Truecrypt bootloader overwritten...I think. Data recoverable?

December 29, 2012 1:14 PM

Truecrypt bootloader overwritten - I think. What can I do?

So, I got a new SSD hardrive. I installed it along side my primary disk, and my plan was to install Windows 7 onto the new drive, then pull all the information off the new drive by mounting it from the new Windows installation. My primary disk is running Windows 7 and has a truecrypt-encrypted system partition.

When I installed Windows 7 on the new drive, it overwrote the truecrypt bootloader on the old drive, I think, because it doesn't come up anymore. I've been searching for my truecrypt rescue disk, but I can't seem to find it. I can't mount the drive within Windows, because it says it is in use, which leads me to believe that Windows mucked with it somehow.

Are my truecrypt keys still in there somewhere, or have I lost everything?

posted by Philosopher Dirtbike to Computers & Internet (2 answers total)

According to Truecrypt Manual: Rescue Disk there are separate repair options for the bootloader and keydata. If you create a new rescue disk with a compatible version of true crypt you may be able to use it to restore just the bootloader leaving the key data intact, but thats just a guess.

I would only attempt this if you have tried everything else, as it might screw up things even worse. (but if you can't access it anyway, and gave up finding your rescue disk, then it doesnt matter?)

(In the future, its generally recommended to physically unplug any hard drive you don't want windows messing with during the install process).
posted by TheAdamist at 4:08 PM on December 29, 2012

Whooo....days later, and after fruitlessly looking for a way to get this data back, I realized that the reason why I had no truecrypt rescue disk was that I didn't keep it as a physical CD, but rather as an .iso file on a backup drive. I was smarter than I thought I was. I burned it to a CD, and am now using it to decrypt the drive.
posted by Philosopher Dirtbike at 5:52 AM on January 1, 2013