TestDisk



TestDisk analyzes your partitions in the HD and at the same time it obtains the partitions table information, compare them and if it finds any error. So easy, you will only have to select the drive you want to analyze and what you want to do. Arch Linux Extra aarch64 Official testdisk-7.1-2-aarch64.pkg.tar.xz: Checks and undeletes partitions + PhotoRec, signature based recovery tool: Arch Linux Extra x8664 Official testdisk-7.1-2-x8664.pkg.tar.zst. Aug 21, 2020 TestDisk is a powerful tool to recover lost partitions, fix partition tables and rebuild the boot sector, though it requires a bit of computer expertise to use. Fidentify, a little utility sharing PhotoRec signature database, is now build by default.

TestDisk will appeal to novice and expert users alike with features for both. For novice users that have little experience with data recovery techniques, TestDisk can be utilized to gather comprehensive data about a non-booting drive that can be provided to an experienced user on a support forum or an IT professional. And for those advanced. Jun 16, 2020 TestDisk is a freeware data recovery tool developed and maintained by Christophe Grenier. It is fully Open-Source software and is distributed under the terms of the GNU General Public License. The application’s main purpose is to recover lost disk partitions and fix bootable disks that are no longer booting correctly.

TestDisk
Developer(s)Christophe Grenier
Stable release
Repository
Written inC
TypeData recovery
LicenseGPL
Websitewww.cgsecurity.org/wiki/TestDisk

TestDisk is a free and open-sourcedata recovery utility. It is primarily designed to help recover lost data storage partitions and/or make non-booting disks bootable again when these symptoms are caused by faulty software, certain types of viruses or human error (such as accidentally erasing a partition table).TestDisk can be used to collect detailed information about a corrupted drive, which can then be sent to a technician for further analysis.

Supported operating systems[edit]

TestDisk supports these operating systems:

  • Microsoft Windows: NT 4.0, 2000, XP, Server 2003, Server 2008, Vista, Windows 7, Windows 8.1, Windows10
  • FreeBSD, NetBSD, OpenBSD
  • macOS - Only macs running Intel Chips- does not run on new ARM architecture also known as Apple Silicon[citation needed]

Supported partition table type[edit]

TestDisk recognizes the following disk partitioning:

Testdisk
  • PC/Intel Partition Table (master boot record)
  • Sun Solarisslice
  • Xbox fixed partitioning scheme

It also handles non-partitioned media.

Partition recovery[edit]

Babacugs. TestDisk queries the BIOS or the operating system in order to find the data storage devices (hard disks, memory cards, …) and their characteristics (LBA size and CHS geometry).TestDisk can[1]

  • Recover deleted partition
  • Rebuild partition table
  • Rewrite the Master boot record (MBR)

TestDisk does a quick check of the disk's structure and compares it with the partition table for entry errors.Next, it searches for lost partitions[2][3] of these file systems:

  • Be File System (BeOS)
  • BSD disklabel (FreeBSD/OpenBSD/NetBSD)
  • Cramfs, Compressed File System
  • DOS/Windows FAT12, FAT16, and FAT32
  • Windows exFAT
  • HFS, HFS+ and HFSX, Hierarchical File System
  • JFS, IBM's Journaled File System
  • Linux ext2, ext3 and ext4
  • Linux RAID
    • RAID 1: mirroring
    • RAID 4: striped array with parity device
    • RAID 5: striped array with distributed parity information
    • RAID 6: striped array with distributed dual redundancy information
  • Linux Swap (versions 1 and 2)
  • LVM and LVM2, Linux Logical Volume Manager
  • Novell Storage Services (NSS)
  • NTFS (Windows NT/2000/XP/2003/Vista/2008/7)
  • ReiserFS 3.5, 3.6 and 4
  • Sun Solaris i386 disklabel
  • Unix File System UFS and UFS2 (Sun/BSD/…)
  • XFS, SGI’s Journaled File System

However, it is up to the user to look over the list of possible partitions found by TestDisk and to select those that were being used just before the drive failed to boot or the partition(s) were lost. In some cases, especially after initiating a detailed search for lost partitions,TestDisk may show remnants of partitions that had been deleted and overwritten long ago.

A step-by-step guide[4] explains how to use this software. TestDisk can be used in computer forensics procedure,[5] it supports the EWF file format used by EnCase.

