Testdisk restore ntfs boot sector. TestDisk: the best disk and file recovery software

I recently encountered a situation where my old external USB drive stopped being read in Windows, being defined as RAW. This indicates that Windows cannot determine the structure of the file system on the disk. The reason a partition is defined as RAW may be different: the drive may not be partitioned, the partition table header may be erased/corrupted/missing, the drive may have bad sectors, or there may be physical problems with the drive itself or its controller.

From the user's point of view, such a RAW disk appears in Explorer, but its size is defined as 0 (zero). When trying to open or read data from a RAW partition, various errors appear:

To use a drive in drive E:, first format it. Do you want to format it?

You need to format the disk in Drive E: before you can use it. Do you want to format it?

No access to E:\. The file system of the volume is not recognized.

Cannot Access Disk. The volume does not contain a recognized file system.

Note. We deliberately do not consider the option of physical damage to the disk, since this is not treated by software. General recommendation: it is advisable to first check the disk using any S.M.A.R.T status viewer utility.

As a rule, the easiest way to restore the disk to working capacity is to delete the current RAW partition and re-create it with formatting. But the data will, of course, be lost, which may be categorically unacceptable. Let's try to run a disk check using the standard CHKDSK check utility:

The utility returned that CHKDSK cannot be performed on RAW discs.

The type of the file system is RAW.
CHKDSK is not available for RAW drives.

To restore the original file system on a RAW disk without formatting, we will use a free console utility Test Disk.

Download, unpack the archive with the utility and run exe in mode noLog
We find a disk whose file system is defined as RAW and select Proceed
Next, you need to select the type of disk partition table. As a rule, it is determined automatically as Intel for MBR partitions either EFI GPT for GPT tables. However, in some cases you need to select None
To start analyzing the disk data structure, select Analyze and on the next screen Quick Search
The TestDisk utility will display a list of found partitions. With key P you can display a list of files on the found partition (Q-exit browsing mode). In the event that the partition also has a P label (the partition is highlighted in green), such a partition will be restored. Label D - removed. To change the label, use the left/right arrows on your keyboard.
Advice. A rather useful feature of the file browsing mode on the file system is the ability to restore individual folders / files to another disk. To do this, in view mode, press the key C.
After all partitions for recovery are marked, click Enter And Write(be careful here not to overwrite the partition table with garbage). If you want to perform a deeper analysis of the disk, select deepSearch.
Advice. Keep in mind that if you restore the system disk in this way, in addition to the partition with Windows itself, depending on the version of the OS, there may be other partitions, the bootloader partition, the recovery environment partition, etc. To understand the structure of Windows partitions, I recommend that you read the articles,. In the event that the boot sector of the disk is damaged, the TestDisk utility will offer to try to restore it using the option RebuildBS.
After that (may require a reboot), the utility will restore the original structure of the partition table and file system (usually NTFS or FAT32) on the RAW disk and you will be able to access the files stored on it.

Sometimes it happens that a virus or user error creates a malfunction in various sections on the hard drive. It also happens that the boot sector or MBR is corrupted in an attempt to recover partitions. It can happen to you too. To fix this, you need the TestDisk program. The instruction for recovering data and partitions using the program describes in some detail. This app helps fix bugs and crashes.

TestDisk is a powerful free data recovery utility. This application is primarily intended to recover lost partitions and/or fix unreadable disks in cases where these problems are caused by software failures, certain types of viruses, or user error (for example, accidentally deleting your partition table).

What is this instrument?

TestDisk is a freely available and useful program that queries the BIOS (DOS/Win9x) or OS (Linux, FreeBSD) to find hard drives and their characteristics (LBA size and CHS geometry). The application does a quick check of your disk structure and compares it to the partition table for input errors. If the partition table has input errors, TestDisk can repair them. It won't be a big deal. If partitions are missing or completely empty tables are found, the utility can look for missing entries and create a new table, and if necessary, even a new MBR.

How it works?

However, the TestDisk instruction suggests that the user can make some adjustments to improve the program's performance. For example, you can view a list of possible partitions found during the scan and select one or more that were in use just before the disk stopped loading or it(s) was(are) lost. In some cases, especially after starting a detailed search for lost items, TestDisk may show data that has been deleted and overwritten again.

