3TB NTFS External HDD is seen as RAW, TestDisk finds files, not sure how to save them

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scifihi

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Dec 19, 2013
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TestDisk 6.14, Data Recovery Utility, July 2013
Christophe GRENIER <grenier@cgsecurity.org>
Disk /dev/sdi - 3000GB / 2794 GiB - CHS 45600 255 63

Partition Start End Size in sectors
HPFS - NTFS 0 32 33 45600 23 55 72563456 [Seagate]

The HD has over 2TB on it. It's not bootable, it's just a storage drive. Can it be repaired? Or do I have to move the files? Any experts on TestDisk? No replies on TestDisks forum.
Thanks.
 
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scifihi

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Dec 19, 2013
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Hi DeadRam thanks for the reply. The laptop is an i7 laptop. The HD is one of several storage HDs. I had to reboot the system and noticed this HD wasn't being read. After TestDisk analyzed the HD (11 hrs!) could see all the files via TestDrive. But I'm not sure how to save them.
 
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scifihi

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Dec 19, 2013
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OK. I've discovered the fix. Very simple to those that may have the same or a similar problem. The problem was in the Volume Bitmap. These are the steps that fixed my HD: 1. Go to Control Panel>Administrative Tools>Computer Management>Storage>Disk Management. 2. Change or assign a different drive letter to the naughty drive. I used "Z" as that helped to prevent confusion. 3. Trying to open the drive gives an error message: "Drive is not formatted" and asks if you would like to format it. NO, don't do that! 4. Go to the windows "Start"button.>"Run", type "cmd" to get to a command prompt. Then type "chkdsk Z:/f. Z will be whatever the problem drive is. "/f" is an option to make chkdsk fix errors.If you suspect any sectors also add the "/r" switch. The "r/" will probably take a long time which will require patience. It was a 3 step process and ended by stating "Correcting errors in the Volume Bitmap". Windows had made corrections to the file system. I can see and use the HD again!
 
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jhaveman

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Dec 28, 2015
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This worked for me. 3TB external Seagate Expansion Desk. TESTDISK would see it and I could copy files off. When I tried to fix the disk using TESTDISK, no dice. SCIFIHI's fix worked. Thanks DOS!



 
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scify

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Dec 29, 2013
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Bouncer214

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Jul 24, 2016
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I registered this account because I wanted to simply say thank you. After 3 days of searching everywhere and trying multiple different recovery software packages (including Testdisk7) I was also able to "see" the files, but not recover the drive as an entity windows natively understood.

I am not sure why changing the drive letter made chkdsk work in a way it hadn't before (because I DID try it very early on), but the point is, it did work. It seems like it made windows see it as a *new* drive, probably getting rid of old cached information of some sort. Then when chkdsk was run, it didn't try to use any of that previously cached information, repaired a few errors including the bitvolume, and bobs your uncle everything came right back.

If you're ever in SoCal, let me know, and I will gladly stand you to the beverage of your choice.

Regards,
-Bouncer-
 
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