Is there no way to return to the Deep Search results after pressing Q to look at the new partition structure you're going to write?
One misclick of a Q input and you're set back hours and have to start the search all over again if you're not happy after reviewing the new partition structure.
If I could navigate between partitions with just the arrows and P I could avoid accidentally pressing Q.
It seems there's no way to "resume" such a scan, even if you have a log.
Almost all of the partitions marked [EFISECTOR] have EFI directories in them with BOOTx64.EFI
All the [Boot] partitions contain System Volume Information directories, as if they were valid partitions
Should I be running Photorec before writing the new partition table with TestDisk?
Thank you for your help
Unbootable Windows Installation - Dell Laptop
Forum rules
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
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
-
- Posts: 2737
- Joined: 04 Jan 2019, 09:48
- Location: Hannover, Deutschland (Germany, Allemagne)
Re: Unbootable Windows Installation - Dell Laptop
I guess there is just one partition in a system based on UEFI. Writing them all is pretty useless.Cormy1 wrote: ↑26 Feb 2021, 15:54 Is there no way to return to the Deep Search results after pressing Q to look at the new partition structure you're going to write?
One misclick of a Q input and you're set back hours and have to start the search all over again if you're not happy after reviewing the new partition structure.
If I could navigate between partitions with just the arrows and P I could avoid accidentally pressing Q.
It seems there's no way to "resume" such a scan, even if you have a log.Almost all of the partitions marked [EFISECTOR] have EFI directories in them with BOOTx64.EFII don't know.
The term "as if they were" suggests that you did not check the content. I doubt you had a couple of partitions labeled "boot".All the [Boot] partitions contain System Volume Information directories, as if they were valid partitions
I can't tell you because you did not tell anything about the outcome of your data search.Should I be running Photorec before writing the new partition table with TestDisk?
It does not make sense to me with your description above but at least you will avoid running deep search again.
Re: Unbootable Windows Installation - Dell Laptop
? I have told you everything about the outcome of my search.
I posted the results of Analyze, Deep Search aswell as a pastebin link to the complete log.
You can see 7 [Boot] partitions and 12 [EFISECTOR] partitions. I checked the contents of the Boot partitions, there is only a "System Volume Information" directory in them, nothing else.
They also only exist between my "valid" partitions and would ruin my partition structure if I chose to keep them.
I posted the results of Analyze, Deep Search aswell as a pastebin link to the complete log.
You can see 7 [Boot] partitions and 12 [EFISECTOR] partitions. I checked the contents of the Boot partitions, there is only a "System Volume Information" directory in them, nothing else.
They also only exist between my "valid" partitions and would ruin my partition structure if I chose to keep them.
Cormy1 wrote: ↑25 Feb 2021, 06:33
Total Partitions after Deep Search finished:
Code: Select all
D MS Data 2048 1026047 1024000 [ESP] D MS Data 2054 1026053 1024000 [NO NAME] D MS Data 1288192 1926456815 1925168624 D Mac HFS 6324452 530612709 524288258 D Mac HFS 21270206 344231871 322961666 D MS Data 155869424 155872303 2880 [EFISECTOR] D MS Data 157772592 157775471 2880 [EFISECTOR] D MS Data 158920496 158923375 2880 [EFISECTOR] D MS Data 159411376 159414255 2880 [EFISECTOR] D Mac HFS 159729754 692812928 533083175 D MS Data 167011616 167014495 2880 [EFISECTOR] D MS Data 180093475 180099648 6174 D MS Data 180099648 180105821 6174 [Boot] D MS Data 186969083 186975256 6174 D MS Data 186975256 186981429 6174 [Boot] D MS Data 187183547 187189720 6174 D MS Data 187189720 187195893 6174 [Boot] D Mac HFS 192216740 716504997 524288258 D MS Data 225779896 225782775 2880 [EFISECTOR] D MS Data 240935808 240938687 2880 [EFISECTOR] D MS Data 240938688 240941567 2880 [EFISECTOR] D Mac HFS 337468804 861757061 524288258 D MS Data 378454235 378460408 6174 D MS Data 378460408 378466581 6174 [Boot] D MS Data 412239931 412246104 6174 D MS Data 412246104 412252277 6174 D MS Data 412351512 412354391 2880 [EFISECTOR] D MS Data 478540096 478542975 2880 [EFISECTOR] D MS Data 572653843 572660016 6174 D MS Data 572660016 572666189 6174 [Boot] D Mac HFS 692812925 1225896099 533083175 D MS Data 985947219 985953392 6174 D MS Data 985947283 985953456 6174 D MS Data 985953392 985959565 6174 D MS Data 985953456 985959629 6174 D MS Data 986369504 986372383 2880 [EFISECTOR] D MS Data 997534552 997537431 2880 [EFISECTOR] D MS Data 1004875579 1004881752 6174 D MS Data 1004881752 1004887925 6174 D MS Data 1901553665 1927538688 25985024 D MS Data 1925376001 1926457344 1081344 D MS Data 1926457344 1927538687 1081344 D MS Data 1926759579 1926765752 6174 D MS Data 1926765752 1926771925 6174 [Boot] D MS Data 1926867331 1926873504 6174 D MS Data 1926873504 1926879677 6174 [Boot] D MS Data 1927538687 1928620030 1081344 D MS Data 1927538688 1953523711 25985024
-
- Posts: 2737
- Joined: 04 Jan 2019, 09:48
- Location: Hannover, Deutschland (Germany, Allemagne)
Re: Unbootable Windows Installation - Dell Laptop
You did not tell anything about the other partitions.Cormy1 wrote: ↑26 Feb 2021, 18:33 ? I have told you everything about the outcome of my search.
