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TestDisk or PhotoRec first on problem drive?

Posted: 27 Feb 2015, 01:22
by David4321
I have a 3tb mission critical data drive that is behaving badly, may be failing, and is not backed up. The drive is not my os drive. (I'm running Zorin 9)

The drive is slow to mount and change directories, and appears to have a few missing directories. Most appear intact.

I have installed TestDisk and PhotoRec, as well as safecopy, and am now running a limited recovery attempt on free space searching only for 2 file types, to recover important work in progress as first priority.

I would like to create a drive image using safecopy, use PhotoRec to recover files by type, and use TestDisk to attempt repairs and/or recovery.

Which tasks would you recommend performing, in what order?

I am not sure the drive has mechanical problems, but must assume it may fail, and want to do all possible recovery tasks while drive holds out in safest and most efficient order.

Btw, your tools are amazing - thanks