Solved Data Recovery from missing partition

[DeaconFrost]

I was given a laptop recently with the task of saving some files from the hard drive. The laptop won't boot, so I connected the drive to my computer via an eSATA dock. It shows up as RAW. When I run a partition repair tool, such as Partition Wizard, it correctly identifies the drive's capacity and amount of data. The drive is given a letter and shown that it is NTFS, however, when I try to access the drive from Explorer, I get the prompt to format it.

So, would something like Recuva work to access the files, or do I need something more "intense"?

 

[jumanji]

Hi DeaconFrost,

Why not try TestDisk? It may be able to rewrite the partition table if it can find.
I have only run a mock trial here http://www.sevenforums.com/software/190430-regain-lost-drive-using-test-disk-illustrated-guide.html ( deleting the partition table from a working drive and then successfully rewriting it with TestDisk).

 

[gregrocker]

Did you run Partition Wizard Partition Recovery Wizard - Video Help?

 

[mjf]

The problem I have found is that most free RAW recovery software seems to limit your recovery to 1GB.
PhotoRec despite its name actually recovers over 300 file types from the RAW data. I have it BUT haven't used it but it may be worth a try.

 

[CB]

Few years ago I was able to recover as much healthy data as possible from accidentally repartitioned HDD using GetDataBackNTFS.

 

[DeaconFrost]

Wow, plenty of suggestions! Thanks...I'm going to try some of them out and report back.

 

[DeaconFrost]

Did you run Partition Wizard Partition Recovery Wizard - Video Help?

I tried this method, and everything seems to go perfectly...but once I click the drive to open it after completion, I'm told it needs to be formatted. Recuva won't even detect the partition, either.

 

[gregrocker]

If PW wizard finds the missing partition, then it should allow you to recover it in the next step. Does it complete this step? I would try it with the installed program and boot disk.

If there is anything blocking it's recovery now, it should also prompt that it will be overwritten.

 

[DeaconFrost]

It completed the steps and acted as if it fixed the issue, yet when I'd try to access the partition, I wouldn't have any luck. I was trying using the installed program, with the drive connected by eSATA in a dock.

So far, PhotoRec is pulling their photos off.

 

[gregrocker]

I wonder if Partition Recov Wizard might perform better if you plug the HD internally via SATA. It is normally very reliable.

If that fails I'd try the PW boot disk, also with HD plugged internally which is how we know it works best.

 

[mjf]

It completed the steps and acted as if it fixed the issue, yet when I'd try to access the partition, I wouldn't have any luck. I was trying using the installed program, with the drive connected by eSATA in a dock.

So far, PhotoRec is pulling their photos off.

If you look at the link I provided PhotoRec should be be able to pull off more than common photo extension files. I gather you can also setup other file extensions.
The big thing seems to you need to recover from a disk that no longer has a file system and recovery needs to be done at the byte level. I think PW assumes the file system data is intact.
I'd keep plugging away with PhotoRec or ask the people you are helping if they want to purchase the Easeus product for RAW data recovery.

I would guess that RAW data recovery would be a slow process because it has to crawl its way through the whole disk at a byte level.

 

[DeaconFrost]

If you look at the link I provided PhotoRec should be be able to pull off more than common photo extension files. I gather you can also setup other file extensions.

You can. The owners of the laptop said they only need their photos restored, so I set PhotoRec to recovery just .jpg files.

 

[DeaconFrost]

I ended up purchasing a license to Power Recovery about two weeks ago and used that to recovery everything they needed, including their entire iTunes library. I do this often enough that I figured the software was worth the investment.

 

[CB]

Does it have the free version?

 

[DeaconFrost]

It does, but it's limited to 1 GB of data. I tried it to see if it would read the drive, and it did, showing even the folder structure as well. So I went with the full version to add to my "toolkit".

 

[CB]

Thanks. Will keep it as a future reference

 

[mjf]

I ended up purchasing a license to Power Recovery ....

So for future reference I gather PhotoRec wasn't up to the full task?

 

[DeaconFrost]

It was able to recovery the .jpg files, but they later remember they had video as well, and some documents. PhotoRec was grabbing .jpg files out of ther IE cache, and spending plenty of time on files I didn't really need. It would have done the job if nothing else worked, but there would have been hours of clean up and organizing to do. Power Recovery showed me the directory structure, and that triggered their memory that they needed additional files.

 

[adelejukerberg]

I want to know whether this issue is solved or not. Or you may try some other free software.

 

[DeaconFrost]

Yep, I should have marked it solved, but my solution was to use Power Recovery. I do this often enough that it would be nice to see something with directory structures. Recuva has always been my go-to app, but that works best for smaller drivers.