# Running TestDisk

### From CGSecurity

## TestDisk Startup

When TestDisk is executed, you may see the phrase `Please wait...` on your screen until it has gathered enough data from the BIOS or OS to get the hard disk list.

    TestDisk 6.5-WIP, Data Recovery Utility, October 2006
    Christophe GRENIER <grenier@cgsecurity.org>
    http://www.cgsecurity.org

    TestDisk is a data recovery designed to help recover lost partitions
    and/or make non-booting disks bootable again when these symptoms
    are caused by faulty software, certain types of viruses or human error.
    It can also be used to repair some filesystem errors.

    Information gathered during TestDisk use can be recorded for later
    review. If you choose to create the text file, testdisk.log , it
    will contain TestDisk options, technical information and various
    outputs; including any folder/file names TestDisk was used to find and
    list onscreen.

    Use arrow keys to select, then press Enter key:
    [ Create ]  Create a new log file
    [ Append ]  Append information to log file
    [ No Log ]  Don't record anything

    TestDisk 6.5-WIP, Data Recovery Utility, October 2006
    Christophe GRENIER <grenier@cgsecurity.org>
    http://www.cgsecurity.org

      TestDisk is free software, and
    comes with ABSOLUTELY NO WARRANTY.

    Select a media (use Arrow keys, then press Enter):
    Disk /dev/sda - 120 GB / 111 GiB
    Disk /dev/sdb - 120 GB / 111 GiB

    [Proceed ]  [  Quit  ]

    Note: Disk capacity must be correctly detected for a successful recovery.
    If a disk listed above has incorrect size, check HD jumper settings, BIOS
    detection, and install the latest OS patches and disk drivers.

If the reported size doesn't match the harddisk size, i.e., a 120 GB harddisk is recognized as only a 32 GB harddisk, check your BIOS harddisk settings and the jumpers on the disk. On most large hard disks, there are jumpers to limit the size to only 32 or 8 GB. If your HD is detected as 130 GB only, LBA48 support may not be avaible in your OS, read OS notes for more information.

Next step is to select the partition table type

    TestDisk 6.6-WIP, Data Recovery Utility, February 2007
    Christophe GRENIER <grenier@cgsecurity.org>
    http://www.cgsecurity.org

    Disk /dev/sda - 120 GB / 111 GiB

    Please select the partition table type, press ENTER when done.
    [ Intel ]  Intel/PC partition
    [ Mac   ]  Apple partition map
    [ None  ]  Non partitioned media
    [ Sun   ]  Sun Solaris partition
    [ XBox  ]  XBox partition

    Note: Do NOT select 'None' for media with only a single partition. It's very
    rare for a drive to be 'Non-partitioned'.

## TestDisk Menu Items

- Analyse Analyse current partition structure and search for lost partitions
- Advanced Filesystem Utils
  - FAT: Boot and FAT repair
  - NTFS: Boot and MFT repair
  - EXT2/EXT3: Find Backup SuperBlock
- Geometry Change disk geometry
- Options Modify options
- MBR Code Write TestDisk MBR code to first sector
- Delete Delete all data in the partition table

Return to TestDisk main page

Category: Data Recovery

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