TestDisk can't write Boot Sector data
Posted: 30 Jun 2017, 03:31
I have been using TestDisk distributed on the PartedMagic tool to examine and repair an XP boot disk (Samsung 160-GB) that lost it's NTFS partition. I have successfully restored the partition type to be NTFS, and was able to access data on the disk, however I am having trouble restoring the boot sector so that I can boot from the disk. I also used Spinwrite to check & repair any surface issues, and Spinwrite reported there were no surface errors to be found. So, using Testdisk to either copy the Backup Boot Sector over the boot sector, or to Rebuild the Boot Sector, and then write it to disk, I get a Testdisk message saying “Write error: Can’t overwrite NTFS boot sector”. When I dump the boot sector data it shows the primary to be all nulls, where the backup one looks normal. I can see & read all the other data in the NTFS partition now, but without a good boot sector I can’t boot the drive. Is there a way to get the Boot Sector issue straightened out, and why can't Testdisk write the boot sector when Spinwrite sees every byte of the drive to be read/writable? Would appreciate any suggestions you could provide.