hard drive - Recover files formatted / broken partition

07
2014-07
  • xybrek

    I recently got my hard disk broke (not physically broke) and that I tried to do data recovery. I've tried Easeus and GetBackData tool already, it works great and I can recover files, however there is just one issue that the PST file I have there in the hard disk, which is about 6GB as far as I remember, is not 0 bytes.

    Is there a way to recover this file at all? If yes, then what tools are needed?

    • Answers
  • Walt Houser

    If you can't get it from backup, I recommend SpinRite at GRC.com for $89 dollars. Written by Security Now's Steve Gibson, SpinRite can be used on any operating system and any file system. This means it can run on drives formatted with Windows XP's/Vista's/Windows 7's NTFS and all other older FAT formats (in addition to all Linux, Novell, and all other file systems.)

    Follow the instructions download the ISO and create a live CD (or other bootable media), including its own bootable FreeDOS operating system. Run Spinrite at level 2 first and check the PST file. If that doesn't work run at level 5. There is a step-by-step video at https://www.grc.com/sr/whatitdoes.htm

    Spinrite is a must have" tools for the computer pro or serious hobbyist. It can be used to pre-qualify and certify unformatted hard drives before their first use. Drives on non-PC platforms, such as Apple Macintosh or TiVo, may be temporarily relocated to a PC motherboard for data recovery, maintenance and repair by SpinRite. SpinRite provides complete interaction with IDE-interface PATA (parallel ATA) and SATA (Serial ATA) drives, and it can also be used with any other type of drive — SCSI, USB, 1394/Firewire — that can be made visible to DOS through the addition of controller BIOS or add-on DOS drivers.

    After you are done, tend to your backup process.


    • Related Question

    Toasted NTFS File System from Failed Re-Partitioning & Recovery Options
  • Matthew Ruston

    So last night, in attempts to dual-boot Vista alongside Windows 7 RC, I used EASUS Partition Master to attempt to shrink my full-disk partition in order to make room for a Windows 7 partition. After about an hour in the EASUS boot-up application (that was supposed to perform the actual data moving and repartitioning) the process failed at some point while I was not at the computer. I walked into the room to be greeted with a No Operating System Found message during boot.

    My disk is now, apparently, 500GB of an unknown/broken file system format. The Vista/Windows7 boot disk cannot identify any windows installations on the hard disk and GParted Live just identifies the partition as unknown.

    Do I have any options available to me for partition recovery, besides the typical OMG I Formatted my Drive data recovery tools.

    Is there a way to could tell if the broken partition still has a valid NTFS master file table or something similar that could help me recover?

    Update

    For the life of me, I couldn't forcefully mount the broken partition in Knoppix, so I used the bundled tool TestDisk and muddled around enough to the point where I could run CHKDSK /R in the recovery console of a Vista Boot disk. CHKDSK is fixing lots of stuff. Not sure what will happen once this process completes.

    Update 2

    After CHKDSK, I simply force mounted the partition within Knoppix with the command

    mount -t ntfs dev/sda1 disk -o force

    This put the drive in a state where I could identify and backup data from the device.


    • Related Answers
  • Axxmasterr

    My recommendation is to use the Knoppix Live CD Once you have the live CD, boot to it and then see if you can mount the partition manually. If there is still any data remaining, you should be able to see it.