Test Disk- Open Source Data Recovery Software

Test Disk (www.cgsecurity.org/testdisk.html)

Test Disk is a powerful data recovery software, and was primarily designed to help recover lost partitions and/or make non-booting disks bootable. These may be caused by faulty software, viruses, or human error. With Test Disk, even partition Table (a file system table that contains information about how many and which types of partitions are on the disk) recovery because really easy.

When a hard disk drive crashes, the first things to do is to make sure no more data is written to the drive. If we have a situation where the partition table is all right, but critical operating system file have been damaged. Windows will not boot. In such a case, if there is another OS installed on the system under consideration, the HDD may still be read. So, you can gain access to the file on your hard drive with a crashed OS by booting the computer with a DOS boot disk and than use a DOS- compatible file recovery program such a Test Disk.

In addition, we should mention that transferring the HDD to another computer prevents the drive from being written to accidentally, and could allow you to retrieve information from the disk. At times, all that is required is to use Windows Explorer (on the system to which the drive has been transferred) to look through the file structures.

Test Disk capable of restoring lost information in a matter of minutes. It supports all major operating systems, and also RAID-configured drives. It has Linux versions as well.

Test Disk queries the BIOS or the OS in order to find the hard disks and their characteristics. It does a quick check of the disk’s structure and compares it with the Partition Table for entry errors.

If the Partition Table does have entry errors, Test Disk can repair them. If there are missing partitions or a completely empty Partition Table, Test Disk can search for partitions and create a new table or even a new Master Boot Record (MBR) if necessary. Now, a master boot record (MBR) is the first sector (“sector zero”) of a partitioned hard disk, and its responsible for retaining vital system information such as the partition table, and the Bootstrap loader.

Test Disk has features for both novices and experts. For amateurs, Test Disk can be used to collect details information about a non- booting drive, which can then be sent to data recovery professionals for analysis. Those more familiar with such procedures should find Test Disk a handy tool in performing on-site recovery.

1. Upon starting Test Disk, you get a screen at the top that lists your available physical drives.

2. Highlight the drive you wish to recover and select the Analyze option.

3. This will show the current partition structure, and upon hitting [Enter], Will start searching the drive to see whether the actual partitions match. Make a point to take this information down.

4. Once this search is complete, hit [Enter] again. It’s a good idea to run the “Search!” option to do a more comprehensive search of the drives.

5. If you initially had no partitions shown because of a damaged or wiped partition table., Test Disk will now hopefully have rediscovered the partitions.

6. Verify the information and select Write to save the new information onto the disk. If removing your partitions was the only damage you did, you should now be up and running again.

7. If you have erased or damaged your Partition Table, nothing will be displayed under the listing, as above. In this case, you should select the “Advanced” option. The tool will assist you in revamping your HDD in the same manner, as above.

Test Disk will compare the boot sector to the backup boot sector. If they are identical, it can do nothing more, but if they are different, it will ask you if you wish to over write the boot sector with the information from the backup.