Multiple partitions found - identical contents

How to use TestDisk to recover lost partition
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phenobarb
Posts: 2
Joined: 26 May 2023, 13:45

Multiple partitions found - identical contents

#1 Post by phenobarb »

I'm trying to recover a G-Drive 2Tb disk. It had 3 350G partitions & the other half of space unused. Testdisk found 5 or 6 big "partitions," but the 4 which revealed CONTENTS, ... had the very same directory structure in each. Not, of course, what was there pre-crash. Using Linux Cinammon Mint 19.3 & testdisk 7.0 (Following instructions to install via Terminal, that's what I got; not sure if 7.1 is more robust.) Did a (C)opy [all] and while I think it did what it was told to, it hung & forced me to reboot. LAST, since the files of greatest interest are photos, is it likely that Photorec would turn up "extras?" ... Oh yes, is the Windows version - I can boot w/ Win 11 easily - more powerful, productive, etc.?

phenobarb
Posts: 2
Joined: 26 May 2023, 13:45

Re: Multiple partitions found - identical contents

#2 Post by phenobarb »

Not so much a "REPLY" ... as a P.S.

YES, the Windows version - given a VERY LONG (several days, around the clock) dedication to solving the problem - GOT IT DONE. There WERE 3 big partitions found, and I was able to move thousands of files to "safe harbor." I'm kind of surprised that the Windows version bested the Linux version, but maybe it was done more recently by people with either better tools or just more savvy. Maybe, they didn't port code as much as re-write it.

ONLY BECAUSE I know more people could come close to "having their lives saved" if the software were better ... I think you should realize and do something about the fact that it's as if you're renting cars, but all of them are "stick shift." I know that in the US, such a business would be lucky to survive for a month or 2. If somebody caring and observant could watch a typical (even adept) user struggle with TESTDISK, s/he would observe that it is far from intuitive. It's not like you don't have plenty of "screen" to make clear what are now far too often "maybe, they want me to ..." situations. The "genius" who thought that using a lower-case "c" some of the time and an upper-case "C" at other crucial times.... Well, I guess that's why Linux never caught on - at least in part.

Please accept anything critical above as well-meant, because your software is a little like a coconut - you may have to work to get past the "shell," but those who do are at least sometimes adequately rewarded for that effort!!

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