Fixing RAW partition, used to be NTFS

How to use TestDisk to recover lost partition
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DarkMorford
Posts: 4
Joined: 15 Apr 2012, 00:22

Fixing RAW partition, used to be NTFS

#1 Post by DarkMorford »

An NTFS partiton on one of my hard drives (data only, not bootable) got corrupted somehow, and my system (Win7 x64) can't mount it anymore. The Disk Management tool displays it as RAW.

I ran TestDisk, and it was able to correctly identify the partition as NTFS. I was able to look and confirm that the files were still there, as well. After rewriting the partition table and rebooting, though, nothing changed. Windows still considers the partition to be RAW, and I can't access the data on it.

Here's the log from the last attempt I made at fixing it. Is there something I'm missing here?

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remy
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Re: Fixing RAW partition, used to be NTFS

#2 Post by remy »

Did you launch testdisk with administrator rights ?

DarkMorford
Posts: 4
Joined: 15 Apr 2012, 00:22

Re: Fixing RAW partition, used to be NTFS

#3 Post by DarkMorford »

I did. In fact, I even went so far as to boot my system from a Linux LiveCD and run TestDisk from there as root. Windows still refuses to believe the partition is anything but RAW.

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remy
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Re: Fixing RAW partition, used to be NTFS

#4 Post by remy »

So it's because you problem isn't partition table but else bootector, else MFT.

In "Advanced" may you please report the status of the BS you have ?

By the way :
Did you try to mount the partition directly from linux, sometimes it's enough to mount, and repair :P

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Fiona
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Re: Fixing RAW partition, used to be NTFS

#5 Post by Fiona »

If your partition tabel and your boot sector are ok, indicates that your file system is probably faulty?
In case I would suggest to use TestDisk to copy your files to another intact disk/partition.
When you list your files, at the bottom of the screen you'll see all the commands.
Standard path is the TestDisk folder.
To get into a folder you can use your right arrow on your keyboard.
To get another directory, you can check that two dots and press enter.

After copying/backup your important data you can have a try to repair your file system using chkdsk driveletter: /r from your command prompt.

DarkMorford
Posts: 4
Joined: 15 Apr 2012, 00:22

Re: Fixing RAW partition, used to be NTFS

#6 Post by DarkMorford »

remy wrote:So it's because you problem isn't partition table but else bootector, else MFT.

In "Advanced" may you please report the status of the BS you have ?
The BS initially gave me a warning: Incorrect number of heads/cylinder 16 (NTFS) != 255 (HD). I did a repair on that from TestDisk, and now it reports as OK.

I'm currently pulling a full backup (image.dd) of the partition in question, so I'll be able to try some more risky things without losing my data. Any suggestions for the next step?

DarkMorford
Posts: 4
Joined: 15 Apr 2012, 00:22

Re: Fixing RAW partition, used to be NTFS

#7 Post by DarkMorford »

I've tried pretty much everything I can find in TestDisk... I fixed the Boot Sector, repaired the MFT, and rewrote the partition table. A Ubuntu LiveCD can locate and identify the partition with no trouble, but Windows still thinks it's RAW. What do I do next?

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remy
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Re: Fixing RAW partition, used to be NTFS

#8 Post by remy »

with ubuntu, are you able to mount the partition and recover the data ?

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