Partition corrupted, but HD still works

How to use TestDisk to recover lost partition
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Vicaris
Posts: 6
Joined: 24 May 2012, 16:17

Partition corrupted, but HD still works

#1 Post by Vicaris »

So I had this HD split in two partitions, one of them got corrupted/unreadable, the other still works. Sometimes the entire disk just disappears though. Anyway so I select the disk, get to partition table selection. Test Disk told me to pick none but I picked Intel/PC. Did I do something wrong there? After that I go through with "analyze" and then it tells me Warning: Bad ending sector (CHS and LBA don't match).

I stopped there because I didn't know how to proceed.

Also, sometimes the disk just poops my entire computer. It can slow down pretty hard out of nowhere and several operations just stop. Sometimes booting or shutting down takes forever too. Usually when this happens the disk just disappears from my computer and it isn't recognized at all, both of its partitions. I'm almost 100% sure it is the disk because when I disconnect it I run my PC without problems.

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remy
Posts: 457
Joined: 25 Mar 2012, 10:21
Location: Strasbourg, France.
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Re: Partition corrupted, but HD still works

#2 Post by remy »

You disk is probably in bad condition. It's hardware problem related. You should duplicate it first (with bit to bit copy software) and then work on the copy. It will be quite difficult to duplicate because it will often disconnect, but it's the only solution.

If there are important data, my advice is : contact a professional DR Cie.

Vicaris
Posts: 6
Joined: 24 May 2012, 16:17

Re: Partition corrupted, but HD still works

#3 Post by Vicaris »

Yeah I'm working on copying everything back right now. Is there a way to fix the HD in this case?

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remy
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Location: Strasbourg, France.
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Re: Partition corrupted, but HD still works

#4 Post by remy »

Better fix for bad hard disk : trash. :|

Vicaris
Posts: 6
Joined: 24 May 2012, 16:17

Re: Partition corrupted, but HD still works

#5 Post by Vicaris »

The worse fix will do for me though, at least just for a little while to make it easier recovering my data. As it is, it is kinda hard sorting everything out. 60k+ files of assorted types, it is quite a list to pick out from.

I suspect my HD's problem is only the HD losing connection to the motherboard. It might just be a bad cable. I know that if I just smack my desk too hard it is likely to freeze the PC but I had never really put two and two together. Actually, I had but I was just leaving this easy to solve problem for future me.

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remy
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Re: Partition corrupted, but HD still works

#6 Post by remy »

So you've made a recovery with Photorec ?

Have a look in the wiki, there's some scripts for "post-recovery". One is to put files by extension in folders. Then you can work with exellent tool from Phil Harvey (exiftool) to rename images.

I think you really should better duplicate your disk with ddrescue and try recovery with testdisk on the copy.

Vicaris
Posts: 6
Joined: 24 May 2012, 16:17

Re: Partition corrupted, but HD still works

#7 Post by Vicaris »

I've salvaged all I wanted from my old disk. If I want it, I can format it right now and be done with this but I'd rather not. Not even sure if that's gonna fix it. Formatting, does it fix it? Is there another way to fix it (that doesn't involve trash)?

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remy
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Re: Partition corrupted, but HD still works

#8 Post by remy »

I don't think so. I can't be sure, but it's very probably hardware related. Formating won't change the hardware.

Do you want to send me your disk, to see if I can have better results ?

Vicaris
Posts: 6
Joined: 24 May 2012, 16:17

Re: Partition corrupted, but HD still works

#9 Post by Vicaris »

What do you mean send the disk? Like physically shipping the disk? If that's the case, unless you live in Brazil then it won't do.

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remy
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Re: Partition corrupted, but HD still works

#10 Post by remy »

No, I'm in France...

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