How to read data from GPT Protective Partiton

[CausticLasagne]

Hello everyone,

I have a WD Red, 3Tb that has decided to stop working. I went into disk manager and looked at the partition and found that it is a GPT Protective Partition.

For the last 2 weeks I've been trying to access my drive to recover my files, but no software is able to do this. I've tried Easeus, Remo, Aoemi and others, but no avail.

I've been online and seen a few other users with my same problem, but I wasn't able to find a solution.

If anybody knows how I can get my data back, I'd appreciate the help.
Thanks!

Specifications:

Drive:
Western Digital Red
3Tb
SATA w 64Mb Cache
Nasware 2.0
Internal Drive, Connected via SATA Port

Computer:
Windows 10
Intel core i5
16Gb RAM
64 bit Operating System

For more information please ask me directly.

 

[Boogieman_WD]

Hey there, CausticLasagne.

This sounds really unfortunate. However, there area few option you could try to see if you're able to access the drive's partition afterwords.

1. Try the drive with a different computer, preferably with a different version of Windows to see if the same thing happens.

2. Try assigning that particular partition a different letter to see if you're able too see it in Windows Explorer (My Computer, This PC) afterwords. Here's how to do it: How to change the drive letter assignment in Windows.

3. Try to access the drive via Ubuntu Live USB, to see if the partition is properly recognized and if you're able to get to your files.

4. Keep trying different data recovery programs: http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/forum/id-1644496/lost-data-recovery.html and http://pcsupport.about.com/od/filerecovery/tp/free-file-recovery-programs.htm

5. Last but not least, you could go for a professional solution such as a data recovery company: WD Data Recovery Partners.

Hope that helps. Please let me know how everything goes.
Boogieman_WD

 

[CausticLasagne]

Hi there Boogieman_WD

I've tried my hard drive on my brother's computer, but he has a laptop and it only supports one hard drive, so no-go there.

I can't actually change the partition letter on that partition because changes can't be made to it. I've seen various articles over the net saying that GPT-protected partitions can be read but not written, and that's fine, I just want my stuff back.

I've also heard of the various mysteries of Ubuntu and it's potential remedies, and I was going to ditch windows and go for Ubuntu instead, but I like windows and it's familiarity.

I'll try the solutions you suggested, and I'll get back to you.

- CausticLasagne

 

[Boogieman_WD]

Actually you could try the drive with a laptop by connecting it externally (via a SATA to USB adapter with external power, via an external enclosure, or a docking station). This way you might be able to get to your data by using your brother's laptop if the partition is accessible.

I'll be sure to check out the results from everything you've tried once you've posted them here, so please keep me updated.

 

[CausticLasagne]

I did try it via USB but the partition shows up as RAW. Same on my tower. I also tried Linux, but the hardrive no longer spins up when connected so....
I might need to go to a professional data recovery place, or my data is going to be more messed up.

It should be readable shouldn't it? It's a GPT Protective partition, but no software can read it, so it's useless.

 

[Boogieman_WD]

There's another thing you could try - http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/answers/id-2973112/detecting-4tb.html. Scroll down to @R_1's post and you could give a try to his suggestion to see if it works for you. Please note that you should try the option that doesn't require you to "clean" the drive.

 

[CausticLasagne]

Ok the drive is connected and working again. Not sure what caused it to stop showing up. I have AOMEI working around the clock with it's partition recovery wizard, trying to recover my disk. It's been going for 48+ hours now. No progress bars or timers, so no idea what it's doing.

I'm not sure if converting this disk to MBR is a good idea, because I want to keep my data, and I think the limit is 2TB.
Does anybody know if there are some other ways to restore or even read the partition in it's current state?
Surely there has to be some software that can read a GPT Protective partition.

Here's a screenshot of my disk manager that I should have posted a long time ago:

And here's a screenshot of AOMEI working.... I think

 

[CausticLasagne]

OK. I found out that my BIOS is being weird and when I plug in my harddrive (the faulty one) into selective sata ports that is doesn't get recognized by the system. Time for a new computer! It's only about 2 years old, and had about 80% uptime.

 

[Boogieman_WD]

Unfortunately I can't help you with the software in particular and you'd have to check with the its developer's customer support for further info. I was hoping that there was an option for you to retain the GPT table without converting and make the drive accessible. If for some reason the partition has been corrupted by the computer, I doubt that the issue is so serious that it would require a brand new PC.
If you're having issues with your BIOS, try resetting or updating it.