subject: Missing Catalog Files Lead To Backup File Corruption [print this page] NTBackup utility is inbuilt with Microsoft Windows NT based operating systems. Backups created are saved with .BKF file extension. With NTBackup tool one can create concurrent backup by running more than one backup instance. Taking backup of data this way proves to be helpful when your systems performance is not up to the mark and you do not have much time to run separate backup processes. Backup copy file .BKF turns out to be data saver when there is loss of data files and folders.
But sometimes BKF files fail to restore data and left you midway of data inaccessibility. The reasons behind such behavior may be BKF file corruption and you need to consider Backup Repair software to repair corrupt backup file. If you dig a little bit, you will see that catalog files are missing from the Restore tab under the NTBackup utility. Actually Catalog files of BKF file allow the NTBackup utility to restore your critical data from the BKF file. Missing of catalog files leads to corruption in bkf file. Although, all the backup operations complete successfully without showing any error message but while backing up the data when you try to restore the data, you might encounter an error message related to unrecognizable and unusable file. Following are some of the error messages:
The backup file contains unrecognized data and cannot be used
The backup file is unusable. You must erase it, or choose another file
An inconsistency was encountered on the requested media
Recreating catalog files is not feasible at all because other BKF files, which were created concurrently, already exist under the Restore tab of the NTBackup tool. Thus, you cant restore the data from BKF file stored on your backup media.
Root cause of the problem
NTBackup tool creates catalog files for every BKF file and of every backup operation which is completed.
These catalog files are stored in the following folder of your Windows computer:
%SystemRoot%Documents and SettingsAccountLocal SettingsApplication DataMicrosoftWindows NTNTBackupcatalogs
The Catalog files are shown under the Restore tab of NTBackup utility, so that you can select the part of backup file that you want to restore.
When you create more than one backup at a time, the catalog files share identical timestamp attribute. In this case, the backup set that was attributed first, emerges under the Restore tab. Other backups started concurrently do not appear under the Restore tab and you cant add them manually. This process leads to corruption of BKF file. taking help of Backup Repair software becomes necessary to achieve complete and accurate recovery of backup file. Backup Repair Software repairs backup files that got damaged due to CRC errors, backup process interruptions, and backup files deleted accidentally or due to unexpected shutdowns.