Filesystem repair[edit]

TestDisk can deal with some specific logical filesystem corruption:[6]

  • File Allocation Table, FAT[7]
    • FAT12 and FAT16
      • Find filesystem parameters to rewrite a valid boot sector
      • Use the two copies of the FAT to rewrite a coherent version
    • FAT32
      • Find filesystem parameters to rewrite a valid boot sector
      • Restore the boot sector using its backup
      • Use the two copies of the FAT to rewrite a coherent version
  • exFAT
    • Restore the boot sector using its backup
  • NTFS[8]
    • Find filesystem parameters to rewrite a valid boot sector
    • Restore the boot sector using its backup
    • Restore the Master File Table (MFT) from its backup
  • Extended file systems, ext2, ext3 and ext4
    • Find backup superblock location to assist fsck[9]
  • HFS+
    • Restore the boot sector using its backup

File recovery[edit]

When a file is deleted, the list of disk clusters occupied by the file is erased, marking those sectors available for use by other files created or modified thereafter. If the file wasn't fragmented and the clusters haven't been reused, TestDisk can recover the deleted file:

  • FAT file undelete[10]
  • NTFS file undelete[11]
  • exFAT file undelete
  • ext2 file undelete[12]

Popularity[edit]

TestDisk and PhotoRec (by the same author) have been downloaded more than 150,000 times in July 2008 from the primary website.In fact these utilities are even more popular as they can be found on various LinuxLive CDs:

  • GParted Live CD
  • Grml Debian-based live CD
  • PLD Live CD and PLD RescueCD, based on PLD Linux Distribution
  • Slax-LFI, a Slax-derived distribution
  • Ubuntu Rescue Remix, GUI-less Ubuntu derivation

They are also packaged for numerous Linux distributions:

  • ALT Linux[13]
  • ArchLinux Extra Repository[14]
  • Debian contrib[15]
  • Fedora Extras[16]
  • Red Hat Epel[17]
  • FreeBSD ports[18]
  • Gentoo[19] and Gentoo Portage[20]
  • Mandriva contrib
  • Slackware Linux SBo[21]
  • Source Mage GNU/Linux[22]
  • Ubuntu[23]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^Debra Littlejohn Shinder, Michael Cross (2002). Scene of the cybercrime, page 328. Syngress. ISBN978-1-931836-65-4.
  2. ^Ido Perelmutter - Debian Administration, Recovering from file system corruption using TestDisk
  3. ^Ionut Ilascu, Softpedia, Your HDD Is Missing a Slice? Try TestDisk for a change
  4. ^TestDisk Step by Step
  5. ^Presentation of TestDisk in The Sleuth Kit Informer
  6. ^Jack Wiles, Kevin Cardwell, Anthony Reyes (2007). The best damn cybercrime and digital forensics book period, page 373. Syngress. ISBN978-1-59749-228-7.
  7. ^Advanced FAT Repair
  8. ^NTFS boot sector and MFT repair
  9. ^Locate ext2/ext3/ext4 backup superblock
  10. ^FAT file undelete
  11. ^NTFS file undelete
  12. ^ext2 file undelete
  13. ^TestDisk on ALT Linux
  14. ^ArchLinux Extra Repository
  15. ^TestDisk on Debian
  16. ^TestDisk in FedoraArchived 2011-03-10 at the Wayback Machine
  17. ^'RepoView: 'Fedora EPEL 6 - x86_64''. Archived from the original on 13 September 2015. Retrieved 27 July 2013.CS1 maint: discouraged parameter (link)
  18. ^TestDisk in FreeBSD ports
  19. ^TestDisk in Gentoo
  20. ^TestDisk in Gentoo PortageArchived 2011-06-07 at the Wayback Machine
  21. ^[1]
  22. ^TestDisk in Source MageArchived 2011-05-19 at the Wayback Machine
  23. ^TestDisk in Ubuntu

External links[edit]

  • Falko Timme, Data Recovery With TestDisk HowTo

Test Disk Team:-Main ContributorChristophe GrenierLocation: Paris, FranceURL: cgsecurity.orgHe started the project in 1998 and is still the main developer. He is also responsible for the packaging of TestDisk & PhotoRec for DOS, Windows(tm), Linux (generic version), MacOS X and Fedora distribution.

Testdisk Linux

Retrieved from 'https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=TestDisk&oldid=1015933107'

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Project Summary

TestDisk is a powerful free data recovery program! It was primarily designed to recover lost partitions, repair FAT/NTFS boot sector, NTFS MFT and Ext2/Ext3 superblock and/or make non-booting disks bootable again when these symptoms are caused by faulty software, certain types of viruses or human error (such as accidentally deleting your Partition Table).
PhotoRec is a File Recovery program designed to recover lost files; including video, documents and archives from Hard Disks, CDRom and lost pictures from digital camera memory (thus, its Photo Recovery name). PhotoRec ignores the filesystem and goes after the underlying data, so it can still find files even if your media's filesystem has been severely damaged or re-formatted (overwritten data, of course, can not be recovered).

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