Don't know how to recover partition table? Don't panic! In this post, you can get to know the way to recover partition table and recover deleted partitions.
Before using the hard disk, you must partition it first. When your hard disk has been partitioned, a partition table will be generated. It facilitates the hard drive to run in a good condition.
While managing their hard disks, e.g., updating the OS, converting partition table, or making some modifications; some users might meet issues. For example, they might accidentally delete partitions.
The corrupted partition table is one of the severe problems.
Partition Table messed up (conversion GPT -> MBR)
I tried to convert my external 2TB HDD from GPT to MBR. The process didn't finish so I decided to cancel the process after a few hours. Now Windows Disk Management recognized the whole drive as unallocated. The table is really messed up because it's half GPT and MBR.
I know that the data is still on there. Can I repair the partition table so I can access my data again or do I have to use data recovery tools to get it back?
- Question from Tom’s Hardware
Rest assured; this article can help you fix partition table. Before that, let’s figure out what is partition table first.
The partition table is a table on the disk, which summarizes and describes the size and location of the partitions. It is located in the first sector (cylinder 0, head 0, sector 1, MBR) of a hard disk.
The partition table generally has two schemes for storing partition information, the traditional MBR (Master Boot Record) partition table and GPT (GUID Partition Table) partition table, including the start and end locations of the partition on the physical disk.
This allows your operating system to know which sectors belong to which partition and which partition is bootable.
Pitifully, partition table error is not very rare. You may encounter a GPT partition table recovery issue as well as an MBR partition table recovery issue.
Some common manifestations and possible causes are listed below, check if you have encountered them.
Many factors that cause partition table loss or failure as shown below.
When the partition table gets corrupted, it is in urgent need of a remedy to recover it.
With a Windows installation CD, you could boot the computer and fix partition table with the Bootrec command.
Step 1. Turn off the PC compulsively by pressing the power button for 10 sec > power on and off > repeat this cycle 3 times > enter the winRE (Windows Recovery Environment).
Step 2. Insert the installation CD or DVD > restart > boot from the disc.
Step 2. Next > Repair your computer > Troubleshoot > Command Prompt.
Step 3. Input bootrec /fixmbr > press Enter > input bootrec /fixboot > restart.
Using commands can be a good option for users who are familiar with commands and troubleshooting; but for users without that expertise, the process will be challenging.
Given that, you might as well choose a Windows partition manager tool to help you. Here is a good third-party tool recommendation, AOMEI Partition Assistant.
To restore partition table, a powerful embedded feature can be your helper: "Rebuild MBR". It assists users in easily recreating MBR to fix errors.
Apart from that, this tool is equipped with more amazing features. Using it, you could scan hard disk for deleted partitions within several seconds to minutes.
Apart from that, it can leave you with an impression in more aspects.
Now please follow the steps to fix it.
Step 1. Install and enjoy the AOMRI Partition Assistant Pro demo version.
Step 2. Right-click on the unbootable system disk, and click Rebuild MBR.
Step 3. Choose the corresponding Operating System of your device to set the type of MBR on it, then click OK.
Step 4. Preview the operation that is about to carry out, then click Proceed > Apply.
Then you will have successfully perform MBR partition table recovery.
In addition to the need to rebuild MBR to recover partition table, users may also face a partition loss due to partition table errors.
When a partition gets missing or lost, precious data and files will be lost as well, which is the last thing that users want to meet.
Here are several ways to perform lost partition recovery.
If you need to initialize the hard disk to repair your damaged or missing partition table, you can try to do it manually by using Disk Management.
Step 1. Run Command Prompt as administrator > input diskpart > list disk > select disk 0.
Step 2. Input list volume > select volume 1. Input the actual number of the lost partition.
Step 3. Input assign letter = x. Choose a letter different from all the existing letters.
For safety's sake and to save your time, you may also utilize the “Partition Recovery Wizard” tool in AOMEI Partition Assistant prepared for you.
This feature is also very helpful to recover accidentally deleted partition no matter what Windwos operating systems you are using: Windows 11/10/8/7, etc.
What's more, multiple file systems are supported: NTFS/exFAT/FAT32/ext3/ext4/ReFS, etc. If you are using an ext4 partition, you could also recover ext4 partition easily.
Now, let’s follow the steps below to recover the partition.
Step 1. Install and launch AOMEI Partition Assistant.
Step 2. Click Partition Recovery Wizard on the left side of the window. Then Select the deleted partition to be recovered, then click Next.
Step 3. Here you can see 2 modes of searching. It’s recommended that you use Fast Search for time-saving purposes, if it doesn’t work, utilize Full Search. Click Next to move on.
Step 4. The lost partitions will be listed in the list box, select the partition that needs to be recovered, then click Proceed.
After that, when you see the congratulation notice, your lost partition has been back.
In this post, the method to recover partition tables and to recover lost partitions have been introduced in detail. besides, we would like to offer you some more suggestions.
To prolong the service life of your hard drive, here are some hard drive maintenance suggestions prepared for you.
Also, to prevent any data loss from GPT/MBR hard disks, it is a better bet to back up your data from time to time. Using AOMEI Backupper to create backups for Windows is a good idea.
Or, if you are facing data loss on hard disks right now, try to seek help from MyRecover, which can assist users to locate their deleted or missing files fast within only 3 steps.