User's Guide for Windows

Fix damaged MBR/GPT and Use Partitioning Tools

Fixing MBR/GPT

If partition table looks OK for the disk you are recovering physically (you see all volumes in the Explorer Tree), but your computer still does not boot from this disk, it is possible that Master Boot Record (MBR) is damaged by virus or overwritten. You can try to use Fix Partitioning command to replace existing MBR with the one from the set of templates (the typical one).

To fix damaged Master Boot Record (MBR)/GUID Partition Table (GPT):

1. Select the disk in you want to fix MBR/GPT for (place cursor on it)
2. In the main window, from the Partition menu, choose Create/Fix Partitioning...
3. In confirmation dialog make sure that a proper disk is selected for MBR fixing
4. Click either MBR or GPT (depending on a partitioning style you like) to confirm the command and wait while list of disks is being refreshed:

Converting Partition Style

If you want to change "old" MBR style to a "new" one (GPT) to be able having more than four primary partitions or for some other reasons, you can easily do it with Active@ UNERASER. The same applied if you want to return from a "modern" GPT to "obsolete" MBR (but most compatible), for example, to work with disk under Windows 95/98/ME environments.

To Convert Partition Style:

1. Select the physical disk which partitioning style will be converted (place cursor on it)
2. In the main window, from the Partition menu, choose Convert Partition Style...
3. In confirmation dialog make sure that a proper partitioning style will be applied
4. Click Yes to confirm the command and wait while list of disks is being refreshed

Deleting Invalid Partition

If you know for sure that partition on the disk is NOT valid (damaged, or created by mistake instead of deleted one, or recovered not properly) you can delete the existing partition first and then try to search and recover other partitions.

This is also the only option when you found deleted partition using QuickScan or SuperScan, and you know for sure that it is valid, but you are unable to recover it in place due to overlapping with others existing partitions. You are to detect the invalid partition first, delete it and then to recover the only partition you are interested in.

To Delete Invalid Partition:

1. Verify that existing partition you want to delete is actually invalid partition (Windows Explorer is not displaying it properly, or unable to access it and suggests to format it, or displays a garbage instead of your files)
2. Select the partition to be deleted (place cursor on it)
3. In the main window, from the Partition menu, choose Delete Invalid Partition
4. In confirmation dialog make sure that a proper partition is selected for deletion
5. Click Yes to confirm the command and wait while list of disks is being refreshed

Content:

• Overview
• How to:
  1. Using QuickScan to detect files and partitions just deleted
  2. Use SuperScan to analyze deleted and severely damaged volumes
  3. Use Last Chance recovery by file signatures
  4. Unerase Deleted Files and Folders
  5. Unerase All Volume Data on a Deleted/Damaged Partition
  6. Search for Deleted Files and Folders
  7. Search, Organize and Recover files based on Signatures
  8. Preview File Contents (Recovery Status Check)
  9. Rollback, Backup and Restore Disk Partitioning Info
  10. Fix damaged MBR/GPT and Use Partitioning Tools
  11. Fix Damaged Partition (Volume) Boot Sector
  12. Re-create Deleted or Damaged Disk Array (RAID) Virtually
  13. Create and Work with a Disk Image
  14. Inspect file headers and disk data (raw sectors) with integrated Disk Editor (Hex Viewer)
  15. Concept of File Signatures
  16. Activate Software with a Registration Key
• Data Recovery Tips
  1. Treat Recovery Area With Care
  2. Save Recovered Files Onto a Different Drive
  3. Load UNERASER to a Floppy
• Glossary
• Troubleshooting
  1. I got Partition overlaps with other partition(s) error message while recovering. What does it mean and what can I do?
  2. I got No space in the partition table error message while recovering. What does it mean and what can I do?
  3. I got Unable to recover partition because detected file system is invalid! error message while recovering. What does it mean?
  4. I got Partition is recovered however not possible to verify and refresh volumes warning. What does it mean?
  5. I got Unable to recover the extended partition because another one already exists error. What does it mean?
  6. I recovered the deleted partition, however Windows is unable to access it. Message Drive X: is inaccessible. Do you want to format it? appears. What does it mean and what should I do?