Recovering a partition table

The partition table contains information relating
to the segments of a hard disk called partitions.

Recovering a partition table in Linux

By dividing the data area into smaller segments, read/write performance is improved.

If a partition table is corrupted, the operating system may not be able to boot the hard disk. However, utilities such as testdisk can recover the data.

Here we will discuss Ubuntu Linux. To start the recovery boot into the live CD mode of Linux distro. Download an Ubuntu ISO from https://ubuntu.com/download and create a bootable USB drive with the ISO.

Boot into live mode
With the boot media inserted, tutn on the computer and boot into live mode by clicking on ‘Try Ubuntu’

Install testdisk
Open a terminal and install testdisk using the commands

$ sudo add-apt-repository universe
$ sudo apt install testdisk

Launch testdisk
Launch testdisk with this command and select the No Log option, before highlighting the deleted partition

$ sudo testdisk

Select the partition type
Most likely Intel/PC partition. Do not select ‘None’ for media with a single partition. Click on 'Analyse' to search for the lost partition.

Quick search
Locate the partition table using a 'Quick search' and highlight the found partition ‘Linux’.

Recovery
Clicking 'Enter' will start the recovery process. Once completed 'Write' will recover the partition table. Confirm the changes and quit testdisk menu.

Reboot
Eject your boot media and reboot the system

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Recovering a partition table