Current news

== 7.0 ==
=== General Improvements ===
Various fix including security fix, thanks to
* Coverity scan (Static Analysis of source code)
* afl-fuzz (security-oriented fuzzer).
* Denis Andzakovic from Security Assessment for reporting an exploitable Stack B
uffer Overflow
=== TestDisk ===
==== Improvements ====
* exFAT: better support
* ext4: handle 64 bit blocks or 64 KiB blocksize. Fix detection and file listing
==== Bug fixes ====
* Avoid erroneous error when writing 512 bytes on hard disk using 4k sector
* FAT, NTFS: avoid NULL pointer dereference if localtime() returns NULL. Thanks
to Graham Sutherland for reporting this bug.
=== PhotoRec & QPhotoRec ===
QPhotoRec is a Graphical User Interface (Qt based GUI) version of PhotoRec. More
user friendly, it recognizes the same file formats.
PhotoRec remains recommended for advanced users, it can stop a recovery and resu
me it later, it recovers more fragmented files when brute-force technology is en
abled and expert mode is available.
==== Improvements ====
* Reduced false positives for more than 80 file formats.
* .gif: fix filesize detection
* .flv: add Flash filesize detection
* .mpg: detect filesize for MPEG
* .ra: detect filesize for RealAudio3
* Improved algorithm to deal with data fragmentation resulting in a general spee
d increased
* Speedup brute-force mode. Brute-force mode can recover more fragmented files,
but it's still slow and not 100% reliable. You can enable it in PhotoRec Options
menu.
New file formats recovered by PhotoRec:
* .3dm: Rhino / openNURBS
* .ari: ARRI Raw Video
* .camrec: Camtasia Studio
* .dad: Micae DVR
* .dcm: Digital Imaging and Communications in Medicine (DICOM)
* .fp12: File Maker Pro 12
* .kra: Krita
* .mlv: Magic Lantern Video
* .notebook: SMART notebook
* .ora: Mypaint
* .red: RED2 video format
* .rlv: Revelation password
* .vbm: Veeam Backup Metadata
* .woff: Web Open Font Format

== 6.14 ==
* The log file generated by the Windows version (cygwin) reports bad sectors in

a more readable fashion, example

<code>ReadFile Data error (cyclic redundancy check)</code>.
* As openssl isn't used, don't link with this cryptographic library (Debian trie
s to avoid mixing GPL code and openssl)
=== TestDisk ===
==== Improvements ====
* <code>testdisk /list</code> now displays the disk model, serial number, firmwa
re version and hpa or dco presence if detected
* Recover WBFS (Wii Backup File System) partition
* Make FAT RebuildBS works when there is a single FAT table
* Interface: Display the partition table type if autodetected
* Interface: modified warning about mismatching geometry between FAT or NTFS boo
t sector and HD geometry information ([http://bugs.debian.org/cgi-bin/bugreport.
cgi?bug=651756 Debian #651756])
* Interface: Remove "Allow partial last cylinder" option
==== Bug fixes ====
* Fix crc in EFI backup GPT
* Rewrote how TestDisk aligns partition on cylinder or 1MB boundary. It avoids t
o create partition entry where the partition ends after the end of the disk.
=== PhotoRec ===
==== Improvements ====
* Improve Olympus .orf recovery
* Improve WP Mac/WP5/WP6 Corel Documents .wpd files recovery
* Fix thumbs.db recovery, avoid some false positive with .doc
* Interface: if less than 10 file families are enabled, display the results even
if zero has been found yet
New file formats:
* .aep After Effects
* .axx AxCrypt
* .dp Designer, a Photobook Designer Software
* .lzh archive
* .mmap MindManager
* .plt Gerber Graphix Advantage
* .prproj Adobe Premiere project
* .psb Adobe Photoshop Image
* .pts PTGui, panoramic stitching software
* .qcp The QCP File Format and Media Types for Speech Data (RFC3625)
* .shn Shorten audio file
* .snt Windows Sticky Notes
* .ttd TinyTag Data
* .wallet Armory bitcoin wallet
* .wim Windows imaging (WIM) image
==== Bug fixes ====
* Fix an endless loop during .caf file recovery
* Fix tiff recovery including some raw file formats, 64-bit version wasn't affec
ted
== 6.13 ==
Fix UAC manifests for Windows, so users don't need to use right-click "Run As Ad
ministrator"
TestDisk
- Fix image creation, image.dd file wasn't created (Regression introduced in 6.1
2)

Detect Vmware VMFS partition

Locate lost GFS2 partition but not yet the size
Log HDD serial number and firmware revision
List NTFS Alternate Data Streams (ADS)

