What are FOUND.000 Folders And Recover FILE000.CHK Files in Windows?

The users, who used the Windows-based operating system, sometimes found some folders in their root drive starting with the name FOUND.OOO. These folders have FILE000.CHK files, which store partial and corrupted data. This data can be restored from the. CHK files. Therefore, in this post, we are going to discuss what FOUND.000 folders are and how to recover File000.CHK files in Windows.

User’s Queries

“I accidentally removed the USB cable from my system and after that, I found a folder with the name FOUND.000 in my USB drive. So, I want to know, What is FOUND.000 folder and how do I recover data files from found.000 folder?”

“When I was running a chk disk command, the Windows version of my system crashed. I have. CHK files in my system and I want to recover data from these files. So, I want to know the methods to recover files from the found.000 folder.”

Reasons Behind the Creation Of FOUND.000 Folders

When a user runs the chk disk command, FOUND.000 folders are created automatically due to some causes. Some of those reasons are listed below:

1. Sudden power failure
2. Windows crashes
3. Remove a USB in the middle of the written process

What are FOUND.000 Folders?

They are the system’s hidden folders. By default, it is created by the operating system when the Check Disk utility runs. Users can also see these folders by unchecking the option “Hide protected Operating System Files and Folders” in the Folder Options.

What are FILE000.CHK Files?

FOUND.000 folders contain files with the name FILE000.CHK. These files have partial and corrupted data. A user can recover data from these files. When the check disk finds some errors in the middle of the process, it saves partial and corrupt data in the FILE000.CHK files.

Location of FOUND.000 Folder And FILE000.CHK files

The FOUND.000 folder is found on the same drive where the error occurred. For example, if a user finds an error on a USB drive, then the FOUND.000 folder and FILE000.CHK files will be present on the USB drive itself.

NOTE: The FOUND.000 folders and .CHK files only appear when the users have set the Windows to show hidden files. The users need to set Windows Explorer to show hidden files to view FOUND folders.

How to Recover FILE000.CHK Files in Windows?

There are various free third-party tools available to recover data from FILE000.CHK files. Some of those methods are described below:

Method 1: Recover FILE000.CHK Files Using UnCHK

UnCHK is a free utility to recover CHK files. This tool helps users restore CHK files in around 25 different file formats to their original extensions. It can identify some common file types, such as audio, video, archives, images, executable files, and documents. If the content of the file is recognized, then UnCHK copies the CHK file to the new file extension. UnCHK also has the feature of allowing users to add their own file-type extensions. Follow the below-mentioned steps to recover. CHK files using the UnCHK tool:

• Start UnCHK tool and then select the directory where the CHK files are stored.
• Now, Select the scan option as per your choice and then click on OK
• After following the above-mentioned steps, users can successfully restore data from. CHK files.

Method 2: Using FileCHK

FileCHK is a simple tool; it has no interface or options at all. It scans CHK files and if a recognized file type is detected, it renames them. CHK files with the correct file extension. It supports around 30 types of files, including multimedia files, images, archives, executable and text files. To use this tool, place it in the folder where the. CHK files are located and then run it. It recognizes the files within a second and renames them in their original format.

Method 3: Recover FILE000.CHK Files Using CHK-Mate

CHK-Mate is another free tool to recover CHK files. It has a wizard-style interface. When a user runs this utility, it asks where the. CHK files are located where the user wants to save the renamed files, as it creates a copy of them. After that, it examines the contents of the CHK files and determines whether these files are known to the program, and if the files are known, then it creates a copy with the appropriate file extension. By default, CHK-Mate recognizes around 20 types of file although a user can add custom types.

Method 4: Using TrlDNet

If the users have some obscure types of files that cannot be examined by the FileCHK tool, then they can use the TrlDNet tool. This software cannot rename the files automatically. Run the TrlDNet tool and then click on Rescan Defs. After that, browse or drag and drop the CHK file. The display gives a percentage of certain file extensions that match the file.

Method 5: Recover FILE000.CHK Files Using Chk-Back

Chk-Back is a simple and easy-to-use tool with a pleasant interface. It supports 40 file formats, including image, video, audio, executable, document and office files, as well as Outlook Store and Outlook Express mail store files and Windows Address Book. Download and install Chk-Back. After that, run the tool and then click on browse to select the FOUND.000 folder. Now, click on Start to start the recovery process. The process will be complete within a seconds and it will recover CHK files. A user can save these files or copy and paste them at the desired location. The corrected CHK files and a saved file will be created in a new folder named ChkBack Results in the same FOUND folder as the original CHK files.

Conclusion

In the above discussion, we have discussed FOUND.000 folders and FILE000.CHK files and how they were created when a user ran check disk. And list some errors, like sudden power loss or crashing of Windows, that occur during the process. The check disk stores partial data in the FILE000.CHK files and if a user wants, they can recover data from the CHK files. The FOUND.000 folder recovery can be done by using various free third-party tools. In this post, we have discussed third-party utilities and the process to recover File000.chk files in Windows using them.