oh jaclaz, GMA little B here... posting at 3:30h in the morning does not always constitute sanity... and FTR, I have never used this tool (I'm starting to think that's a good thing) and was genuinely interested, so thank you for your answer. However, this may possibly do some damage if the device is on a notebook, in terms of un-/plugging the device. For, e.g. the notebook I'm using at the moment (4-and-something years old) has only had two screws open: the ones for RAM :-)

ta-ta

Well, alternatively, you can re-boot, since the OP drive was a USB one, disconnecting and re-connecting it is easier.

It is not "compulsory", but different OS (remember that TESTDISK can be run on many OS) may have different behaviours when it comes to detect changes in the MBR and Partition Table.

If you want an example of a "more advanced" TESTDISK session, check this thread:

http://www.msfn.org/board/index.php?showtopic=133933

jaclaz