External Drive shows up as Unallocated Space

[Sapp3r]

I have a Maxtor 250GB drive in an external enclosure that shows up in Drive Manager as Unallocated Space. I have a lot of data on this drive that I need to recover. Is it possible and which product would you recommend for this task?

[Joep]

Hello,

In diskmanagement, unallocated means 'unpartitoned'. So it looks like the partition table has been wiped. In many cases this can be repaired in place using DiskPatch. That's where I would start: http://www.diydatarecovery.nl/dp_manual/guide_supportanalysis.htm.

With a logfile we can pretty much predict if the partition(s) can be undeleted.

[Sapp3r]

.../000:01/LOG> ### LOG START ###
.../000:01/LOG> DISKPATCH 3.5.300
.../000:01/LOG> (C) 2000-2009 DIY DataRecovery
.../000:01/LOG> Contact info: http://HTTP://www.DIYDataRecovery.nl
.../000:01/LOG> MemFree: 52Kb
.../000:01/LOG> CommandLineParms: /sup
.../000:01/LOG> LogDate: 10-06-2011
.../000:01/CFG> FilePath="A:DPFILES\"
.../000:01/CFG> ReadRetries="32"
.../000:01/CFG> WriteRetries="32"
.../000:01/CFG> MaxReadErrors="32"
.../000:01/CFG> MaxWriteErrors="1"
.../000:01/CFG> LogEachReadError="1"
.../000:01/CFG> ReadDelay="0"
.../000:01/CFG> VfyFixedBadSect="1"
.../000:01/CFG> CleanAfterDOD="1"
.../000:01/CFG> DiskReset="1"
.../000:01/CFG> SectorSkip="1024"
.../000:01/CFG> AutoSaveState="1"
.../000:01/CFG> DumpFoundSectors="0"
.../000:01/CFG> FixFats="1"
.../000:01/CFG> MaxFatScan="51200"
.../000:01/CFG> MaxDataColEntries="256"
.../000:01/CFG> IgnoreF8FF="0"
.../000:01/CFG> DownSizeExt="1"
.../000:01/CFG> ScanSignature="55AA"
.../000:01/CFG> Rebuild="00"
.../000:01/13H> Ext13H installed test requested
.../000:01/13H> Disk found at 128
.../000:01/13H> Ext13H version: EDD-3.0
.../000:01/13H> Ext13H Support: Extended disk access functions
.../000:01/13H> Ext13H Support: Enhanced disk drive functions
.../000:01/13H> Drive Interface Info:
.../000:01/13H> Disk 128 X13H data : 16383/16/63 490234752/512
.../000:01/13H> Ext13H tested ok
.../000:01/FDL> DiskList requested
.../000:01/FDL> Disk found at 128
### DISKLIST.ARRAY ###
__D_|________LBA_|___H_|__S_|__GB_|__GEO
128 | .490234752 | 255 | 63 | 233 | BIOS
..0 | .........0 | ..0 | .0 | ..0 | BIOS
..0 | .........0 | ..0 | .0 | ..0 | BIOS
..0 | .........0 | ..0 | .0 | ..0 | BIOS
.../000:01/IAS> AdmiSector init complete for disk 0 (128)
.../000:02/EXE> Read/Write pattern test for disk 0 (128) successful
.../000:02/WAS> AdmiSectors in use : 0+
.../000:02/KEY> DEMO/1
.../000:02/PFC> PQstuff signature not detected on disk 0 (128)
.../000:02/PFC> UDMA driver not loaded
.../000:02/PFC> Disk health 50-100
.../000:04/PFC> Partition State backup not found on disk 0 (128)
.../000:04/PFC> No Repair date found on disk 0 (128)
.../000:36/CSD> Start CheckDisk for disk 0 (128)
.../000:36/CSD> CheckDisk complete, ReadErrors 0
.../000:36/USD> Disk 0 (128) selected
.../000:36/GSC> First DP run, geo info for disk 0 (128) not yet recorded
.../000:36/WAS> AdmiSectors in use : 0+
128/000:36/USD> MBR for disk 0 (128)
128/000:36/LOG> SectorDump requested at 0 (0 0 1)
###
000   33 C0 8E D0 BC 00 7C FB 50 07 50 1F FC BE 1B 7C  |  3ÀŽÐ¼.|ûP.P.ü¾.|
016   BF 1B 06 50 57 B9 E5 01 F3 A4 CB BD BE 07 B1 04  |  ¿..PW¹å.ó¤Ë½¾.±.
032   38 6E 00 7C 09 75 13 83 C5 10 E2 F4 CD 18 8B F5  |  8n.|.u.ƒÅ.âôÍ.‹õ
048   83 C6 10 49 74 19 38 2C 74 F6 A0 B5 07 B4 07 8B  |  ƒÆ.It.8,tö µ.´.‹
064   F0 AC 3C 00 74 FC BB 07 00 B4 0E CD 10 EB F2 88  |  ð¬<.tü»..´.Í.ëòˆ
080   4E 10 E8 46 00 73 2A FE 46 10 80 7E 04 0B 74 0B  |  N.èF.s*þF.€~..t.
096   80 7E 04 0C 74 05 A0 B6 07 75 D2 80 46 02 06 83  |  €~..t. ¶.uÒ€F..ƒ
112   46 08 06 83 56 0A 00 E8 21 00 73 05 A0 B6 07 EB  |  F..ƒV..è!.s. ¶.ë
128   BC 81 3E FE 7D 55 AA 74 0B 80 7E 10 00 74 C8 A0  |  ¼�>þ}Uªt.€~..tÈ 
144   B7 07 EB A9 8B FC 1E 57 8B F5 CB BF 05 00 8A 56  |  ·.ë©‹ü.W‹õË¿..ŠV
160   00 B4 08 CD 13 72 23 8A C1 24 3F 98 8A DE 8A FC  |  .´.Í.r#ŠÁ$?˜ŠÞŠü
176   43 F7 E3 8B D1 86 D6 B1 06 D2 EE 42 F7 E2 39 56  |  C÷ã‹Ñ†Ö±.ÒîB÷â9V