In TestDisk, the instructions for use explain the features of working with the software for beginners and advanced users. For those who know little or nothing about data recovery methods, command line, login, and debug options can be used to collect detailed information about a non-booting drive, which can then be sent to tech support for further analysis. In turn, users who are well versed in such procedures should find TestDisk (the instructions for which they will find extremely simple) a handy tool in performing recovery very quickly.

What types of data does the service work with?

TestDisk can find lost partitions for all of the file systems listed below:

BeFS (BeOS);
Cramfs (compressed file system);
HFS and HFS+ (hierarchical file system);
JFS, IBM's;
Linux Ext2 and Ext3;
RAID 1
RAID 4;
RAID 5;
RAID 6;
DOS/Windows FAT12, FAT16 and FAT32;
Linux Swap (versions 1 and 2);
LVM and LVM2, Linux (logical volume manager);
Mac partition map;
NTFS (Windows NT/2K/XP/2003);
Linux Raid;
Sun Solaris i386 (drive label);
Unix, UFS and UFS2 file system (Sun/BSD);
XFS, SGI "s (journaled file system).

TestDisk - instruction, or how to use this utility?

So, as already mentioned, TestDisk is a powerful freeware data recovery program that is primarily designed to recover lost partitions, as well as to make non-bootable disks bootable again. It does not require installation and can be run from a flash drive or DVD.

The best way to use TestDisk is to download it from a DVD to a flash drive. This way you can check all partitions on your hard drive in case the master boot record is corrupted. After that, you can initiate the necessary commands to correct the markup. Keep in mind that TestDisk is completely based on a command line interface. The application does not have a user. Even the newest versions of the utility are not supplemented with this feature, even in TestDisk 7.1 the instruction assumes only work on the command line.

Utility Features

One could compare the program with EASEUS PartitionRecovery, but TestDisk allows you to do a little more. She can do:

Correction of partition table errors.
Recovery of deleted partitions.
Rebuild boot sectors.
Allocation of table files (FAT).
Create and restore NTFS boot sector backups.
Recovery of lost files on any type of partitions.

To use the program, some experience is required, as it is necessary to understand the data visible on the screen. Although contextual help is still available, only experienced computer users can understand everything without a hint. For most, you will probably need instructions for TestDisk 7.0 in detail.

How to download the utility and start working with it?

After downloading TestDisk, you should extract the file to any location that is convenient for you. Since all the contents of the archive are in the same location, you don't have to worry about copying files to the Windows folder or the System32 folder. Such action is not required. It is a complete portable tool and hence can be copied to a removable drive and then used to troubleshoot and fix boot entries or recover missing data from hard drives.

Once all files are available locally, double-click on testdisk_win.exe to start using the application. Further instructions for TestDisk 7.0 will depend on what exactly you want to do.

Using TestDisk to Restore Partitions

When you run the TestDisk program, it will open in a DOS window. The first screen asks you if you want to create a new log file, append to an existing log file, or skip writing the log file. It is advisable to choose the first option, as it will keep the information fresh. Remember that you must move between the options using the arrow keys and select the required option using the Enter key.

After you choose to create a new log file, the second screen will show you a list of options where you can choose the hard disk format. If you are using a Windows PC, select Intel and then press the Enter key.

In the case of another OS for TestDisk (Linux), the instructions are simpler and more intuitive.

On the third screen, select "Analyze hard disk partitions". This will take some time, depending on the number of items you have on your computer and the capacity of each item.

The results displayed should match the configuration that was specified when the disks were created: primary, extended, and logical. If you see that something is missing, you can select QuickSearch. This will bring back the "partitions" that have disappeared. Then you have to select the broken sections and click "Burn" to save the section.

TestDisk program - instructions for recovering lost data

To select Advanced instead of "Hard Disk Partition Analysis". TestDisk 7 (which has instructions here) will scan the partition selected in the next window and return the filenames. To restore a file, select it using the arrow keys and press C. You will be prompted to select a destination. You choose the destination where the missing files should be written. Once the restore is complete, navigate to Quit using the arrow keys and press the Enter key to exit the program. Thus, in TestDisk, the recovery instruction is very simple, as you can see.

What conclusions can be drawn?

