The NTFS file system is designed to be more efficient and reliable than its predecessors. However, NTFS is not free from errors and users always end up losing data when the file system gets corrupted. In this article, we are going to talk about a unique error known as the first NTFS boot sector that is unreadable or corrupt.
With this article, you will not only repair the NTFS boot sector but also recovers data from a corrupt NTFS file system.
Method 1: How to Recover Data from Unreadable or corrupt NTFS Partition
Recover Data before You Repair Unreadable or Corrupt NTFS Boot Sector
You can easily repair the unreadable NTFS boot sector by reformatting the hard drive. However, reformatting a hard drive will erase important data saved on it. Hence, it is recommended to recover the data from an unreadable NTFS partition before reformatting it.
Make use of a tried and trusted partition recovery software to recover data from a corrupt NTFS partition.
Trying to Repair NTFS Boot Sector? First, recover your data from your corrupt or unreadable drive using Remo Partition Recovery Software and then easily format the NTFS file system. Remo can safely restore your data from drives with severe corruption.
Download and try Remo partition recovery software for free now.
NOTE: Immediately stop using partition with unreadable NTFS boot sector, doing so will overwrite existing data and result in permanent deletion of data
How to Recover Data from Unreadable or Corrupt NTFS partition
Connect your unreadable or corrupt NTFS partition containing the hard drive to the computer and follow the below-mentioned steps.
- Download and install the Remo Recover and start the recovery process on your NTFS Hard-drive from which you wish to recover data from and press the Scan
- The software will automatically initiate Quick Scan, once the scan is complete the tool will run the Deep Scan wherein it recovers data sector by sector of the drive. (You will be provided with Dynamic Recovery View) from which you can simultaneously recover data while the Deep Scan is running.
- Now select the folder or files that you want to recover from the NTFS drive and click on Recover.
- You will be able to view the recovered files and partition.
- Choose the needed file, and click on Save to browse for a location to save the recovered data.
Now that you have successfully recovered data from an unreadable NTFS partition, read the next section to know how to repair the unreadable NTFS boot sector.
NTFS Boot Sector Recovery | How to Repair NTFS Boot Sector?
When the boot sector gets damaged, the operating system cannot read it. A safe way to repair the unreadable NTFS boot sector is by reformatting it. Follow the below-mentioned steps to reformat an unreadable NTFS boot sector
- Connect the drive to your computer
- If the operating system is able to detect the drive, you can find the drive in the file explorer
- If a drive is undetected you can format it through the computer management
- Computer Management > Storage > Disk Management
- In the disk management tab, you can locate your drive
- Once you located the drive, reformat it with the NTFS file system
Remo Recover Benefits
- Remo Recover is not limited to restore partition on NTFS system, it also supports recovery from NTFS-5, FAT-32, ExFAT, HFS, and HFS+ file systems
- Remo Recover is one of the best partition recovery software that can easily recover lost data from drives reinstalled with a new OS.
- Remo Recover will help you recover data from different storage devices like SATA HDD, SSD, SD Cards, SD Drives, etc.
- With its preview mode, you can check the integrity of the recovered data before saving.
- If you are recovering large drives you can save the recovery session which makes your work easy
- It allows you to compress recovered data, it will help when you are running out of storage space.
Reasons for Unreadable or Corrupt NTFS First Boot Sector
Before discussing the causes of the unreadable NTFS boot sector, let's understand what it is in detail. A boot sector is created only when a drive is formatted with a file system. Regardless of the number of partitions on a drive, there will only be one boot sector per drive.
The boot sector contains information known as metadata. Metadata is responsible for maintaining a summary of all the contents on the drive. It also keeps track of any changes made.
So whenever the metadata file gets manipulated, the first boot sectors will get corrupt or unreadable. Following is the list of conditions that cause an unreadable NTFS boot sector.
- Defective Sectors
- Boot Sector Virus
- Incorrect Boot Sequence
- Conversion of NTFS drive to RAW
Defective sectors
Defective sectors or Bad sectors are a group of sectors that stop responding. The defective sector is a typical problem on most drives. It can be caused due to over usage of the drive, careless maintenance, dust, or any physical damage.
If you are facing issues like an increased booting time of a drive, missing random files, or, a shrink in storage space there is a chance of defective sectors. You can repair bad sectors by using the Check Disk or chkdsk. Check Disk is a Windows utility tool programmed to repair disk-related issues on NTFS and FAT drives. Running Chkdsk will locate and repair bad sectors to make them reusable.
Repairing them in the early stages can avoid corruption of the drive. If it is too late, you can still repair the drive but it might corrupt data on it.
Boot Sector Virus
Boot sector virus specifically infects the first boot sector of a drive. Once it infected the drive, it will spread to other drives whenever the user boots up the drive. It will start by making copies of the infected files onto uninfected regions. The infection starts by corrupting the boot sector code. It replaces the existing code with a corrupted boot sector code.
Once your computer is infected you can see performance issues on your computer. Booting up takes more time or the computer starts to slow down or even sometimes stops responding at all. If it is not taken care of it will crash the whole boot sector. You can resolve the boot virus issue by following the mentioned instruction.
Just like any other virus, prevention is the best solution. Try to keep away from unknown sources of storage devices and keep your antivirus updated. If you failed to identify the boot sector virus in time, it will corrupt the entire drive. The unfortunate outcome of this situation is either you cannot access the drive or you lose the precious data on it.
Overwriting of Boot Sector
As discussed earlier, the boot sector holds the metadata of the drive. That means whenever any changes happen on a drive, it will be recorded on to the boot sector. During this process, there is a chance of some programs might overwrite into to boot sector. Once the boot sector is overwritten it will get corrupt.
There are no instructions to undo this, you can repair the drive by reformatting it with a new file system. Remember that reformatting a drive will cause data loss. If you want to recover data from the reformatted drive stick until the end of the article.
Conversion of NTFS drive to RAW
RAW partition error is caused when the OS cannot detect the file system on the drive. When a first boot sector becomes unreadable, OS marks the drive as RAW. The RAW error can happen to all kinds of storage devices. Once a device encountered this error, you can no longer access the data on it. The only way to access data on a RAW partition is by using data recovery software.
There is no better companion than Remo Recover under various data loss scenarios. Be it recovering data from a hard drive that is corrupt or restoring data from a storage device that is inaccessible, Remo Recover is definitely the tool you should try. Download and try the tool for free now.
Conclusion:
The boot sector is important for the smooth working of the operating system. Some times boot sector can be damaged due to logical reasons. This article speaks about situations that make the first NTFS boot sector unreadable. This error commonly causes a boot error in the storage device. If the device is not repaired in time it causes data loss.
You can easily recover data from inaccessible data by using efficient data recovery software. However, if you feel there are other effective methods for repairing an unreadable first NTFS boot sector share them with us in the comment section below.