PhotoRec
- Session recovery restarts at the previous location
- Better MPEG recovery, there should be less concatenated videos.
- Better JPG recovery, there should be less cases where thumbnails were recovere
d instead of the picture itself.
- Handle large avi files using "AVIX" or mov files using 64-bit chunk size.
- Rename recovered pdf using the title (not perfect)
- Major cleanup of PhotoRec core code
6.12
fidentify, a little utility sharing PhotoRec signature database, is now build by
default. It identifies the type of data contained in a file and reports the ext
ension as seen by PhotoRec. It is similar to the Unix file command. Add compatib
ility with
- libewf 20110312
- ncurses 5.8
- ntfs-3g
Fix detection of Encase 6 .ewf files
TestDisk
- Convert the directory name when it can't be created (Fix for Windows/Cygwin ve
rsion)
- Better HPA/DCO detection: handle the case where native_max is null.
- Image Creation is now faster than previous version when there are bad sectors
- List and copy (experimental) files from exFAT filesystem
- Improved NTFS undelete interface
PhotoRec
- PhotoRec checks for EFBIG (file too large) error when writing files. It's usef
ull to avoid erronous message about "no free space available" when recovering to
a FAT filesystem.
- Recover files from exFAT unallocated space
- Use doc/xls/ppt title to name recovered Office document, use first filename in
zip archive...
- Possibility to add your own extension/custom signature to PhotoRec
- Generated a report.xml file using Digital Forensics XML
6.11
TestDisk & PhotoRec 6.11 should use less CPU.
This new TestDisk version can undelete files for NTFS filesystem and recover del
eted exFAT and ext4.
PhotoRec
- Performance improvement when scanning for numerous file type
- Fix several bugs including an endless loop, several memory leaks and several o
ut-of-bound memory access
- 50 file formats have been added
6.10
TestDisk & PhotoRec 6.10 comes with severals improvements:
- Report disk manufacturer and model under Windows and Linux (Only Linux was
supported in 6.9)
- Under Linux, /dev/mapper/* and /dev/md? are now listed with the harddisks.
- Now both OS and compiler versions are recorded in the log file.
This new TestDisk version can

- undelete files and directories for FAT filesystem,

- undelete files for ext2 filesystem,
- copy files from ext2/ext3 partitions. These feature was already available
for FAT and NTFS.
PhotoRec
- Load and save FileOpts settings: remember which file types to recover
- For JPEG files, extract the time/date from Exif header and set the
file time. It's now easier to sort the recovered jpg.
- PhotoRec can now identify and recover 38 additional file formats.
6.9
TestDisk & PhotoRec 6.9 comes with numerous improvements:
- They are compatible with ntfsprogs 2.0, the latest library version for
accessing NTFS partitions, e2fsprogs 1.40.6, the latest library for accessing
ext2/ext3 partitions.
- EFI GUID Partition Table is now supported. EFI GPT is mainly used on Itanium,
MacBook and Mac Pro.
- Both utilities can use sudo if the user is not root, this functionnality will
be enabled for at least MacOSX, so users won't have to go into a command line.
- Improved Windows disk support, most internal USB card reader should now work.
- Disk model (ie. ATA ST3120026AS, _NEC DVD_RW ND-4550A...) are now reported
under Linux.
TestDisk
- New file system support has been added: encrypted LUKS, Mac HFSX, Linux Raid
md 1.0/1.1/1.2 (0.9 was already supported).
- It displays unicode filenames correctly, and can handle unicode filesnames
while copying files from an NTFS partition when supported by the underlying
libraries.
- It's now possible to copy files from a lost FAT partition found by TestDisk
(Already possible for NTFS).
- In the Advanced menu, TestDisk can create a raw/dd-like image of a partition.
PhotoRec
- For ext2/ext3 file systems, PhotoRec 6.9 can search in the whole space or in
unallocated space only. This feature was already available for FAT and NTFS
filesystem.
- It has better session support which allows a recovery to be stopped and
restarted later.
- New file formats are supported: Acronis True Image .TIB, AutoCAD's .DWG and
PowerTab .PTB, Cineon image file/SMTPE DPX .DPX, Comic Life .comicdoc, HP
Photosmart Photo Printing Album .albm, KeepAssX .KDB, Maya .MB and .MP,
Microsoft OneNOte .one file, Microsoft Visual Studio Resource file .RES,
Microsoft VB's .CLS, Outlook .MSG, QuickBook .FST, SketchUp .SKP, Vmware .vmdk,
WinSpec .SPE, Windows Enhanced MetaFile .emf, MS Windows Link .lnk, Internet
Explorer index.dat, Macintosh Picture .pct, SunPCI Disk Image,XBOX GTA San
Andreas Save File, Final Cut Pro .fcp and Digital Speech Standard .dss.
6.8
Version 6.8 is mainly a bugfix but some small improvements has been made to
both TestDisk and PhotoRec:
- Partition type is now autodetected.
- TestDisk and PhotoRec can now be used under screen, the screen manager with
VT100/ANSI terminal emulation.
TestDisk
HFS detection has been improved to avoid false positive.
TestDisk logs potential NTFS partition location from MFT & MFTMirr location
while rebuilding NTFS boot sector.