I posted the results of Analyze, Deep Search aswell as a pastebin link to the complete log.
You can see 7 [Boot] partitions and 12 [EFISECTOR] partitions. I checked the contents of the Boot partitions, there is only a "System Volume Information" directory in them, nothing else.
Re: Unbootable Windows Installation - Dell Laptop
Which partitions? You want to know about every single one?
There are 48 partitions shown after the Deep Search.
Only 4 of them create a valid partition structure.
That is:
The first one contains the EFI boot manager files; the second contains the Windows and User files; the third contains a recovery partition; and the fourth contains a system image.
As I mentioned before, most of the [EFISECTOR] partitions only contain BOOTx64.EFI
Many of the [Boot] partitions contain a "System Volume Information" directory.
There are two partitions that contain the corrupt partial files with incorrect names and extensions.
All others are damaged/unsupported/unidentified partitions whose files cannot be listed. As you can see by their size, most of those are likely duplicates.
I copied the partitions and their file lists here:
https://pastebin.com/y5TK9AVi
That should be pretty much all the information without sharing the whole log, though I had already posted that too. The log is just messier.
There are 48 partitions shown after the Deep Search.
Only 4 of them create a valid partition structure.
That is:
Code: Select all
D MS Data 2048 1026047 1024000 [ESP]
D MS Data 1288192 1926456815 1925168624
D MS Data 1926457344 1927538687 1081344
D MS Data 1927538688 1953523711 25985024
As I mentioned before, most of the [EFISECTOR] partitions only contain BOOTx64.EFI
Many of the [Boot] partitions contain a "System Volume Information" directory.
There are two partitions that contain the corrupt partial files with incorrect names and extensions.
Code: Select all
D MS Data 412351512 412354391 2880 [EFISECTOR]
D MS Data 997534552 997537431 2880 [EFISECTOR]
I copied the partitions and their file lists here:
https://pastebin.com/y5TK9AVi
That should be pretty much all the information without sharing the whole log, though I had already posted that too. The log is just messier.
-
- Posts: 2737
- Joined: 04 Jan 2019, 09:48
- Location: Hannover, Deutschland (Germany, Allemagne)
Re: Unbootable Windows Installation - Dell Laptop
After documenting that there is no interesting piece of information in the long list of partitions there is no need to write the partition table.
Re: Unbootable Windows Installation - Dell Laptop
I want to fix the partition table so that I can boot into this drive and not have to go through the hassles of re-installing from scratch again.
When I tried the online Photorec file checker, it was able to identify multiple files with correct extensions from the incorrectly defined files in the 2 [EFISECTOR] partitions I mentioned, so I know I can recover some of them.
So I guess I will copy those files to another drive and run Photorec on them.
Then I will write the new partition structure to my drive and get rid of all those corrupt/duplicate partitions.
Unless Photorec can see hidden/corrupt/missing partitions like Testdisk and I can tell it to scan in those locations, or if I could specify a sector range.
Otherwise I won't be able to locate those files at all.
When I tried the online Photorec file checker, it was able to identify multiple files with correct extensions from the incorrectly defined files in the 2 [EFISECTOR] partitions I mentioned, so I know I can recover some of them.
So I guess I will copy those files to another drive and run Photorec on them.
Then I will write the new partition structure to my drive and get rid of all those corrupt/duplicate partitions.
Unless Photorec can see hidden/corrupt/missing partitions like Testdisk and I can tell it to scan in those locations, or if I could specify a sector range.
Otherwise I won't be able to locate those files at all.