DiskPatch manual - Tutorials

Recovery Guides: step-by-step DiskPatch operations

If you're pressed for time, or need a more digestible approach on how to use DiskPatch, use the following guides to help you through the process. We've taken a number of common problems and created step-by-step explanations on how to address them. Use the quickstart table as a starting point. Remember, if you have no idea where to start you can use our support forum to request assistance (free of charge).

Before you start with the guides, you must have already done the following:

downloaded and installed DiskPatch
created the DiskPatch bootable diskette (or the bootable CD/DVD)
registered DiskPatch.

Please note that analyzing the disk (through the 'create support analysis log' function) and running a read-only disk surface scan can be done with the trial version.
Also, using the trial version, you can try all repairs to see if you would have a chance at fixing things, but the actual repair (writing the fixed things to disk) can only be performed with the registered version.

QuickStart Table
- Problem:	- Start with (click link to see the tutorial) :
entire partition disappeared	rebuild partition tables
entire disk no longer accessible	rebuild partition tables
partition (accidentally) deleted	rebuild partition tables
partition move/resize/split/merge went wrong	rebuild partition tables
bad sectors are appearing	surface scan, or if disk usage is severely impaired, clone the disk
message 'partition not formatted' appears	rebuild boot sector (FAT or NTFS)
a disk's MBR is damaged	rebuild partition tables
a partition's boot sector is damaged	rebuild boot sector (FAT or NTFS)
intermittent file access problems	surface scan (diagnose potential bad sectors)
i want to analyze/repair a USB connected disk	read about DiskPatch and USB here
i need to work with a disk using Forensic standards	read about DiskPatch's forensic mode here
i want to wipe (low level format) a disk or partition	use DiskPatch's wipe feature
i want to clone a disk	use DiskPatch's clone feature
i want to edit sectors, partition tables or boot sectors	use DiskPatch's disk editor
i want to create a partition state backup	use DiskPatch's backup feature
i have no idea where to start	contact DIY DataRecovery support, include the 'support analysis log'.
- Additional tasks:
refresh MBR boot code	How To...
change partition attributes	How To...
how to create the 'support analysis log' and request support	How To...
how to create a 'disk health report' (SMART check)	How To...