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Partition Table Doctor

Partition Table Doctor is a data recovery software that can recover your data if the partition table or boot sector of the hard disk is lost or damaged. This may occur after a virus attack, software failure or a mistake with a partitioning tool. Partition Table Doctor can recover your partitions and get your data back.

Partition Table Doctor screenshot

If the partition table of a hard drive is missing or damaged, you won't be able to boot from the drive. So you will normally install Partition Table Doctor on a working computer and attach the problem drive temporarily as a slave. You can then use Partition Table Doctor to recover the data.

Partition Table Doctor can also create a bootable floppy or CD. Create the boot disc using a working computer, then boot the problem PC and recover the partition. 

Recovering a damaged partition with Partition Table Doctor is usually as simple as selecting "Rebuild". The software has an automatic mode that can find and restore each partition found without any user intervention. If errors occur, you can try interactive mode, in which you will be asked whether to save each partition found.

Partition Table Doctor can also repair a damaged boot sector of any partition. If the boot sector is damaged it will be marked with an X. To repair it, simply right-click the partition and choose "Fixboot".

Partition Table Doctor also allows you to back up and restore partition tables. Backing up the partition table is a valuable safeguard that allows it to be instantly restored should it ever become corrupt.

Another feature of Partition Table Doctor for expert users only is the Disk Sector Editor. You can view and change any sectors of the disk, save blocks of sectors to a file and load sectors from a file. There is even a function to erase data beyond hope of recovery by zeroing blocks of sectors. Use it with care!

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