Regain a lost drive using Test Disk - An Illustrated Guide

I am just enquiring -- running the first page test for an inexperienced user - should that be the first point of reference to regain a lost drive.

I have bookmarked most of the valuable information that people have posted. I am just not sure about some of the terms (I know I could Google them) - so unsure if it is the best option for me.

Thank you again for a great easy to follow guide

Melissa said:

I am just enquiring -- running the first page test for an inexperienced user - should that be the first point of reference to regain a lost drive........

Not necessarily :).

It is pretty simple to be used by experienced users but the more inexperienced users may get intimidated with the DOS interface and may need many hours of documentation. One has to put a determined effort to get a grasp of it and the only way to do it is to do a mock trial as in my post #5.

If what is needed is just some file recovery software then PhotoRec application that comes with TestDisk should be the first choice. Much easier to use and since it is read only the user cannot give any write commands mistakenly and spoil the already spoilt broth.:)

Also in many situations Partition Wizard is easier to use.

And in respect of non-bootable drives a live Linux CD/pendrive should be the first option.

At one point one user threw up a question on how to copy the files listed by TestDisk - it is not so intuitive- and then I wrote this post Copying_files_listed_by_TestDisk_during_Recovery .

Thank you for giving me an opportunity to append it to this thread.

i've done everything. I have a trouble on step 10 (seventh window), nothing appears. So i'm gonna need you to help me a little with the TestDisk. Contact me through facebook, add me as a friend.

jumanji said:

Melissa said:

I am just enquiring -- running the first page test for an inexperienced user - should that be the first point of reference to regain a lost drive........

Not necessarily :).

It is pretty simple to be used by experienced users but the more inexperienced users may get intimidated with the DOS interface and may need many hours of documentation. One has to put a determined effort to get a grasp of it and the only way to do it is to do a mock trial as in my post #5.

If what is needed is just some file recovery software then PhotoRec application that comes with TestDisk should be the first choice. Much easier to use and since it is read only the user cannot give any write commands mistakenly and spoil the already spoilt broth.:)

Also in many situations Partition Wizard is easier to use.

And in respect of non-bootable drives a live Linux CD/pendrive should be the first option.

At one point one user threw up a question on how to copy the files listed by TestDisk - it is not so intuitive- and then I wrote this post Copying_files_listed_by_TestDisk_during_Recovery .

Thank you for giving me an opportunity to append it to this thread.

i need your help on Test Disk Please

timuela said:

jumanji said:

Melissa said:

I am just enquiring -- running the first page test for an inexperienced user - should that be the first point of reference to regain a lost drive........

Not necessarily :).

It is pretty simple to be used by experienced users but the more inexperienced users may get intimidated with the DOS interface and may need many hours of documentation. One has to put a determined effort to get a grasp of it and the only way to do it is to do a mock trial as in my post #5.

If what is needed is just some file recovery software then PhotoRec application that comes with TestDisk should be the first choice. Much easier to use and since it is read only the user cannot give any write commands mistakenly and spoil the already spoilt broth.:)

Also in many situations Partition Wizard is easier to use.

And in respect of non-bootable drives a live Linux CD/pendrive should be the first option.

At one point one user threw up a question on how to copy the files listed by TestDisk - it is not so intuitive- and then I wrote this post Copying_files_listed_by_TestDisk_during_Recovery .

Thank you for giving me an opportunity to append it to this thread.

i need your help on Test Disk Please

jumanji said:

Melissa said:

I am just enquiring -- running the first page test for an inexperienced user - should that be the first point of reference to regain a lost drive........

Not necessarily :).

It is pretty simple to be used by experienced users but the more inexperienced users may get intimidated with the DOS interface and may need many hours of documentation. One has to put a determined effort to get a grasp of it and the only way to do it is to do a mock trial as in my post #5.

If what is needed is just some file recovery software then PhotoRec application that comes with TestDisk should be the first choice. Much easier to use and since it is read only the user cannot give any write commands mistakenly and spoil the already spoilt broth.:)

Also in many situations Partition Wizard is easier to use.

And in respect of non-bootable drives a live Linux CD/pendrive should be the first option.

At one point one user threw up a question on how to copy the files listed by TestDisk - it is not so intuitive- and then I wrote this post Copying_files_listed_by_TestDisk_during_Recovery .

Thank you for giving me an opportunity to append it to this thread.

I have a trouble on step 10 (seventh window), nothing appears. So i'm gonna need you to help me a little with the TestDisk. Contact me through facebook, add me as a friend.

Please define your problem clearly with all details and start a new thread in Hardware and Devices.

It is not possible to give any guidance blindly without knowing what exactly the problem is.

I do not log into any social network sites.

Jumanji I can't thank you enough for helping out with this! I found ur reply to a thread about a 3TB hard disk unallocated, and followed your replies through the forum to finally reach this incredibly helpful thread!

I have a 500GB WD external HDD that somehow got unallocated sometime last year, and after combing through forums, trying out a ton of recovery softwares (PW didn't help btw, even after a full scan, and I was planning on taking this disk to a recovery specialist next week) until i found this post.

And it worked! My unallocated WD external HDD is fixed now and it was so simple!!

(i'm not sure why PW didn't find any partition on my disk, but i think it was because the partition table itself had been deleted sometime during my clumsy rambling? Because the second method listed here worked)

Thanks a lot and keep up the friendly good work!

Hi

I have WD 1TB My passport drive , it is shown in the explorer but when i tried to access it , it is not accessible , asks to format the disk , it gives error e.g. incorrect parameter.

I tried with TestDisk software with the mentioned steps, i was able to see my files as well on DOS , i completed Quick Search, add new partition as suggested and rebooted my machine, but the problem remained same , i am still not able to access the drive

can someone please help me to understand if i am missing anything here?