accidentally changed format of HDD
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When asking for technical support:
- Search for posts on the same topic before posting a new question.
- Give clear, specific information in the title of your post.
- Include as many details as you can, MOST POSTS WILL GET ONLY ONE OR TWO ANSWERS.
- Post a follow up with a "Thank you" or "This worked!"
- When you learn something, use that knowledge to HELP ANOTHER USER LATER.
Before posting, please read https://www.cgsecurity.org/testdisk.pdf
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- Posts: 3
- Joined: 30 May 2018, 00:19
accidentally changed format of HDD
Hello, I accidentally changed the format of my HFS+ external HDD to FAT32 with Apple Boot Camp Assistant as I was trying to make a bootable USB key with Windows 10 this evening. Now the 2 TB disk which has archived data I need to recover is reformatted as FAT32 and called WIN_INSTALL. I did not copy any data on to it (forced quit) and believe the 1.4 TB of original data is still there, but I am not sure the best way to find it again. I am running "Analyse" in the filesystem mode EFI/GPM assuming it needs to look for files under GUID partition map. Under FAT32 it only finds the empty disk. Can you please advise me the best way to recover the HFS+ format/files? Thanks you for the help. Marc Sabat
- cgrenier
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Re: accidentally changed format of HDD
If testdisk find an HFS+ partition after Quick Search or Deeper Search, set this partition as P(rimary), write the new partition table and after a reboot, try to access the data from a Mac.
If it doesn't work, it's always possible to use PhotoRec. Use the expert mode in Options, start the recovery and when asked, use a 512 bytes blocksize. Use the default options otherwise.
Good luck
If it doesn't work, it's always possible to use PhotoRec. Use the expert mode in Options, start the recovery and when asked, use a 512 bytes blocksize. Use the default options otherwise.
Good luck
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- Posts: 3
- Joined: 30 May 2018, 00:19
Re: accidentally changed format of HDD
Hello, after four days analysing, testdisk did find the 2 HFS partitions (Recovery HD and my data partition), but after setting to primary, only Recovery HD mounts. Disk First Aid sees my old partition name, but it is greyed out and on attempting repair says
Invalid B-tree node size
The volume could not be verified completely
File system check exit code is 8
File system repair failed.
Is there any next step before running Photorec for a week to get a batch of files I need to sort through? I am so sure I haven't overwritten my disk, there must be some way to get the data off it. Argh!
thanks for your terrific software, wish I understood more clearly what to do!
thanks for any advice
Marc
Invalid B-tree node size
The volume could not be verified completely
File system check exit code is 8
File system repair failed.
Is there any next step before running Photorec for a week to get a batch of files I need to sort through? I am so sure I haven't overwritten my disk, there must be some way to get the data off it. Argh!
thanks for your terrific software, wish I understood more clearly what to do!
thanks for any advice
Marc
- cgrenier
- Site Admin
- Posts: 5432
- Joined: 18 Feb 2012, 15:08
- Location: Le Perreux Sur Marne, France
- Contact:
Re: accidentally changed format of HDD
Unfortunately I have no solution except PhotoRec.