PhotoRec
Some important bugfixes (false positive problem, implementation bugs) have been
made in PhotoRec 6.8. JPG bruteforce recovery has been improved a little bit,
you can use it to recover more fragmented jpeg but it's very time consuming and
not 100% reliable, so it's still disabled by default.
.7z, .cab, .rar and .tar recovery have been improved, .dta and .spss file
formats have been added.
6.7
Both utilities are faster than previous versions: a better disk caching is
used in PhotoRec, a better way to handle the sector to scan is used in
TestDisk. Windows version of TestDisk and PhotoRec doesn't use
pread()/pwrite() cygwin implementation (A bug seems present).
TestDisk
TestDisk 6.7 handles partition created under Microsoft Vista.
Traditionally partitions were created on cylinder boundaries. Under Vista,
they are now independent of the disk geometry: partitions are aligned to 1
MB boundary, TestDisk now handles that. It also fixes how the advanced
menu works.
PhotoRec
PhotoRec 6.7 uses less CPU. It also adds support for 3ds max, Archive
.ace, CD Audio .cda, FastTrackerII Extended Module .xm, Linux archive .a,
Linux/Unix ELF binary, Mac OS .emlx mail format, Macomedia Compressed
Flash .swc, Macromedia .flv, Macromedia Freehand 5 (.fh5) & 10 (.fh10) and
InDesign .indd, Matroska .mkv, MP3 with ID3 header, MS cabinet archive
.cab, MSOffice "Open" XML .docx, .pptx, .xlsx, MS executable (PE), MS
Windows Metafile .wmf, NJStar .njx, Quickbooks .qbb and .qbw, Real Audio
.rm, registry config file .reg, RPM package .rpm, Windows registry header
detection and Event Log .evt
6.6
General Improvements
- Encase Expert Witness Compression Format is now supported, so Computer
Forensic Experts can use TestDisk and PhotoRec more easily.
- Under new Vista OS, harddisks are now being reported again.
TestDisk
- If LBA48 support seems missing (HD bigger than 130 GB not supported by
the OS), TestDisk will warn the user. This problem is common when a user
reinstalls his OS and forgets to install the latest service patches.
- NTFS: TestDisk should be able to list files from NTFS partitions even if
some filesystem corruption has occurred; more importantly, it will allow
the user to copy whatever file data it can as well.
- FAT: Improved heuristics to find the first FAT area during boot sector
rebuild.
PhotoRec
- A new method for handling fragmented data is now used, making recovery
more reliable and faster.
- PhotoRec can be set to search for files in FAT16/FAT32 unallocated space
only; which avoids wasting time recovering files that are still
accessible, making the recovery of 'lost files' much faster and more
efficient.
- New file formats have been added: .3g2 (Mov video family), .aif Apple
Audio, .all .cpr Cubase Song, .blend Blender, .cam Casio QV Digital Camera
Image, .flac Free Lossless Audio Codec, .mdf Microsoft SQL, .swf
Macromedia Flash and .vcf VCard (not confused with .txt anymore)
6.5

TestDisk
- A screen has been added to control the log file creation.
- It's now possible from TestDisk file listing to copy files from NTFS
partition to a selected directory.
- NTFS MFT can also be repaired in more cases.
- A compilation problem has been fixed with old version of libntfs.
- Documentation has been fixed, it now displays correctly with IE.
PhotoRec
- New file formats have been added: AppleWorks .cwk, DIF Digital Video .dv,
DjVu .djv, Finale .mus, Incredimail .imm, .imb, iTunes mhbd, MIDI .mid,
MS Backup, Real Media .rm & .ram, Reason .rns, ruby .rb, .xml
- File size detection for .bmp, .pdf, .gif, Office document has been improved.
- A endless loop bug and a memory leak have been fixed.
- The I/O cache engine now caches read failure, it will speedup some recovery.
6.4
Support for ReiserFS 4 has been added in TestDisk
PhotoRec detects new files formats and better recovery of jpeg, txt/html, zip...
Fixes numerous bugs.
6.3
Fix for 64 bits architecture and improved interface.
Photorec adds support for Quicken, OpenDocument, mp3, ogg,
StarOffice, Encapsulated PostScript, PostScript, gif, gz, mov file format
or better detection.
6.2
New User Interface
Disk cache and read ahead to improve performance
Endianess portability fix
6.1
TestDisk
Fix for Mac version
Remove an erroneous message after writing a partition without logical partition
6.0
TestDisk
Fix for Dos version and some cosmetic change
5.9
TestDisk
- User Interface has been improved
- Mac partition map is now supported
- FAT: better check for directory attribut
- FAT: fix a bug in expert mode
- FAT: fix directory listing time using timezone
- Linux Raid: fix regression from 5.8, Raid 1 is again detected.
- NTFS boot sector: copy boot sector over backup boot sector now works
Photorec
- Photorec now works on ext2/ext3 filesystem (Check Options)
- add support for Papyrus, 7zip, text file, OGG audio files, RAR archive recover
y
- add a default file size limit of 2GB
- add support for ZIP files starting with PK00 (packed to removable disk)
5.8
TestDisk
- Add support for HFS+, UFS2 filesystem and Intel Solaris superblock
- Linux Raid: Add some code to detect Raid 5 earlier

