Partitions recover after failed Windows update

How to use TestDisk to recover lost partition
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enricorox
Posts: 5
Joined: 06 Mar 2021, 23:15

Partitions recover after failed Windows update

#1 Post by enricorox »

Hi guys!
Windows was installing an update but failed to reboot.
When I power on It gived me an error saying to install an OS (code F30).
It doesn't seem an HW failure because it passed all HP Diagnostic Test checks.

However now I have a partition table with all partitions corrupted (GParted red flag)
NB: there is even a BitLocker partition, so it is extremely important that I recover the partitions as it was before so the TPM doesn't complain.

I did a backup of the entire disk so I can work safely (I'm working on Ubuntu).

fsck.FAT on EFI partition gives me
$ sudo fsck.fat /dev/sdc1
fsck.fat 4.1 (2017-01-24)
Logical sector size (29022 bytes) is not a multiple of the physical sector size.
A quick search with Testdisk gives
Warning: number of heads/cylinder mismatches 255 (FAT) != 64 (HD)
Warning: number of sectors per track mismatches 63 (FAT) != 32 (HD)

Warning: number of heads/cylinder mismatches 16 (NTFS) != 64 (HD)
Warning: number of sectors per track mismatches 2 (NTFS) != 32 (HD)

Warning: number of heads/cylinder mismatches 16 (NTFS) != 64 (HD)
Warning: number of sectors per track mismatches 2 (NTFS) != 32 (HD)
However I can list files.

I don't know if I need to change the geometry of the disk or something similar, any suggestion?

I put here testdisk log.

Some information:
Disk: HP SSD EX900 M.2
OS: Windows 10 (Pro? IDK)
PC: HP ProBook 470 G5
Last edited by enricorox on 11 Mar 2021, 21:32, edited 1 time in total.

recuperation
Posts: 2720
Joined: 04 Jan 2019, 09:48
Location: Hannover, Deutschland (Germany, Allemagne)

Re: Partitions recover after failed Windows update

#2 Post by recuperation »

Please check and publish the reason for the red flags - they might be clickable.
The partitions seem to look good.
Can you access the partitions (except for the Bitlocker one) using the p-key ("list files")?

enricorox
Posts: 5
Joined: 06 Mar 2021, 23:15

Re: Partitions recover after failed Windows update

#3 Post by enricorox »

Thank you for fast response.

In every partition gparted says:
Impossibile rilevare il file system. Motivi possibili:
- Il file system è danneggiato
- Il file system è sconosciuto
- Non è disponibile alcun file system (non formattato)
- Manca il device /dev/sdc2
That in english means:
Impossible to detect file system. Possible reasons:
- Damaged file system
- Unknown file system
- File system not available
- Missing device /dev/sdc2
With p-key I can access and see files only on two partitions:
P MS Data 2048 739327 737280 [NO NAME]
D MS Data 770576 776749 6174 [Boot]
On the others it says that file system is damaged.

recuperation
Posts: 2720
Joined: 04 Jan 2019, 09:48
Location: Hannover, Deutschland (Germany, Allemagne)

Re: Partitions recover after failed Windows update

#4 Post by recuperation »

I don't have Bitlocker experience, I can only guess what to do.

Disconnect all drives on the machine where your boot drive broke down. Install Windows 10 on a fresh drive.
Make sure you are not operating Windows 10 with a broken chkdsk command (check the net for more information).
Connect your broken drive to the freshly installed Windows 10 system and try to mount your Bitlocker volume from there.

enricorox
Posts: 5
Joined: 06 Mar 2021, 23:15

Re: Partitions recover after failed Windows update

#5 Post by enricorox »

I have no spare disks nor Windows PC (Linux user here), so I've used a Windows 10 installation pendrive.

After assigning a letter to the 3 corrupted partitions with

Code: Select all

diskpart> assign letter=<letter>
I was able to run

Code: Select all

chkdsk /F <letter>:
and it successfully recovered both NTFS volumes.

Now the problem is with the EFI partition: it says
chkdsk is not available for raw drives

recuperation
Posts: 2720
Joined: 04 Jan 2019, 09:48
Location: Hannover, Deutschland (Germany, Allemagne)

Re: Partitions recover after failed Windows update

#6 Post by recuperation »

Did you recover your Bitlocker partition?

enricorox
Posts: 5
Joined: 06 Mar 2021, 23:15

Re: Partitions recover after failed Windows update

#7 Post by enricorox »

It fails to boot again (because of corrupted EFI partition).
Even before BitLocker partition seemed good because it asked the recovery key.
Long story short: I don't have this key, BitLocker was activated by HP and we didn't know it.
(See here for the complete discussion of how I came up to this conclusion)

So my only option is to repair all the partitions (actually only EFI) and boot Windows from this disk on that computer so the TPM will unlock the partition.

recuperation
Posts: 2720
Joined: 04 Jan 2019, 09:48
Location: Hannover, Deutschland (Germany, Allemagne)

Re: Partitions recover after failed Windows update

#8 Post by recuperation »

A warning is not necessary a sign of corruption. Only legacy operating systems rely on CHS adressing.
Your requirements go beyond my knowledge, my experience and the fact that you only seem to be a middleman when it comes to information gathering makes it only worse.
Bitlocker partitions do not fall from the sky and do not appear out of nothing.

"Even before BitLocker partition seemed good because it asked the recovery key."
This statement only raises questions and is not helpful. You do not describe the status before and after.
Unfortunately that is like the German saying goes "Stochern im Nebel" (poking in the fog) for me.

I think your only option now is to contact Microsoft and HP. And if this is an urgent matter contact a recovery lab.

enricorox
Posts: 5
Joined: 06 Mar 2021, 23:15

Re: Partitions recover after failed Windows update

#9 Post by enricorox »

recuperation wrote: 18 Mar 2021, 18:06 [...] the fact that you only seem to be a middleman when it comes to information gathering makes it only worse.
You're right I am trying to help a friend.
recuperation wrote: 18 Mar 2021, 18:06 Bitlocker partitions do not fall from the sky and do not appear out of nothing.
I though so too but you can see this article from HP
https://support.hp.com/in-en/document/c06458046
recuperation wrote: 18 Mar 2021, 18:06 I think your only option now is to contact Microsoft and HP. And if this is an urgent matter contact a recovery lab.
Thank you for your support. I will see what to do.

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