cgsecurity.org

Hello,

I am repairing a boot sector (Windows NTFS) on a 250GB drive, which I have connected externally via a USB. The boot sector screen reads:

Boot Sector
Status: Bad

Backup Boot Sector
ntfs_boot_sector: Can't read backup boot sector.
Status: Bad

Sectors are identical.

I selected the option [Rebuild BS]. But the TestDisk screen seemed to lock and nothing has happened since. I can operate the computer otherwise, but I expected the TestDisk screen to change to display the progress with Search mft ####/#### but it hasn't yet... It has been sitting at the screen with [Rebuild BS] for a few hours and I can't move the pointer/cursor. Is that a normal part of the repair process or should have it moved to the next screen showing the status of the BS Rebuild? Should I continue to wait? End Task and start again? Maybe this is a sign that the drive is beyond help/repair (actually, i don't need to fully repair it, just get some files off of it).

Appreciate any wisdom that anybody has to share on this.

Can you connect the disk directly via SATA ? Bad sectors/physical damages may hang all read operations.

Thanks for the reply. I need to see if I have some hardware around here that I can connect to directly.