NTFS corrupted, files not readable. Please help.

[Interstellar]

Hi all,

I’ll try to keep it concise. I have two 12 TB NAS HDDs in an Orico 2-bay JBOD enclosure, used as a backup target for StableBit DrivePool. Backup was mostly automatic, and I only checked it occasionally (roughly once a month).

Today I discovered that the two drives are not readable. MiniTool Partition Wizard reports the filesystem as OTHER.

Here’s what I’ve tried so far:

1. TestDisk 7.3-WIP – I attempted to recover the MBR/boot sector.

   • Before running TestDisk:

     Backup boot sector: Status OK Sectors are not identical 

   • After using TestDisk to copy the backup boot sector over the main boot sector:

     Boot sector: Status OK Backup boot sector: Status OK Sectors are identical 

2. I also changed the partition type to NTFS using TestDisk. MiniTool Partition Wizard now shows the partition type as NTFS.

Current behavior:

• Windows File Explorer assigns a drive letter, but the partition size is not recognized.

• I cannot browse or access any files.

• Quick scans in MiniTool Partition Wizard complete successfully with no errors.

Other details:

I have removed the drive from the Orico enclosure and am now using a different 1-bay enclosure. I initially thought the Orico enclosure might be the problem, but it isn’t. All files and the entire folder structure are visible via recovery software such as EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard.

• The drives were previously part of a StableBit DrivePool backup setup, so the data may be stored in PoolPart folder structures.

• The disks are visible in Disk Management, but still appear as unrecognized / RAW.

• When I try to quickscan using testdisk_win.exe it's stuck at 99% with looks like an extra cylinder count:                                                                           

I’m wondering if anyone has experience with restoring access to DrivePool backup disks that appear as NTFS but are unreadable, or suggestions on what I could try next to regain access to the files without losing data.

Thanks in advance for any advice!

 

TestDisk LOG:

Tue Nov 4 11:56:36 2025 Command line: TestDisk TestDisk 7.3-WIP, Data Recovery Utility, September 2025 Christophe GRENIER <grenier@cgsecurity.org> https://www.cgsecurity.org OS: Windows 8 (9200) Compiler: GCC 12.4, Cygwin32 3003.3 ext2fs lib: 1.45.3, ntfs lib: available, reiserfs lib: none, ewf lib: 20140608, curses lib: ncurses 6.1 disk_get_size_win32 IOCTL_DISK_GET_LENGTH_INFO(\\.\PhysicalDrive0)=512110190592 disk_get_size_win32 IOCTL_DISK_GET_LENGTH_INFO(\\.\PhysicalDrive1)=512110190592 disk_get_size_win32 IOCTL_DISK_GET_LENGTH_INFO(\\.\PhysicalDrive2)=12000138624512 disk_get_size_win32 IOCTL_DISK_GET_LENGTH_INFO(\\.\C:)=511553044480 disk_get_size_win32 IOCTL_DISK_GET_LENGTH_INFO(\\.\D:)=512108789760 disk_get_size_win32 IOCTL_DISK_GET_LENGTH_INFO(\\.\F:)=12000136527872 Hard disk list Disk \\.\PhysicalDrive0 - 512 GB / 476 GiB - CHS 62260 255 63, sector size=512 - NVMe CL1-3D512-Q11 NVMe SSSTC 512GB, S/N:38F6_0156_30E8_16C0., FW:22321116 Disk \\.\PhysicalDrive1 - 512 GB / 476 GiB - CHS 62260 255 63, sector size=512 - NVMe BM9C1 Samsung 512GB, S/N:0025_3879_41B0_EF6D., FW:67430709 Disk \\.\PhysicalDrive2 - 12 TB / 10 TiB - CHS 1458933 255 63, sector size=512 - Seagate Expansion HDD, S/N:0000000000002HC0, FW:0003 Partition table type (auto): EFI GPT Disk \\.\PhysicalDrive2 - 12 TB / 10 TiB - Seagate Expansion HDD Partition table type: EFI GPT Interface Advanced hdr_size=92 hdr_lba_self=1 hdr_lba_alt=23437770751 (expected 23437770750) hdr_lba_start=34 hdr_lba_end=23437770718 hdr_lba_table=2 hdr_entries=128 hdr_entsz=128 check_part_gpt failed for partition 1 P MS Data 2048 23437768703 23437766656 [Basic data partition] 1 P MS Data 2048 23437768703 23437766656 [Basic data partition] gpt_change_part_type Change partition type: 1 P MS Data 2048 23437768703 23437766656 [Basic data partition] Change partition type: 1 P NTFS 2048 23437768703 23437766656 [Basic data partition] ntfs_boot_sector 1 P MS Data 2048 23437768703 23437766656 [Basic data partition] NTFS at 0/32/33 Info: size boot_sector 1962930145, partition 1962930176 filesystem size 4196945173078214977 23437766625 sectors_per_cluster 133 32 mft_lcn 160618196281190402 5780 mftmirr_lcn 13359365344649591654 1 clusters_per_mft_record 0 -10 clusters_per_index_record 102 -12 Boot sector Status: Bad Backup boot sector Status: OK Sectors are not identical. A valid NTFS Boot sector must be present in order to access any data; even if the partition is not bootable. copy backup boot sector over boot sector ntfs_boot_sector 1 P MS Data 2048 23437768703 23437766656 [Basic data partition] NTFS at 0/32/33 Info: size boot_sector 1962930145, partition 1962930176 NTFS at 0/32/33 Info: size boot_sector 1962930145, partition 1962930176 filesystem size 23437766625 sectors_per_cluster 32 mft_lcn 5780 mftmirr_lcn 1 clusters_per_mft_record -10 clusters_per_index_record -12 Boot sector Status: OK Backup boot sector Status: OK Sectors are identical. A valid NTFS Boot sector must be present in order to access any data; even if the partition is not bootable.

[Christopher (Drashna)]

Have you tried running a CHKDSK pass on the disks?  Sometimes when they appear "RAW" this can work and recover the file system.  However, it's kind of a long shot. 

Aside from that, it would be data recovery, most likely.