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I have a 1 TB Transcend external hard drive. It contains two similarly-sized partitions, one of which (400 GB) is encrypted with VeraCrypt.

Today, after I had finished working with the files inside the encrypted partition, I clicked on the "Dismount All" button in the main window of the application. Instead of successfully dismounting as I expected, it gave me an error message that some files were still in use. However, I failed to notice the warning and physically disconnected the external hard drive from the PC. Looking back, the light on the HDD was still blinking, so something was being done, even though I had closed the applications that could have used the files.

Now every time I try to mount mount the partition in VeraCrypt, it gives me the following error message:

Operation failed due to one or more of the following:
- Incorrect password.
- Incorrect Volume PIM number.
- Incorrect PRF (hash).
- Not a valid volume.

Source: MountVolume:8031

I am sure that the password I am using is correct. I have been entering it on a daily basis and I also have saved it in different locations. None of the settings have been changed either, everything is the same.

I have tried to use the "Use backup header embedded in volume if available" option in Mount Options. It did not work. I have no separate backups of the header.

Is it possible to recover the data that was in the encrypted partition? How should I go about doing that?

I am using the latest stable release of VeraCrypt.

user774400
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3 Answers3

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I had the same issue and knew the correct password. I was able to recover by fixing "Restore Volume Header" multiple times using different combinations of options.

I used VeraCrypt 1.22 but my volume was originally created with VeraCrypt 1.19.

I first copied the encrypted file/container that I was attempting to fix, to keep the original file safe.

When you are about to be successful you will see a new pop-up window random generator for your mouse and once you complete it, follow the wizard instructions. Then try mounting it again.

Sorry I don't have screenshots. It took about 1.5hrs before I got a successful result.

robinCTS
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cin khai
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  • I did this and got it working, though not solely from restoring the header (tried twice in a row too). What I did: after restoring the header, I restarted VeraCrypt. I also changed the path to something else temporarily and then set it back to what it was. Lastly, I used the Mount instead of Auto-Mount option. Could be any combination of these things. – Andrew Jul 21 '19 at 18:41
  • Probably a good idea to backup the volume header... – Andrew Jul 21 '19 at 18:46
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Exact same issue here "Operation failed due to one or more of the following etc". Probably caused by removing USB drive with dismounting it first in Veracrypt.

Connected the drive and ran "Restore Volume Header". Had do run it only once. That fixed it.

Veracrypt version 1.23 hotfix 2

Jay4Jay
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I rescued my VeraCrypt drive as follows:

Use VeraCrypt to mount the drive but set the "do not mount" option. When the drive is available you can find it using Disk Utility on Mac OSX (presumably something similar under Windows or Linux).

In OSX the device appears as an empty disk with no format. You can try to repair the file system using First Aid but this appears to do nothing. Then download PhotoRec software and follow the instructions at PhotoRec Step By Step.

You get the DISK number from Disk Utility - just select the apparently not-formatted disk in the Command window and go through the PhotoRec recovery process. I could rescue the entire disk.

help-info.de
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