Master File Table Corrupted.. What do I to recover data?

[88keys]

Ok, I've never encountered this one before. A friend of mine bought a brand new 2TB WD Green (EARX) HDD, and 2 weeks later he gets "Master File Table" corrupted. I've done a little research on this and this is completely different than the MBR so the common MBR fixes will not work obviously.

What I basically got from this is that a corrupted MFT is a likely indicator of HDD failure and that some people have had luck recovering data with software.

So before I dl and try a gazillion crappy trial versions that dont do ****, can someone kindly suggest a good software solution to attempt to recover the data so we can return the drive?

 

[Elixer]

Testdisk, it is free.
Though, I would clone the HD first, but if that isn't a option, testdisk should work on it.
MFT failures don't always mean the HD is about to kick the bucket, there could be many reasons for that.
I would also install crystaldiskinfo (free) and check the SMART info on the HD in question.

 

[razel]

The very 1st thing to do is run Western Digital's diagnosis software. Do the SMART and QUICK test to see if it's even healthy to continue. Then try MiniTool's Partition Wizard Home 7.6. It's simple, free and will do partition recovery.

There are two kinds of data recovery you can do if the disk passes the diagnosis. Partition recovery which is 100% accurate then file signature recovery which is FAR less accurate.

The MFT contains information about your partitions. If your partition is intact you can recover it 100%. MiniTool can do that easily. If it can't find it try testdisk. It is open source and not GUI based so it isn't easy to use, but is VERY powerful in the right hands. If both don't find it you are left with the file signature recovery.

If you reach that point, it's time to set aside a day and be patient. You'll then need to do the SMART long test. It is an entire surface scan and can take several HOURS. You'll want to be sure that the rest of the disk is fine before attempting to read all of it using a file signature recovery tool. If you don't scan and remap the bad sectors, you'll do more harm than good.

The file signature tool to use is PhotoRec, which is also open source can do file recovery for free. If you have a friend who understands file systems, ask them to help you. It can be a very long weekend if you reach this point. Best of luck.