I have a 1 TB disk which was partitioned into two 500 GB NTFS partitions and I have been happily using this structure for a couple of years. I accidentally formatted one of the partitions to a FAT partition (it was about 3 a.m. and I thought I was formatting an external hard drive); in fact, I may have formatted twice.
Now, using GParted and Testdisk I can see one of the original NTFS partitions intact and the rest of the disk is broken into about 4 blocks - one large NTFS and 3 others of FAT or EXT file type.
What is the best hope/procedure for recovering the original NTFS 500 GB partition? This partition contains all of my photos for the last 15 years (among other things). Should I try Photo Recovery?
I do not understand which menu option I should select for the various blocks that are found. Since I know the structure that existed before my terrible error, can this knowledge be used to guide the recovery?
Is there a tutorial somewhere that explains the file structure, cylinders etc.etc.?
I stupidly formatted my NTFS partition to FAT
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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