Question about files recovered by testdisk

Using PhotoRec to recover lost data
Forum rules
When asking for technical support:
- Search for posts on the same topic before posting a new question.
- Give clear, specific information in the title of your post.
- Include as many details as you can, MOST POSTS WILL GET ONLY ONE OR TWO ANSWERS.
- Post a follow up with a "Thank you" or "This worked!"
- When you learn something, use that knowledge to HELP ANOTHER USER LATER.
Before posting, please read https://www.cgsecurity.org/testdisk.pdf
Locked
Message
Author
zachiepie
Posts: 12
Joined: 08 Dec 2015, 04:27

Question about files recovered by testdisk

#1 Post by zachiepie »

Hey guys,

I just used TestDisk to copy files from a bad hard drive to an external and I'm having problems going to the files here. TestDisk was able to recover about 800 gigs of data, and that's about how much I had stored on that bad hard drive. When I look at the files that were recovered, there's a lot of JPG files (that windows cannot open; some have correct date/time stamps and believable file size) and a bunch of zip files titled "Backup Files xxxx", where X corresponds to numbers from 2-1000 ish. Most of these zips are about 200 megs each and I can't get any of them to open. Windows says that the zip file is invalid.

Did I actually recover any of my data, or is all of this just fluff from a corrupted hard drive?

User avatar
cgrenier
Site Admin
Posts: 5432
Joined: 18 Feb 2012, 15:08
Location: Le Perreux Sur Marne, France
Contact:

Re: Question about files recovered by testdisk

#2 Post by cgrenier »

Honestly I don't see how anyone other than you can check the recovered files...

zachiepie
Posts: 12
Joined: 08 Dec 2015, 04:27

Re: Question about files recovered by testdisk

#3 Post by zachiepie »

Guess my question should lead to the files themselves. If a Jpg is recovered, does it always mean it's a jpg? Why wouldn't I be able to view it?

User avatar
cgrenier
Site Admin
Posts: 5432
Joined: 18 Feb 2012, 15:08
Location: Le Perreux Sur Marne, France
Contact:

Re: Question about files recovered by testdisk

#4 Post by cgrenier »

If the block allocation list is corrupted, a damaged file may have been copied.

If may also be a ownership problem, the recovered files have been created as administrator, you may currently lacking the rights to view them (google for file take ownership).

zachiepie
Posts: 12
Joined: 08 Dec 2015, 04:27

Re: Question about files recovered by testdisk

#5 Post by zachiepie »

I've looked into how to take file ownership, and I believe I've done everything I can but still can't open these images. Is there any way you guys can check for me? I'll attach the image here. Thank you so much.
Attachments
DSC01177.zip
(7.6 KiB) Downloaded 271 times

Locked