TestDisk

Data recovery utility

TestDisk is a free and open source data recovery utility that helps users recover lost partitions or repair corrupted filesystems. TestDisk can collect detailed information about a corrupted drive, which can then be sent to a technician for further analysis. TestDisk supports DOS, Microsoft Windows (i. e. NT 4.0, 2000, XP, Server 2003, Server 2008, Vista, Windows 7, Windows 8.1, Windows 10), Linux, FreeBSD, NetBSD, OpenBSD, SunOS, and MacOS. TestDisk handles non partitioned and partitioned media. In particular, it recognizes the GUID Partition Table (GPT), Apple partition map, PC/Intel BIOS partition tables, Sun Solaris slice and Xbox fixed partitioning scheme. TestDisk uses a command line user interface. TestDisk can recover deleted files with 97% accuracy.

TestDisk can recover deleted partitions, rebuild partition tables or rewrite the master boot record (MBR).

When a file is deleted, the list of disk clusters occupied by the file is erased, marking those sectors available for use by other files created or modified thereafter. TestDisk can recover deleted files especially if the file was not fragmented and the clusters have not been reused. There are two file recovery mechanisms in the TestDisk package: Binary disk images, such as those created with ddrescue, can be read by TestDisk as though they were storage devices. In TestDisk versions prior to version 7, a malformed disk or its image can be used to inject malicious code into a running TestDisk application on Cygwin.