Can see partition in Testdisk but not in Windows

How to use TestDisk to recover lost partition
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DannyB
Posts: 2
Joined: 14 Jun 2014, 14:44

Can see partition in Testdisk but not in Windows

#1 Post by DannyB »

I had a RAID 5 array failure after a reboot, same as a lot of other people, dropped 2 of 4 disks.

I've recreated the array, when I go into testdisk it shows the partitions, and can see the files on the partition. However windows (7 64bit) doesn't and wants to initialize the disk.

I could copy the files off I suspect if I had enough space somewhere (5TB) but I don't.

If testdisk can see the partitions, any ideas what I need to do to get windows to see them?

Many thanks for any assistance.

Danny

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Fiona
Posts: 2835
Joined: 18 Feb 2012, 17:19
Location: Ludwigsburg/Stuttgart - Germany

Re: Can see partition in Testdisk but not in Windows

#2 Post by Fiona »

Since W2k, Windows writes a signatur into your partition table (4 Bytes), so that windows is able to handle your disk.
So initializing your disk in your windows disk management console could help.
Also disable antivirus and other background processes to write your partition table successfully.
If your Array is bigger than 2.2 TB you should use GPT.
Intel MBR only supports disks up to 2.2 TB.

Fiona

DannyB
Posts: 2
Joined: 14 Jun 2014, 14:44

Re: Can see partition in Testdisk but not in Windows

#3 Post by DannyB »

Fiona,

Many thanks for the info, does initialize disk not wipe the partition table that's on it?

Danny

User avatar
Fiona
Posts: 2835
Joined: 18 Feb 2012, 17:19
Location: Ludwigsburg/Stuttgart - Germany

Re: Can see partition in Testdisk but not in Windows

#4 Post by Fiona »

If you use the windows disk managemnet console, it only writes into your partition table.
The partition table is only a part of your MBR and doesn't touch any data within your partition.
TestDisk should find your partition and you can write it to your partition table.
If your space is unallocated, it means, either there is no partition table or your partition table is empty.
TestDisk can fix it!

Fiona

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