GUID is a new type of partition table that is slowly replacing the good old MBR. It is called a GUID partition table because every partition on your drive has a unique identifier called GUID, short for Global Unique Iidentifier. The advantages of using GUID partition tables are that they can grow very large in size and the partitions are extremely well structured compared to MBR.
You can format, partition or erase hard disks with GUID just like you do with MBR’s. Now consider a situation where you partition or format a wrong disk on your Mac. For example, you have run a ‘diskutil partitionDisk’ command on a wrong disk such as the main system drive. Considering these are command line tools, these things do happen sometimes. Consequently, the GUID partition table is damaged and turned inaccessible. Now, is it possible to recover data on this drive? Yes, it is possible with the help of the right tools. Please read this article to find out how it is possible and methods for recovery.
Data recovery from damaged GUID partition table
In some cases, it is possible to recover data from damaged or trashed GUID partition table using ‘testdisk’ command. However, in cases, where the damage is severe, you can make use of tools like Hi5 Software to recover data.
Hi5 Software is designed to recover lost or damaged partitions in a quick and easy manner. This partition recovery software works in a unique read-only way, so none of the original files are altered. Using this tool, all your partitions and data are recovered safe and sound along with the original structure.
About Hi5 data recovery tool
In addition to recovering data from damaged or corrupted GUID partition table, Hi5 Software can also be used to other situations such as
- To recover data when partition table is deleted
- When bad sectors are present in the area where partition tables are stored
- Virus attacks on the system
- Damage to partition table due to third-party disk management utilities
The advantage of Hi5 Software is that it is multi-device friendly, meaning it can be used to recover data not only from internal hard drives but also from external hard drives, flash drives, and SD cards.
Moreover, all file systems like HFS, HFS+, HFSX, FAT16, FAT32, and exFAT are supported by the software. As far as operating systems are concerned, Mac OS High Sierra, Sierra, Yosemite, Snow Leopard, Leopard, Lion etc. are all supported.
Once you have recovered data from the GUID partition table using Hi5 Software, you can go ahead and create a new one using Disk Utility. To do so, follow the steps below.
- Press and hold Command + R keys while your Mac restarts
- The recovery console opens, from here select Disk Utility
- Choose the disk from the left menu and click Erase
- Follow the on-screen format instructions and select the required file system
- Finally, click on Erase
Conclusion
GUID overcomes size limit issues and also provides a better structure for your partition tables, compared to MBR. However, like MBR’s, GUID’s also experience corruption and damage issues at times. In such cases, Hi5 Software is your best bet for data recovery as data will be recovered in original condition quickly and easily.
