Format the HDD without deleting the data, as in FAT32/NTFS

  • Thread starter Thread starter Eric Wang
  • Start date Start date
E

Eric Wang

My HDD has got some problem and one of its 2 partitions is inaccessible.
When I use TestDisk , the files were still intact on that partition. So now
I need to know if I can format the drive to NTFS, but still keep the files
intact. Someone told me that I can rewrite the partition table to the HDD,
but I tried that with TestDisk and it didn't work. Can anyone tell me also
if a HDD's partition table can be modified if connected via USB? Or must I
use IDE cable, because that HDD is a laptop HDD.

Thanks,
Eric
 
Eric Wang said:
My HDD has got some problem and one of its 2 partitions is inaccessible.
When I use TestDisk , the files were still intact on that partition. So now
I need to know if I can format the drive to NTFS, but still keep the files
intact. Someone told me that I can rewrite the partition table to the HDD,
but I tried that with TestDisk and it didn't work. Can anyone tell me also
if a HDD's partition table can be modified if connected via USB? Or must I
use IDE cable, because that HDD is a laptop HDD.

Thanks,
Eric
Click to expand...

Standard practice is to back up all data files to an independent
medium once every week. If you haven't done it so far then this is
a timely reminder to start right now. If you don't then you're likely to
lose irreplaceable data, either now or at some later stage.

You don't say in your post what TestDisk is, and you don't say if
your data files reside on the sound or on the damaged partition. If
they reside on the damaged partition, and if you try to convert this
partitioin to NTFS, then you're probably heading for a disaster.

What exactly do you mean with ". . . if a HDD's partition table can
be modified if connected via USB"? How do you propose to modify
the partition table? Where does the USB port come in? How do
you want to use an IDE cable for a laptop hard disk?
 
Actually, what usually happens when you format (depending on what type
of format you do), is that it simply rewrites the partition table with a
blank one. The quick format's simply write a new partition table and
leave all of the existing data in tact (but not able to be seen since
the partition table has been erased). A full format will usually write
3 0's at the beginning (and sometimes end) of every sector on the drive
which still leaves some data, but usually corrupts just about everything
on the disk.

If you are trying to recover data that was on the damaged partition that
was formatted, you will need to purchase a data recovery program for
this function. I highly recommend OnTrack Data Recovery from
www.ontrack.com ;)
 
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