Repair disk with bad MBR

How to use TestDisk to recover lost partition
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SkuterPL
Posts: 12
Joined: 26 Feb 2013, 18:58

Repair disk with bad MBR

#1 Post by SkuterPL »

Hello,
I have disk which has problem with MBR, I tried to do analise this disk, but I got subtitle "partition: read error", what should I do?

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cgrenier
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Re: Repair disk with bad MBR

#2 Post by cgrenier »

Be sure to select the physical drive, not a drive letter like D:.
You also need to have administrator rights.
If it's already the case, you may need to clone the disk to a new empty one as described in http://www.cgsecurity.org/wiki/Damaged_Hard_Disk

SkuterPL
Posts: 12
Joined: 26 Feb 2013, 18:58

Re: Repair disk with bad MBR

#3 Post by SkuterPL »

so I have to use linux? Because early I tried to do it in Windows.

PS I want to only repair disk without recovery data.

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Fiona
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Location: Ludwigsburg/Stuttgart - Germany

Re: Repair disk with bad MBR

#4 Post by Fiona »

Partition read error can indicate bad sectors.
Please check your disk first.
If you don't need to recover data, you can test your disk, using the diagnose tool from the manufacturer.
In some cases if sectors are not physically damaged but only softbads, you can use the low level format tool included in the diagnose tool.
All sectors will be overriden with zeros and no data are recoverable anymore.
please use it with care.

Fiona

SkuterPL
Posts: 12
Joined: 26 Feb 2013, 18:58

Re: Repair disk with bad MBR

#5 Post by SkuterPL »

so which one exacly program should I use?

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Fiona
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Location: Ludwigsburg/Stuttgart - Germany

Re: Repair disk with bad MBR

#6 Post by Fiona »

That's depend on your disk manufacturer like seagate, WD?
On their homepage, mostly support / download you should find the diagnose tool for your disk.

Fiona

SkuterPL
Posts: 12
Joined: 26 Feb 2013, 18:58

Re: Repair disk with bad MBR

#7 Post by SkuterPL »

It's WD, I downloaded WD Data LifeGuard Diagnostic and it saw me fail in smart, exacly it: "Re-allocated sector count"
Can I repeair this error?

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Fiona
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Re: Repair disk with bad MBR

#8 Post by Fiona »

Have a try tu run a low level format within the WD Data LifeGuard Diagnostic tool.
Under WD Data LifeGuard Diagnostic, I assume that's called "Write Zeros".
It's not directly a low level format but will override each sector with zeros.
After that treatment, any datarecovery will be impossible.
If it was successful it might be possible that memory errors are solved and you can use your disk again.
Afterwards, just have a try to partition and format it.
If not, your disk should be replaced.
Using an external USB-Disk I recommend to use an USB-Hub with power supply.
It often solved such problems.
Despite that, it's recommended to diagnose your disk after a couple of days, to check if bad sectors arise again.
If yes, replace your disk too.

Fiona

SkuterPL
Posts: 12
Joined: 26 Feb 2013, 18:58

Re: Repair disk with bad MBR

#9 Post by SkuterPL »

OK, I will do this, after it, I will write if it helps

SkuterPL
Posts: 12
Joined: 26 Feb 2013, 18:58

Re: Repair disk with bad MBR

#10 Post by SkuterPL »

It didn't help.

After a few minutes the quick test shows: "Too many bad sectors detected" :/

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