192   0A 77 23 72 05 39 46 08 73 1C B8 01 02 BB 00 7C  |  .w#r.9F.s.¸..».|
208   8B 4E 02 8B 56 00 CD 13 73 51 4F 74 4E 32 E4 8A  |  ‹N.‹V.Í.sQOtN2äŠ
224   56 00 CD 13 EB E4 8A 56 00 60 BB AA 55 B4 41 CD  |  V.Í.ëäŠV.`»ªU´AÍ
240   13 72 36 81 FB 55 AA 75 30 F6 C1 01 74 2B 61 60  |  .r6�ûUªu0öÁ.t+a`
256   6A 00 6A 00 FF 76 0A FF 76 08 6A 00 68 00 7C 6A  |  j.j..v..v.j.h.|j
272   01 6A 10 B4 42 8B F4 CD 13 61 61 73 0E 4F 74 0B  |  .j.´B‹ôÍ.aas.Ot.
288   32 E4 8A 56 00 CD 13 EB D6 61 F9 C3 49 6E 76 61  |  2äŠV.Í.ëÖaùÃInva
304   6C 69 64 20 70 61 72 74 69 74 69 6F 6E 20 74 61  |  lid partition ta
320   62 6C 65 00 45 72 72 6F 72 20 6C 6F 61 64 69 6E  |  ble.Error loadin
336   67 20 6F 70 65 72 61 74 69 6E 67 20 73 79 73 74  |  g operating syst
352   65 6D 00 4D 69 73 73 69 6E 67 20 6F 70 65 72 61  |  em.Missing opera
368   74 69 6E 67 20 73 79 73 74 65 6D 00 00 00 00 00  |  ting system.....
384   00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  |  ................
400   00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  |  ................
416   00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  |  ................
432   00 00 00 00 00 2C 44 63 6B ED 6B ED 00 00 00 00  |  .....,Dckíkí....
448   00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  |  ................
464   00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  |  ................
480   00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  |  ................
496   00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 55 AA  |  ..............Uª
###
128/000:36/VEC> Start Verify EPBR Chain for disk 0 (128)
128/000:36/VEC> Listing current partitions on disk:
128/000:36/VEC> No partitions found
128/000:36/VEC> Partition Table info for sector 0 (0 0 1)
128/000:36/LOG> PartListDump requested at 0 (0 0 1)
### _ACT_|_TYPE_|__START--C/H/S_|__END----C/H/S_|__LBA-start_|_LBA-length
..1 ...0 | ..00 | ....0...0...0 | ....0...0...0 | .........0 | .........0
..2 ...0 | ..00 | ....0...0...0 | ....0...0...0 | .........0 | .........0
..3 ...0 | ..00 | ....0...0...0 | ....0...0...0 | .........0 | .........0
..4 ...0 | ..00 | ....0...0...0 | ....0...0...0 | .........0 | .........0
128/000:36/VEC> 55AA sig Ok
128/000:36/VEC> Verify EPBR Chain completed
128/000:37/USD> Select disk completed
128/000:45/SCN> DiskScan requested, ScanType is 3
128/000:45/SCN> from 0 (0 0 1) to 490234751 (30515 178 63), 490234752 sectors
128/000:45/SCN> Starting QuickScan (pre-vista) at 63 (0 1 1)
128/000:45/CDC> No DataCollection entries, CleanDatacollection aborted
128/000:45/MPL> No DataCollection entries, MakePartList aborted
128/000:45/SCN> Next QuickScan location at 0 (0 0 1)
128/000:45/SCN> QuickScan finished
128/000:45/SCN> Starting SmartScan (pre-vista) at 0 (0 0 1) (JMP=16065, RNG=63)
128/015:39/SCN> SmartScan finished
128/015:39/SCN> DiskScan completed
128/015:39/SCN> ReadErrors for disk 0 (128): 0
128/015:44/LOG> DataCollection items found: 1 / 0
### DATACOLLECTION.ARRAY, FULL ###
SEQ_|___D_|________LOC_|____TYPE_|__COM_|______START_|_____LENGTH_|__PL_|_F
001 | 128 | .490223474 | ...NTFS | .BBS | ........63 | .490223412 | PRI | .
128/015:44/LOG> DataCollection items found: 1 / 0
### DATACOLLECTION.ARRAY, CLEANED ###
SEQ_|___D_|________LOC_|____TYPE_|__COM_|______START_|_____LENGTH_|__PL
001 | 128 | .490223474 | ...NTFS | .BBS | ........63 | .490223412 | PRI
128/015:44/LOG> PartList items created: 1
### PARTLIST.ARRAY ###
SEQ_|____TYPE_|_PTE_|__BS_|_BBS_|F8FF_|___S_|___L_|__PL_|_C_|___R
001 | ...NTFS | ... | ... | ..1 | ..0 | ..1 | ..1 | ..1 | 1 | ..B
### PARTLIST.ARRAY.INTERPRETED ###
SEQ_|____TYPE_|______START_|_____LENGTH_|________END_|__PL_|___R_|___A
001 | ...NTFS | ........63 | .490223412 | .490223474 | PRI | ..B | ..X
128/015:44/SST> SaveState requested for disk 0 (128)
128/015:44/WAS> AdmiSectors in use : 0+
128/015:44/SST> SaveState completed for disk 0 (128)
128/015:44/EXE> Analysis complete
128/015:50/LOG> RunTime: 015:50
128/015:50/LOG> ### CLOSE LOG ###