- FAT: Update the cleaning FAT function to repair FAT table (Expert mode only)
- EXT2: e2fsprogs-1.36 parses the device name given in ext2fs_open, give a strin
g instead of the io_channel.
- NTFS: Fix a bug in NTFS rebuilding introduced in 5.7
- Fix a memory freed problem when detecting if a partition can be Primary, Logic
al...
Photorec
- Recognize php header
- MPG format is using streaming
5.7
TestDisk
- Replace standard MBR i386 boot sector code by a GPL one
- HFS detection has been improved to avoid false positive
- FAT: add support for one FAT only (instead of usual 2) in directory listing
and boot sector rebuilding (need expert mode)
- FAT: Support for FAT without FAT12 (ie DOS 3.30), FAT16 or FAT32 mark.
- FAT12/16: Add the possibility to initialize FAT root directory (Delete everyth
ing,
Expert mode only)
- FAT: fix for directory listing in boot sector rebuilding.
- FAT32: Fix for last FAT sector while cleaning the FAT (Expert mode only)
- EXT2/EXT3: while listing filename permit to list file where inode information
is unavaible.
- Doesn't halt if TestDisk can't create the log file
- configure.ac, compile.sh: remove --enable-debug option
- Modify Linux RPM spec file to get non-empty debug-info rpm
- Directory listing: little UI modification
- Dos version: fix read/write error message
Photorec 5.7
- add support for a bunch of other file format
- incremental directory name for recovery
- a lot of code cleaning
5.6
TestDisk
New features:
- Can list files from NTFS partition found using backup boot sector
- Display a warning if TestDisk think the logical geometry (CHS) is wrong
- Handle filesystem image (In Options, Partition type: None)
- Filesystem: HFS (minimal testing) and LVM2 support
- NetBSD and FreeBSD support
Improvements:
- Win32: Windows version is now as fast as other version.
Using FileRead() instead of read() is about 10 times faster.
Fixs:
- HD Geometry: the number of cylinders can be bigger than 65535
- BSD slice: display content even if crc is wrong
- FAT boot sector rebuilding: better support for FAT16 converted to FAT32
- NTFS boot sector rebuilding: better handle copy of MFT
- Win32: Windows version always creates a log file (was introduced in 5.3 but
boggus since 5.4)
Photorec 5.6
- Use libjpeg for a better recovery of lost jpeg files.
- Konica/Minolta raw (MRW) pictures recovery
- Canon raw (CRW) pictures recovery
- Minimal support for Sigma/Foveon: .X3F, Rollei (RDC), Fuji (RAF)

5.5
Fix FAT32 recovery using backup boot sector
Remove some debugging code
Upgrade to libntfs 1.9.4
Fix RPM spec file to get a working reiserfs support
5.4
New features:
- Option to backup unknown partition header.
- Save/Load current partition list
- handle sector size != 512
- XFS and CramFS support
Improvements:
- Interface has been improved.
- log libreiserfs errors in the log file
- can choose to minimize or maximize the extended partition before writing
- FAT32 root cluster rebuild improved (use first free cluster, mark it as used o
r/and EOC)
Fixs:
- ReiserFS and EXT2/EXT3 directory listing fix
- fix a bug with BeFS partition recovery
5.3
New features:
- When rebuilding FAT boot sector in expert mode, lets the user choose FAT locat
ions.
Improvements:
- Exit if TestDisk can't create log file.
- Windows version always create log file.
Bug corrections:
- Fix superblock number displayed when telling the user to use e2fsck.
- Fix extended partition creation.
5.2
TestDisk now compiles and run under NT 4 and Windows 2000.
New features:
- can rebuild NTFS boot sector
- can recover JFS partition
- some advanced FAT32 functions have been added (Expert mode only)
Improvements:
- Can align partition to cylinder boundary or to head boundary.
- Doesn't abort while writing partitions if read failed.
- Doesn't let the user write an empty partition table.