seems it's not a very good thing. Why the hell am I having so many problems with my poor computer? T_T

Comments

[anthony_lion]

That is... not good...

MFT is 'Master File Table' and is the list of where everything on the disk is stored.
There's TWO copies of this, one on the 'beginning' and one at the 'end' (inner and outer tracks, really) and the OS should automatically use the other if the first is corrupted.

And no, it's not really a file, but they write it like that so that people would be slightly less confused.

Most probably, there's a physical problem on the HDD.

I suggest copying anything off of the computer and onto a USB HDD or something. Then you should run a HDD test.
(There's usually one in the computer BIOS. )
Also, check if S.M.A.R.T is enabled or not.
(This is an 'early warning' system for physical problems on the HDD. Also enabled or disabled in BIOS. Some cheapscate manufacturers disables this because either the low-price HDD they used doesn't support it, or to decrease boot-time)

If the HDD is given the green light, the problem is hopefully 'just' corrupted data on the HDD. Then I would suggest a reformat and reinstall.

[mewmew]

From what Kilroy has said based on what I could tell him, the hard drive doesn't seem to have any actual problems, it's just corrupted data. Once I find the disc I have to reformat the hard drive so I can fix it. Which is a pain in the ass. I've had to install Windows way too damn many times in the last year. -_-

[anthony_lion]

Which Windows version do you use?
And which file system?
(NTFS or FAT )

[mewmew]

Windows XP Pro, and I have no idea about the file system.