didn't find any partition

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  1. Posts : 25,847
    Windows 10 Pro. 64/ version 1709 Windows 7 Pro/64
       #11

    jumanji I'm also trying to understand. Please let me know if I understand correctly.

    Once I initialize a drive all it does is wright a MBR code to the front of the drive. Nothing else if I stop at that point.

    At that time I will be able to access that drive and all of its partition if their are any.

    Does this apply to a C drive (Windows drive) and or a data drive?
      My Computer


  2. Posts : 7,055
    Windows 7 Home Premium 32 bit
       #12

    Layback Bear said:
    jumanji I'm also trying to understand. Please let me know if I understand correctly.

    Once I initialize a drive all it does is wright a MBR code to the front of the drive. Nothing else if I stop at that point.

    At that time I will be able to access that drive and all of its partition if their are any.

    Does this apply to a C drive (Windows drive) and or a data drive?
    That is a good question.

    When the drive is initialised, it not only writes the MBR code but also zeroes the partition table.( though we say it only writes the MBR or MBR Code)

    However one can always rewrite the Partition Table with Partition Wizard if the partitions existed and the partition table got eliminated when initialising.

    ( In OP's case no partition could be found and therefore data recovery becomes a necessity. Initialisation is recommended so as to bring the drive online and PhotoRec running on Windows can see an online drive.)

    Strictly speaking, no MBR is needed for data drives since they need not boot. However those will still need Windows Disk Signature and Boot Record signature - which are considered part of the MBR code.

    This will be seen in the following screenshot, where I zeroed Sector 0 in the external drive eliminating the MBR Code and partition table. Partition Recovery Wizard then found the partition and wrote into sector 0. Drive accessible now only with Windows Disk Signature and Boot Record Signature and of course the Partition Table, all written by PW.

    didn't find any partition-26-12-2014-15-20-11.jpg

    Windows however will always write the full MBR Code to all drives sans the partition table. Partition Table gets written only when one creates new volumes. Even at this stage no data will be lost since the partition table is written into sector 0.

    The final point: if one saves sector 0 (512Bytes) for all his MBR drives using bootice, he only needs to restore it with bootice when Sector 0 gets corrupted and the drive becomes inaccessible. This is a simple procedure for all data drives.
    Last edited by jumanji; 26 Dec 2014 at 11:11.
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  3. Posts : 7,055
    Windows 7 Home Premium 32 bit
       #13

    Pictorial representation of what is stated in the previous post:

    didn't find any partition-a26-12-2014-12-03-44.jpg

    didn't find any partition-b26-12-2014-12-11-51.jpg

    didn't find any partition-c26-12-2014-12-17-40.jpg

    didn't find any partition-d26-12-2014-12-23-04.jpg

    didn't find any partition-e26-12-2014-12-59-07.jpg

    didn't find any partition-f26-12-2014-13-12-19.jpg

    didn't find any partition-g26-12-2014-13-18-38.jpg
      My Computer


  4. Posts : 5
    Windows 8
    Thread Starter
       #14

    Jumanji,

    You're right; I must've read about it someplace else. Thanks for putting together such a comprehensive explanation! I feel a bit smarter now :-p

    I've initialized the disk and as you said, it is now Basic and Online. However, there is still no drive letter. Is this ok?
    didn't find any partition-partition4.png

    Furthermore; I've read the guide and your documentation on using the PhotoRec software. The question is, what happens if I don't have enough drive space for the recovered files? I have about 1.5TB of data to be recovered, and my spare disk only have about 500gb left..
      My Computer


  5. Posts : 7,055
    Windows 7 Home Premium 32 bit
       #15

    You can't assign a drive letter unless you create a volume but we are not going to create a new volume. So do not bother about a drive letter.

    I just wanted it to be brought online so that Windows sees the drive (and not blind to it) and PhotoRec running on Windows sees a drive online.

    PhotoRec will straight away start copying the files to the destination. I think it will stop copying if it runs out of space but I really do not know :). In any case I would not recommend copying to any space in your system drive.

    You can run PhotoRec any number of times safely since there is no way you can go wrong and it does not write anything to the drive under recovery even if you do mistakes in the procedure.

    You may wait till you get the adequate capacity external drive to copy all at one go without fear.

    Did you find out whether PhotoRec can deal with the video file formats in your external drive?

    File Formats Recovered By PhotoRec - CGSecurity
    Last edited by jumanji; 27 Dec 2014 at 12:24.
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