missing signature in partition table in drive

[QuestinMarks]

so 2 programs that recover data have told me that one of mine external drives has a missing signature.

what does this mean and how do fix this

 

[Boogieman_WD]

Hi QuestinMarks.

It might be a missing file signature or a problem with the drive's file system. What kind of issues have you had, which led to data recovery software?
If you were able to recover your files, then I'd recommend that you download the HDD manufacturer's diagnostic tool and test the drive with it, in order to find out if there are any errors or bad sectors.

Please let me know how everything goes.
Boogieman_WD

 

[QuestinMarks]

Hi QuestinMarks.

It might be a missing file signature or a problem with the drive's file system. What kind of issues have you had, which led to data recovery software?
If you were able to recover your files, then I'd recommend that you download the HDD manufacturer's diagnostic tool and test the drive with it, in order to find out if there are any errors or bad sectors.

Please let me know how everything goes.
Boogieman_WD

Well its not the hdd where i lost my data that gets the error. i'm getting this error from from a ext hdd i'm using to put the restored files in.

i don't know this happened or if its fixable

p.s.
if want to know what happened with my data lost hdd. i accidentally formatted, i'm still looking for a program that can find all my files but with there original names and directory

 

[Boogieman_WD]

I see. You could try some of the data recovery software options from this thread: http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/forum/id-1644496/lost-data-recovery.html. Hopefully one of them helps you recover your files.

As for the external drive - test it with an HDD diagnostics tool, to see if there's anything out of the ordinary, before you store your data there.

 

[QuestinMarks]

I see. You could try some of the data recovery software options from this thread: http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/forum/id-1644496/lost-data-recovery.html. Hopefully one of them helps you recover your files.

As for the external drive - test it with an HDD diagnostics tool, to see if there's anything out of the ordinary, before you store your data there.

could you recommend a free diagnostics tool and what should i be looking out for?

 

[Boogieman_WD]

Well, as a Western Digital representative, I can't really recommend a specific 3rd party diagnostic tool, but you could take a look at this article: http://pcsupport.about.com/od/toolsofthetrade/tp/tophddiag.htm. It has 14 free HDD diagnostic programs (both manufacturer specific and 3rd party ones). If you can find there the HDD manufacturer's tool, then go ahead and download it, if not - just download a 3rd party one. As for what to look for - usually when you complete the tests you'll get results and if there's anything out of the ordinary it should be marked. If you're not sure, just post some screenshots of the results here (you can use imgur.com to upload the image) and I'll take a look at them.

 

[QuestinMarks]

Well, as a Western Digital representative, I can't really recommend a specific 3rd party diagnostic tool, but you could take a look at this article: http://pcsupport.about.com/od/toolsofthetrade/tp/tophddiag.htm. It has 14 free HDD diagnostic programs (both manufacturer specific and 3rd party ones). If you can find there the HDD manufacturer's tool, then go ahead and download it, if not - just download a 3rd party one. As for what to look for - usually when you complete the tests you'll get results and if there's anything out of the ordinary it should be marked. If you're not sure, just post some screenshots of the results here (you can use imgur.com to upload the image) and I'll take a look at them.

i used hdd scan, i hope everything is in the image
http://i.imgur.com/ZGpBuLg.png?1

 

[Boogieman_WD]

Everything looks fine judging by the smart data provided by this program. So what you're left with is to try and reformat the drive to see if you'll continue to get this error afterwards.

 

[QuestinMarks]

Everything looks fine judging by the smart data provided by this program. So what you're left with is to try and reformat the drive to see if you'll continue to get this error afterwards.

i can't i don't have a harddive that's big enough for all the files in it?

isn't there another way to fix the partition table?
also on my other hdd, when i try to see the recovered files with r-studio, i get a mft corrupted message

what does this mean? how do you fix this?

 

[Boogieman_WD]

It means that the Master File Table is corrupted.
Try with the chkdsk command.

1. Open up CMD (as administrator)
2. type in chkdsk X: /r /f (where X is the letter of the drive you wish to check, so don't forget to change it with the appropriate one)
3. press enter and wait for the process to be completed

Let me know if you still get that error afterwards.