The tool is good for all the purposes listed above: repairing partitions, fixing partitions and boot records, restoring files, etc. However, the interface of the TestDisk utility (raw instruction) is too complicated for those who are not too knowledgeable about troubleshooting. For experts this tool is very convenient and recommended in all cases, especially easy this program seems to users of "Linux". For people who are not advanced users, there is extensive documentation, screenshots available, etc.

Nevertheless, this program would be recommended to every user only if there is a good illustrated instruction for TestDisk 6.14 (and for later versions). This is because the command line interface can be very confusing for some.

It is also worth noting that TestDisk is often mentioned in conjunction with the PhotoRec tool. These are different utilities, but there are some similarities between them. PhotoRec is a program designed to recover lost images from the memory of a digital camera, as well as lost files, including videos, documents and archives from hard drives and CDs. This tool ignores the file system and works from raw data, so it will function even if it's badly corrupted or formatted.

The recovered files will then appear in the directory from which you launch the PhotoRec program. The utility is available for free and is an open source, multi-platform application distributed under the GNU Public License. PhotoRec is a companion to TestDisk and is included in its download.

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Your computer may malfunction from time to time. The cause can be viral activity, power outage and much more. As a result, the hard drive disappears, that is, the system cannot recognize it. Worst of all, the data on the hard drive can also be lost.

If a similar situation occurs, you need to use specialized software for recovering disks and data. One such application is TestDisk. It should be noted that this software is distributed free of charge.

Before using the program, it is recommended to get to know it better. It is also recommended to restore using the instructions. If everything is done correctly, the hard drive will be restored within half an hour.

What is Test Disk

The TestDisk utility is a program that can find and recover hard drives, boot sectors and data. The program accesses the BIOS in order to find the device connected to the PC. In the same way, the utility determines the CHS geometry and LBA disk size.

The program checks the hard drive for errors. If errors are found in a hard disk partition, the application repairs bad sectors. The application is able to create a new partition table if necessary, or if the old table is not found or is empty. In addition, the utility is able to create a new MBR.

It should be noted that everyone can download the TestDisk program for free. It is worth knowing that the application is open source. The utility copes with the tasks set no worse than paid analogues. If you wish, you can use additional software that is included in the TestDisk package.

Program features

On the network you can find more than a dozen programs that restore the work of hard drives and data, but most of them are paid. As for TestDisk, the program has more features than some paid products. Before you figure out how to use the program, you should consider its capabilities. The program is capable of:

Fix the partition table;
Restore the boot sector;
Copy files from a remote partition (FAT, NTFS);
Reconfigure boot sectors;
Select table files;
Define standby SuperBlock (for Linux);
Recover deleted files;
Create a backup.

Data recovery will be faster if beginners study the TestDisk instruction. Specialists can also use this application. It is important that users pay attention to the contextual hint. All commands are located at the bottom of the terminal.

Where to download the program

The TestDisk application can be downloaded for free from the official website located at: "www.cgsecurity.org". On the page that opens, click on the link "TestDisk".

After 1-3 seconds, the product description page will load. You need to scroll down to the "Operating systems" section and then click on the "Download" hyperlink.

Immediately after that, another page will open where you can download the latest stable, as well as beta version of the product. Download the software by clicking on the graphic link "TestDisk 7.0 Free Download".

After the utility is downloaded, you need to unzip the downloaded archive to any convenient place. If desired, the program can be moved to removable media, as it is completely portable. This means that the software does not need to be installed and it does not need to be unpacked into a system folder such as Windows or System32.

Now it remains to run testdisk_win.exe and you can get to work. It should be noted that the program is not distributed in Russian, so do everything according to the instructions. Users not familiar with English are advised to use a translator.

How to work with the program

After starting the program, a terminal window will appear. The application first asks if a progress report should be generated. To create a report, select "Create". To control the program, just use the "Up", "Down" and "Enter" buttons.

In order to select "Yes", you need to press the "Y" button. If you need to refuse the action, the "N" button is pressed. To exit the menu, just press the "Q" button. Note that the ESC key does not work. To copy files, just press the "C" button.

Now you need to select the hard drive on which the files were lost. It should be noted that the list displays not only local drives, but also removable media. After selecting the hard drive, click the "Enter" button.

