Unable to use Testdisk.

Well, hello there. My name's Sid, from Egypt. I'm 15 years old. I recently heard of Zorin and thought it'd be great to try and I must admit, it's awesome. But unfortunately, I formatted my laptop by mistake when I was installing Zorin as I chose the "Replace Windows" option. It's my fault from the beginning, I know. However, though. I was recommended to use a program called TestDisk, almost everyone who used it recovered his lost data with no problems at all. Unfortunately, I am unable to install most programs because well.. I'm a Linux noob by the meaning of word. I honestly know nothing about how Linux systems work. I have a Zorin 8, not the ultimate one. I'm using the free one at the moment. How do I launch TestDisk in order to begin recovering? I found guides on the internet on how to do so, but my awn terminal seems to have a problem with that. I would appreciate all kinds of help.

Hi Sid and welcome,

first open a terminal with Ctrl + Alt + t and paste the following command to install "testdisk":

Code:

sudo apt-get install testdisk

Once installed take a look at this guide as I have never used it before and cannot really give you any or much advice:

http://www.cgsecurity.org/wiki/TestDisk_Step_By_Step

Let us know if it helps.

Regards Wolfman

My hero. I restored everything. Somehow, Zorin failed to start as I restored my stuff, so I reinstalled my Win7 to check if my stuff are all okay. Happily, most of them are. But 250 GB of video games did not survive. I have the files, but they're damaged. I will try to find out how to repair my damaged files and see what happens next. I won't install Zorin for now, because it turns out I have no idea what I'm doing on Linux. But yeah, I'll install it again hopefully when I am more prepared for it. Thanks Wolfman!

Hi Sid, try the demo from here to see if it is worth investing in buying:

http://www.runtime.org/data-recovery-software.htm

Swarfendor437 wrote:Hi Sid, try the demo from here to see if it is worth investing in buying:

http://www.runtime.org/data-recovery-software.htm

I'm sorry but if you read above, I already recovered every file that I lost. I thank you for your willing to help, though. BUT if you could help me and tell me of a program I could use to repair my damaged files, I would be extremely grateful. I lost 300 GB of video games that I love

Hi Sid,

if you have the original disks for the games, start a disk and it should offer you a "Repair" option, as opposed to a complete new install, try different game disks and see if it can solve your problem.

Always backup your important data to an external USB; or another HDD drive if you have two drives in your PC.

Regards Wolfman

Sid wrote:

Swarfendor437 wrote:Hi Sid, try the demo from here to see if it is worth investing in buying:

http://www.runtime.org/data-recovery-software.htm

I'm sorry but if you read above, I already recovered every file that I lost. I thank you for your willing to help, though. BUT if you could help me and tell me of a program I could use to repair my damaged files, I would be extremely grateful. I lost 300 GB of video games that I love

HI Sid, I know it is just that sometimes GetDataBack for NTFS usually does a complete job! I don't own it (should have used my Birthday money on that I guess instead of Amiga Forever! )

After some searching I have found this:

http://www.yourdigitalspace.com/2011/08 ... indows-pc/

I cannot warrant its use or effectiveness - also see last comment at bottom of page which refers to another application I have never heard of!

I tried every program to fix the stuff, but oh well.. Didn't have much luck. Whatever was damaged is permanently damaged. I suppose I cannot repair anything. I'll just get my stuff back eventually over time. Will take around 1 month to settle down again. :/ Once I learn more about Linux, I'll reinstall Zorin and avoid formatting my laptop in the process, lol. Thanks for the help, guys. And Woflman, I owe you. If not for you, I wouldn't have recovered any of my data. Thanks!

240 blue jewels to Wolfman!

Sid wrote:I tried every program to fix the stuff, but oh well.. Didn't have much luck. Whatever was damaged is permanently damaged. I suppose I cannot repair anything. I'll just get my stuff back eventually over time. Will take around 1 month to settle down again. :/ Once I learn more about Linux, I'll reinstall Zorin and avoid formatting my laptop in the process, lol. Thanks for the help, guys. And Woflman, I owe you. If not for you, I wouldn't have recovered any of my data. Thanks!

Hi Sid,

glad to be of help, sorry it didn't all work for you.

Regards Wolfman