Full Guide to Recover Partition Table

Theo Lucia

Aug 04, 2023 • Filed to: Windows Computer Solutions • Proven solutions

If you are not much, a tech-savvy, knowing about Partition Table can be hard for you. But to ease your burden, we are bringing this article where we are going to talk about how to recover partition table and how you can recover you lost data in just a few clicks. Let us go ahead without any further ado and learn what is needed.

What is a Partition Table, and Where Is It on the Disk?

To understand in simple words, a partition table displays the partitions of disk drives in your system. And the partition is a section of disk drives contracting sectors and tracks in them. The role of the partition table is to save the necessary information of the partition size as well as the location of the partition on the disk.

The partition table in your operating system can be found in the first sector of every hard disk. It is a data structure of 64 bytes in total, and each partition entry is said to be 16 bytes long. MBR (Master Boot Record) and GPT (GUID Partition Table) are considered as the two partition tables.

Causes of Corrupted or Damage Partition Table

Here are some of the few factors that could cause lost or deleted partitions:

• Power outages: While doing the process, if there's a sudden power cut in your computer, this may affect the drive's operations, and it can make a partition inaccessible, and you will get that message.
• Bad sectors: Bad sectors can be the reason for the disk that is preventing your partition from getting recognized by your operating system, and thus, you get this message.
• Accidental deletion: While managing your hard drives, this is common that you could, by mistake, clean up the whole volume when you wanted to clean a specific partition.
• Data corruption: Faulty disk operations or Viruses can lead to a lost partition. These things result in partition inaccessible by the OS.

How to Recover/Fix Partition Table Without Data Loss

Fix partition table often comes along with data lost from hard drive, with the wrong operations will cause hard drive formatted and inaccessible data as you do not have a recent data backup. Under these circumstances, you will need a powerful hard drive partition data recovery tool to retrieve your lost data back from partition hard drive. And Recoverit data recovery is one of the best partition recovery software.

Step 1: Select a location

Launch the tool after installation. Select the location from where you've lost data under the "Select location" tab. After that, click on "Start" to begin the process.

Step 2: Scan the location.

Recoverit will take a few moments to scan the entire content and the chosen location. It may take an hour or two as it is dependent on how big your file is.

**During the process of scanning, you can also filter the data according to your need.

Step 3:  Preview and recover files

You can preview the recoverable files before proceeding to the next recovery step.

Once you've found your file/data, all you need to do is select it chose the saving location, and hit the "Recover" button.

**note: try not to save the file in the same directory wherein you've lost it.

How to Recover/Fix Partition Table When Computer doesn't Boot

Is Windows refusing to boot up on your computer? This may be because its partition table is missing or damaged. A tell-tale sign that indicates that you have this problem is the blue screen that pops up after you turn it on. It will look something like this:

Do not panic. There is a built-in utility software that comes free with your operating system to help you recover or fix the partition table quickly. It is straightforward to recover partition table by using this tool just follow these steps, and you will be good:

Step 1. Boot the operating system via DVD

You need to have a Windows installation DVD or repair disk. Insert it in the DVD player to boot the operating system.

Step 2. Start the command prompt

Now that you have booted Windows using the DVD, you will next need to launch the command prompt.

Step 3. Run command

In the command prompt window, type "bootrec.exe/fixmbr" and press the "Enter" key to start the recover partition table process. This command will perform a quick fix on the lost or damaged partition table.

Note: There are several "bootrec.exe" commands available to be used in different scenarios. The "bootrec.exe/fixmbr" is not only useful for repairing partition tables that are lost or damaged, but for other error messages as well. This includes "operating system not found," "error while loading the operating system," etc.

How to fix partition table with Initializing Disk in Windows Disk Management

Step 1: Open Run dialog and type "diskmgmt.msc." Click "OK" to open the Disk Management tool.

Step 2: Now, you've to select the disk to initialize. Now right-click on it and select "Initialize Disk."

Step 3: Make sure you select the correct disk to initialize in the Initialize Disk dialog box. After that, you need to click on "OK" so that you can opt for the default partition style. You can also change the partition style (GPT or MBR) as you like it. Reboot your PC.

Tips & Tricks of The Partition Table

You can do several things you can do to lower the possibility of your computer's partition table from being compromised. It includes:

• The most significant cause behind damaged or lost partition tables is a virus attack some strains of viruses can directly attack partition tables via DVDs and hard disk drives. Therefore, always practice caution by installing antivirus to protect your computer and scan external devices e.g., DVD, hard disk drives, and mobile devices before opening them.
• Partition tables are vulnerable when you make changes to them. This is especially true when you are customizing the partitions. Therefore, make sure that you will have a constant source of power when you are making adjustments to your partitions. A sudden loss of power could lead to irreparable damages to the partition table.
• Avoid making changes too often, especially if your operating system is running without a glitch or problem. Constant changes to the partition will inflict damage to the partition table. Whenever you need to make any adjustments to the partitions, use a reputable disk management software to perform the task.
• Make sure you verify if a partition is valid before you perform any operation on it. A change in an invalid partition can lead to a breakdown of the partition table.

It is essential to quickly recover the partition table so that running it on damaged partitions will not compromise your computer's hardware. It is important to note that making sure that you have a backup of your computer is a reliable way to keep your operating system healthy and safe.

Always perform a backup of your computer's partition table so that you will be able to restore the partition table to its former self quickly. Windows do not have a built-in data backup freely, and therefore, you will need to download and install a computer backup software. This will help the recover partition table command do its job efficiently.