Partition and file system lost when copying with Testdisk

[jervis]

Hi Fiona,

I could not rebuild boot sector by following steps:
Start TestDisk
Confirm through until i see the menu Analyse.
Confirm at Advanced

testdisk_Analyse.JPG (28.46 KiB) Viewed 5202 times

As 'no partition is available', it shows 'quit' only. I can't carry on Running a revbuild BS.

What else can we do to recover Boot sector / partition?

BTW, how to clone disk??

[jervis]

From Crystal Disk Info, i upload two screen shots as following:

CrystalDiskInfo01.JPG (83.25 KiB) Viewed 5202 times

CrystalDiskInfo02.JPG (81.74 KiB) Viewed 5202 times

[Fiona]

It's advisable to stress your disk as little as possible.
Should be probably later replaced.
But as long as it gets recognized you can try to get your data off of your harddrive.
Your boot sector diagnose didn't work, because there is no partition in your partition tbale.
That's why TestDisk doesn't list it using "Advanced".
To avoid any further damage, would you like to clone your disk or to diagnose it in the current status?
Please let me know.
How many partitions did you have on your disk?
Might be also possible to create one and having a boot sector diagnose.
Creating a partition would be only in your MBR and your MBR size is 512 Byte.
TestDisk Advanced provides the menu Create Image.
But this Image is only for recovery and not restoring purposes.
TestDisk can work with an image file.
http://www.cgsecurity.org/wiki/Media_Image

Please let me know.

Fiona

[jervis]

Hi Fiona,

I got only one partition on this disk.
you suggest creating a partition and having a boot sector diagnose.
(Creating a partition would be only in your MBR and your MBR size is 512 Byte)
Do you have link to show step-by-step to create partition in MBR?

I prefer to diagnose the current status first. If there is no way to recover with tool, then i have to clone your disk . BTW, how to clone the disk? can i do it by testdisk ? eg. you mentioned TestDisk Advanced provides the menu Create Image?

Thanks again.

[NeverSayDie]

Hi Jervis

That disk is broken and will probably continue to get worse as you try things with it.

The best chance you have at getting all of your data (or at least as much as is physically possible) at this point is to make an exact image of it and then run your repair/recovery on the image and set the actual drive aside in case the image is damaged by the recovery attempts. That way you may be able to make another image if needed.

To be extra cautious, you could make a copy of the image before attempting recovery and always be able to try repeatedly with copies of the image and never have to access the actual disk again.

The way that I usually help people do this when I am too far away from them and they don't send the disk to me is to have them...

Create a PartedMagic boot CD

Connect the bad drive to a computer

Connect a good drive (if an existing good drive does not have enough free space) with enough free space to hold an image of the bad drive to the computer (at least 550GB of free space in your case)

Boot the computer with the PartedMagic CD

Identify the bad drive and the good drive's partition that we are writing to

Mount the good drive partition

Run ddrescue to image the bad drive to the good drive partition as well as maintain a log on the good drive partition

This can run for several days on a broken drive like yours depending on the number of retries you set for attempting to recover bad sectors.

When it is done, you can run TestDisk and recovery software (like PhotoRec) directly on the image file as if it was a disk.

James

[jervis]

thanks! James, i can't download PartedMagic CD, do you have other tools to create Images?

Fiona, do you think i should try first to recover data?

[NeverSayDie]

Hi Jervis

I do this type of recovery online with people frequently and I trust ddrescue more than anything else at this time (my choice changes as new/updated tools become available). That's why I go with PartedMagic since it has all of these tools on it, is updated frequently and boots almost all computers.

Since you can't use that, as a second choice, I believe that the free version of Restorer Ultimate will allow you to make an image that skips bad sectors (I haven't tried it with the free version in quite some time because I purchased it) but I don't know if it will work on a drive in the condition that yours is in.

If you can, please wait for Fiona to answer your other question before proceeding.

James

[jervis]

Hi Fiona,

Any advice?

[Fiona]

Sry for late!
Currently I'm on vacation until september and only sporadically on.
Would it be possible to create an image or clone your disk?
Some infos about cloning disks;
http://www.cgsecurity.org/wiki/Damaged_Hard_Disk
But it would only make sense if you have few bad sectors.
If your disk is electronically ar physically broken and generates read errors only, it will be not possible to copy data off.
Would you like to use datarecovery service or do you decide to diagnose your disk for yourself?
Touching a damaged disk can increase damage.
If you decide to recover your data for yourself, you can only check cables and have a try to use another connector or enclosure.
Also, how is your disk recognized in your device manager and disk mangement console.
Please check recognition in your BIOS also.
Name/Label and size must match.

Fiona