When a list of available Partition Tables appears, you must select the one that matches your computer. For example, Intel. Most often, the utility automatically detects the partition table and places it in the first place in the displayed list.

To test the partition structure of the selected storage medium, as well as search for missing files, select the "Analyse" item. When the result appears, you will see information about the disk. Now you need to select Quick Search from the menu located at the bottom of the screen. Immediately after that, the program will ask if you want to search for partitions created under Vista. It is best to agree and press the "Y" button, which means "Yes".

In a few minutes, all disk partitions will be displayed on the screen, even those that need to be restored. To view the list of files, select a section and press the "P" button. Directories and files with Russian names will not be displayed correctly (short names are displayed normally). If necessary, files can be copied by specifying the destination folder and pressing the "C" button. The copy process may take some time.

To exit this section, press the "Q" button. For a thorough search of files, the "Deep Search" command is selected. If you need to write these structures to the MBR partition, you need to press the "Write" command.

After you manage to restore the partition, you must restart the computer. When the PC turns on, you can see the appearance of all the missing files. It should be noted that the hard drive may not appear immediately, since it does not have a letter. To do this, you must enter the administration section, and then assign a letter.

Advantages

An application such as TestDisk has a number of advantages that are worth paying attention to. The main advantage is that it can be used completely free of charge. At the same time, the program is open source.

Users will like the fact that the program is able not only to find a missing hard drive, but also to recover information. Data can be copied to another hard drive. It should be noted that the application copes with such serious situations that even paid products cannot handle.

In addition to restoring information and connecting a hard drive, the utility is able to find errors. After testing, all found errors are automatically corrected by the program. Similar work can be done with any file systems.

Another advantage is the ability to restore the boot sector. Most of the programs are not able to reanimate the disk with the operating system. It does not matter which OS was installed on the computer.

Flaws

Despite all its advantages, the application has several significant disadvantages. First of all, it should be noted the lack of a graphical interface. The user will have to work through the terminal, and this can confuse many beginners.

The second drawback, arising from the first, is the lack of a Russian-language interface. All commands are written in English. The same goes for hints. If you have difficulty with the language, you will have to use a translator.

Conclusion

Users who are faced with the loss of a hard drive or information from it should use the TestDisk program. Of course, the utility is controlled through the terminal, but there is nothing complicated about it. It is enough to carefully study all the commands and read the questions asked by the application, and the recovery will take place without problems. It is best to follow the instructions, then it will be much easier to work with the program. Use the program only if you really need it.

Video review of TestDisk

Instructions for using the TestDisk utility

So, what you were so afraid of, or maybe you didn’t even think on the contrary, happened ... Some of the important information disappeared from the laptop’s hard drive or from the flash drive, or even worse. There can be many reasons: from your own actions to the usual violations in the carriers themselves. However, in any case, the missing information can most likely be restored.

And the point here is this: when information is deleted, or when a media failure occurs, most often the logical data structure is damaged, while the files themselves remain untouched. In simple terms, only information about the location of the data is deleted, and not the files themselves. The only exceptions are those cases when the hard disk partition was formatted, or when the data was overwritten by a special shredder program.

We will recover lost information with the help of, perhaps, the most popular program in its field - TestDisk. It is worth noting here that, despite its popularity, this utility is at first glance difficult to understand and inaccessible interface. And so how to work with TestDisk already in a difficult direction, this gives rise to certain problems. Users who are accustomed to GUI programs on Windows should have particular difficulty understanding the console interface.

And even if you are one of them, and you probably are one of them, you should not be afraid, because, as already noted, the utility is difficult only at first glance and, having only slightly familiarized yourself with its functionality, you can easily understand how to use Test Disk when needed.

Instructions for

And it is for these purposes that we will try to give an example of working with the utility, in which we will try to recover lost information on a USB drive. We note right away that this TestDisk instruction is absolutely identical to restoring a partition on a hard disk, however, everything will become clear a little later. So how to work with TestDisk? Let's figure it out.

So, download and run the utility. TestDisk is free and does not require installation.

1. After starting, a welcome window of the program will appear. At the bottom of the window, we are invited to keep a log of the entire work process. Everything is optional here, if you want, you can lead, if not, then no. In our case, we choose .

