I need a good data recovery app

A_Boojum_SnarkA_Boojum_Snark Join Date: 2003-09-07 Member: 20628Members
in Off-Topic
It seems that the MFT (and it's backup) and/or partition table have been corrupted on one of my drives. Chkdsk simply reports an unrecoverable error. TestDisk from cgsecurity.org says both copies of the MBR are intact but the MFT is damaged. Piriform's Recuva and cgsecurity's PhotoRec both start to recover data but get hung up in a loop going over the same ~100k clusters at about cluster 6.2m (out of 80m). The handful of other (free) apps I've tried simply don't function with a fubar filesystem.
Windows says the drive is raw and lists no size (not even 0), but TestDisk can "see" the NTFS parition and the correct size, though attempting to restore it yields nothing.

I figure I'm out of luck trying to completely restore the drive, but does anyone know of a good recovery app that will read the raw data and (hopefully) not fall into the same looping issue? Perhaps even if I could tell it what cluster to start at, I could try to skip over the problem area, if it is just that part.
Off Topic Disagree Agree Awesome

Comments

  • SpoogeSpooge Thunderbolt missile in your cheerios Join Date: 2002-01-25 Member: 67Members
    Have you tried slaving it yet?
    I haven't run into a currupt MFT yet but have had great experiences using <a href="http://www.z-a-recovery.com/" target="_blank">Zero Assumption Recovery</a> to salvage data.
    Off Topic Disagree Agree Awesome
  • lolfighterlolfighter Snark, Dire Join Date: 2003-04-20 Member: 15693Members
    I suggest restoring from backup. Sounds like that'll be the fastest solution. You DO have a backup, right?
    Off Topic Disagree Agree Awesome
  • PaniggPanigg Join Date: 2006-11-02 Member: 58212Members
    <!--quoteo(post=1818559:date=Dec 22 2010, 11:50 PM:name=lolfighter)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (lolfighter @ Dec 22 2010, 11:50 PM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1818559"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->I suggest restoring from backup. Sounds like that'll be the fastest solution. You DO have a backup, right?<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->

    You're mean.
    Off Topic Disagree Agree Awesome
  • ScytheScythe Join Date: 2002-01-25 Member: 46NS1 Playtester, Forum Moderators, Constellation, Reinforced - Silver
    R-studio saved my bacon about five years ago. Recovered an entire harddrive. The second hard drive wasn't spinning so I had to send it away and pay $500 to get it recovered.

    --Scythe--
    Off Topic Disagree Agree Awesome
  • lolfighterlolfighter Snark, Dire Join Date: 2003-04-20 Member: 15693Members
    <!--quoteo(post=1818591:date=Dec 23 2010, 02:26 AM:name=Panigg)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Panigg @ Dec 23 2010, 02:26 AM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1818591"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->You're mean.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
    Guilty as charged. :(
    Off Topic Disagree Agree Awesome
  • A_Boojum_SnarkA_Boojum_Snark Join Date: 2003-09-07 Member: 20628Members
    Thanks for the suggestions.
    While I was running the ZAR trial to see if it worked my brother informed me he had Easeus Data Recovery Wizard and that worked to recover most of the data. Though a few things it missed I was able to grab with ZAR within it's trial limitations.
    Off Topic Disagree Agree Awesome
  • CrispyCrispy Jaded GD Join Date: 2004-08-22 Member: 30793Members, Constellation
    <a href="http://www.piriform.com/recuva" target="_blank">Recuva</a> is free, not sure if it will do exactly what you need as I've only skimmed the thread.
    Off Topic Disagree Agree Awesome
  • DrfuzzyDrfuzzy FEW... MORE.... INCHES... Join Date: 2003-09-21 Member: 21094Members
    Norton Ghost is a industry-standard program for repair facilities from the last couple of jobs I've had.
    Off Topic Disagree Agree Awesome
Sign In or Register to comment.