[Tom]

You don't explain what happened to the drive, so it's impossible to make an accurate prognosis for recovery, but (assuming you selected the correct scanning method) one item is found that points to a partition. That should be enough to repair the partition, if no other damage exists. So you should be able to go ahead and fix this with DiskPatch.

[Sapp3r]

Nothing actually happened to the drive. No physical damage, no accidental format, fixmbr, or partitioning on the drive. The last time it was connected, everything worked just fine. I used it to backup files from a clients hard drive that had been infected with malware.
I will try Diskpatch and let you know the results.

[Joep]

Hello,

Good luck! Look here for directions:
http://www.diydatarecovery.nl/dp_manual/guide_ptrepair.htm

[Sapp3r]

DiskPatch full scan was able to locate the partition, quick scan failed to locate it. I then ran the repair and was able to recover more than 50,000 files and over 3,000 folders.
Two issues that may have caused the initial problem.
  

• 1.) While transferring data to a new drive I could hear the armature inside the drive making high pitched noises occasionally (Not head to disk noises)
• 2.) Apparently there was only 450MB of free space on a 250GB drive.

In any case, thank you very much for the help and the software. (*breaths big SIGH of relief) This is one tool I plan on keeping for a very long time and will highly recommend.

Thank you again,

~Sapper

[Tom]

Excellent, well done.