External HDD partition tables lost, how to fix? (GPT, NTFS)


Recommended Posts

Hello everyone.

 

I'm using a 3TB HDD in an external docking thingy. I formated it into 1 big partition, using GUID and not MBR. File system is NTFS. Suddenly the it sad the drive is in use and I couldn't access it anymore. I undocked and reconnected the drive and the partition table is gone. Complete family photos and stuff. :( I'm currently using Windows 8.1 Pro.

 

I do remember, I had a similar issue with one of my older drives, where I lost 1 windows extended partition. Then I could reconstruct the partition. Can I do it now?

 

oPYw8ix.png

 

Is it safe to re-initialize without loosing the actuall data on it?

JqVFucJ.png

 

Opened Event viewer for the drive and found 2 logs. 1 is empty and propably the second one, seen on the print screen should be the good one be:

0bMPTgr.png

 

Or is there any 3rd party application for these kind of scenarios?

 

Every suggestion is welcome. Thanks in advance.

I'm googled this tool. Unfortunately, it's not really working out. Maybe because I didn't re-initialize?

ZD1QoTl.png

 

***INFORMATION***

This tool is made by Rod Smith, called GPT fdisk. You can check it out here: http://www.rodsbooks.com/gdisk/

 

 

 

Now found an application, called "Partition Find and Mount", and will try to scan the USB HDD:

1F5ekbi.png

Edited by Class
  On 12/08/2014 at 16:58, Eric said:

I've used gdisk to fix GPT drives before. It needs to be run in an elevated command window.

It also might be easier to fix it by using a live Linux disc.

 

What do you mean by elevated command window? I did run inside command prompt.

 

Linux? How?

  On 12/08/2014 at 17:25, Mindovermaster said:

Can't GParted do the same?

 

I don't know. Used maybe Gparted once of twice! Can u instruct me?

  On 12/08/2014 at 17:56, sc302 said:

 

Yes, ofcouse I did run it with admin rights. :) Starting folder was system32. That's how I got that error message printed above.

ZD1QoTl.png

I have used test disk with mixed success.  It will find your backup partition table and copy that to the master table. 

http://www.cgsecurity.org/wiki/TestDisk

 

video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jhWbSM-630E

  On 12/08/2014 at 18:02, sc302 said:

I have used test disk with mixed success.  It will find your backup partition table and copy that to the master table. 

http://www.cgsecurity.org/wiki/TestDisk

 

video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jhWbSM-630E

 

Nice. Really Nice. It stated to analyze. It clearly saw it's a bad GPT. Invalid sig:

mDJ9VVD.png

 

oghCm7N.png

 

Did write it to the disk. Now reboot. Let's hope. Fingers crossed. :)

  • Like 2
  On 12/08/2014 at 18:17, Eric said:

gdisk doesn't use drive IDs that way. try "gdisk64 9:"

 

Ok, I will give it a try. :)

 

But, happy news. TestDisk did restore my partition. Marking it as solved for sc302 and also Rob himself, the maker of GPT fdisk, he also pointed me to the app.

  Quote

 

 

Possibly; it depends on precisely what caused the data loss. In particular, GPT includes a backup set of data structures at the end of the disk, and gdisk can read and recover this backup data set. Thus, if your problem is caused by something that trashed the first few sectors of the disk, gdisk should quickly and reliably recover the data. For more on how to recover from such a problem, see the gdisk documentation:

http://www.rodsbooks.com/gdisk/repairing.html

OTOH, if the problem was caused by user error or a bug in a partitioning tool, which would have wiped out both the main and backup data structures, gdisk won't be of much help -- at least, not by itself. To recover from this type of problem, you're best off using a tool such as the open source TestDisk:

http://www.cgsecurity.org/wiki/TestDisk

This will search for your filesystem(s) and create a new partition table that houses them. There are other tools that will do the same thing; I'm just mentioning TestDisk because I know more about it than I do about most such tools.

 

 

Resolution, thought did make a strange 129MB unallocated space. What's that about? Is that a bad sector maybe? or was this the original space for the GPT header?

U2BaMVA.png

  On 12/08/2014 at 20:05, neufuse said:

Remember to make backups ;)

 

  On 12/08/2014 at 20:39, Circaflex said:

I hate to be that guy but for the love of god make an actual backup of your photos and anything important. The files being on an external is not a backup, store them in multiple places!!!!!!

 

Yes. Ofcourse I know that myself. But what can go wrong if that HDD is most of the time not running? They should be dust proof. ;) *but thanks for the advice*

This topic is now closed to further replies.
  • Posts

    • Download old Windows Startup Sounds @ https://www.winhistory.de/more/winstart/winstart_en.htm
    • Surface Copilot+ PCs coming to classrooms from July 22, turbocharged with on-device AI by Paul Hill Microsoft has announced that it’s launching the new Surface Pro 12-inch and Surface Laptop 13-inch models specifically for education customers from July 22. The Redmond giant said that these devices are being launched as a direct response to feedback from educators who want practicality and ease of use in their diverse classrooms. These are both Copilot+ PCs so teachers and students will be able to leverage the latest AI features thanks to the dedicated Neural Processing Units (NPUs) that allow for on-device AI. The on-device AI, aside from delivering well-known features like Recall, will enable new education features such as a new app Microsoft is working on called Microsoft Learning Zone. Microsoft Learning Zone will allow teachers to create personalized lessons by adapting content from trusted sources like OpenStax, generating interactive games with Kahoot, and tracking students progress. Microsoft expects this to help teachers save time and deliver a more flexible and engaging classroom. Another AI feature that will be available is Click to Do. This lets students highlight text or images and get contextual help. It can be used to summarize a paragraph or explain a graph. To activate it, students can press the Windows key and click. This feature runs entirely on device so inputs to the AI are secure and you don’t need to ever worry about third-parties seeing. Finally, these devices will also have accessibility features such as Voice Access which lets you navigate with speech and Live Captions which provide real-time subtitles and translations for spoken content. These make the devices more inclusive for students with disabilities. Regarding security, these laptops come with the Microsoft Pluton security chip directly integrated into the processor for protecting sensitive data. It can protect data such as passwords and sign-ins, even if your device is stolen. Thanks to automatic Windows Updates, schools never need to worry about falling behind on updates either. With the impending demise of Windows 10 in mid-October, these Surface devices arrive just in time for schools looking for somewhere to upgrade to. Aside from AI features and security, Microsoft is also pushing other key features including easy repair with replacement components at the Microsoft Store and iFixit, their lightweight design and all-day battery life making them ideal for carrying and surviving the school day, and their compatibility with popular education apps such as TestNav, Google Classroom, Minecraft Education, and Adobe Express.
  • Recent Achievements

    • Rising Star
      Phillip0web went up a rank
      Rising Star
    • One Month Later
      Epaminombas earned a badge
      One Month Later
    • One Year In
      Bert Fershner earned a badge
      One Year In
    • Reacting Well
      ChrisOdinUK earned a badge
      Reacting Well
    • One Year In
      Steviant earned a badge
      One Year In
  • Popular Contributors

    1. 1
      +primortal
      545
    2. 2
      ATLien_0
      205
    3. 3
      +FloatingFatMan
      170
    4. 4
      Michael Scrip
      151
    5. 5
      Som
      131
  • Tell a friend

    Love Neowin? Tell a friend!