3. In the window for selecting the type of table, select the required option. For normal PCs, this is Intel / PC partition

4. To start the operation in the next dialog box, select

5. In the section that appears, select Quick Search.

6. If the media contains files recorded using the Windows Vista operating system, then the last question that appears before starting the analysis must be answered in the affirmative. Since it is necessary to work with TestDisk in console mode, you can do this by pressing the key corresponding to the Latin letter “Y”, otherwise press “N”.
The analysis has begun... At the end of the analysis, the utility will display a result about all found errors.

7. When information about the lost data is received, you can start restoring it. This can be done in two main ways: by the point method, by obtaining a list of all the files in the partition with further selection from the list and loading a backup copy of the partition table, which will bring the media to its original state.

Data recovery from TeskDisk

In the first case, you need to highlight the desired section and press the “P” key. This action will bring up a list of all files on the partition. The files required for copying are selected with the mouse pointer, after which the “C” key is pressed. In the file manager that appears, select the path to copy. That's all. Lost data successfully recovered. Which, however, does not solve the problem of complete restoration of the media to its original state. And so we go to the second method.

By pressing the “Q” key, screwing to the previous step. Next, press the “L” key, select “Load” in the window that appears and give your consent by pressing the “Y” key. On this, the process of holistic recovery of the media can be considered completed. We take out the USB device and install it back, as you can see, now it is detected, and all files are safe and sound in their place. This TestDisk completes the instruction explaining how to work with TestDisk.

Since using TestDesk is quite simple, no problems should arise.

At the end of this TeskDisk Instructions I would like to note once again that this utility is absolutely free and, against the background of its competitors, differs not only in its efficiency, but also in speed. Those who have figured out how to use TestDisk must also highlight its obvious ease of use. I would also like to note that along with the main utility comes another one - PhotoRec, designed to restore image files.

TestDisk is a program for recovering data from various media if data is lost or if an error is detected in reading the data. In addition to the actual data recovery, this program can also correct and detect errors. The program makes a request to the BIOS and checks all drives connected to the computer.

The difficulties are related to the fact that the program interface itself is incomprehensible and raises a lot of questions. But once you figure it out, then you can use it with ease.

First of all, the program must be found and installed on your computer. It can be downloaded from the Internet. The installation itself does not cause any special problems and does not take much time.

After installation, you need to click on the program shortcut to launch it. A field will appear in the window where you can name the program log, but this is not necessary, you can skip this item. If you want to create it, then select Create, if not, then go to No Log. Then press the enter key to continue.

Next, you need to select the media that shows an error or data loss. You can even check devices connected via USB. Once you've made your choice, click Proceed. In the event that you have a stationary computer, select the item Intel / PC partition. In other cases, choose what suits you. For example, if you have an Apple device, select Apple Partition Map. After we click on Analyze and run it by clicking on Quick Search. The analysis of your system will begin.

Now you need to wait for the program to complete this process. How long this takes depends on how loaded the media you are checking is. If this is a free disk, then less than a minute is enough, if the hard disk is full, then much longer.

After the analysis, the information will be displayed on the screen. Now you can start recovering your data. Select the partition you want to restore, press the "P" key. After pressing this key, you will have a whole list of all the files that are in this section. Find the files you are interested in and press the "C" key. After that, select the folder where you want to put the recovered file and paste it there. That's all. But this method will simply restore the file itself, but if you need to restore it to its original state, you will have to perform one more manipulation.

Press the "Q" key. Then call the "Load" window by pressing the "L" key. Then press "Y", which means "Yes". After that, all data will be restored.

The program is good because it is suitable for different operating systems, including Windows XP, Vista, 7, Linux, MAC OS X.

There is one remark about this program. It can find long-deleted old files that you no longer need at all, so it’s better to know the name of the files you want to restore so that you don’t end up returning unnecessary files that you will have to delete from your computer later.

There is really nothing wrong with it, it's just that we are not used to working in a program that opens as a DOS window. For this reason, the work is done by pressing the keys on the keyboard, and the selection of lines is carried out not with the mouse, but with the arrows on the keyboard. Processes are confirmed by pressing Enter.

After restoring files, it is advisable to restart the computer, and then check for the restored files.

There are other programs of this kind, but basically the principle is the same.