Recover deleted files from FAT partition under Linux

Question

I need to recover deleted files from a FAT partition under Linux. I tried to do it with TestDisk and it was ok, but now I need to do it from a partition which has many bad sectors – and I found the bad sectors are only in files.

Those files are not deleted and all software I tried searched the entire partition, not only the free space which has all my deleted files.

I tried to use WinHex many times, but it does not work under Linux or Wine, so what should I try instead?

Solution

Try the GPLv2 PhotoRec/TestDisk tools. It really helped me when I lost some important files.

PhotoRec

Note:

PhotoRec attempts to recover files using magic bytes and file signatures, while TestDisk recovers files by looking at filesystem data. Therefor you should try TestDisk first, then PhotoRec.

Comments

[Shelvacu]

An important note: PhotoRec attempts to recover files using magic bytes and file signatures, while TestDisk recovers files by looking at filesystem data. Therefor you should probably try TestDisk first, then PhotoRec.