Results 1 to 8 of 8

Thread: Help! Bad hard drive - lost all data

  1. #1
    Senior Member Rack's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jul 2004
    Location
    LonDon
    Posts
    775
    Thanks
    0
    Thanked
    0 times in 0 posts

    Help! Bad hard drive - lost all data

    I have a 300GB hdd which I had my main installation on, and all of my data - My Pictures, My Music, etc.

    I was having some trouble with games, and had tried everything, so I was about to see if I could do a repair install over the top of the original windows to fix that problem.

    The first time I installed I had to expand the partition to 300GB from the 130GB after installation because it's not an SP2 disk. So when I used my non-SP2 XP disk to do the reinstall, the partition came up as Unformatted and only 130GB again. It asked me to format.

    I didn't want to do that so I exited out. However it would appear the damage was done. Now the drive appears as a 300GB drive, but unformatted. My winxp installation no longer detected/booted, I had to install on my second disk. I tried the disk in my 2nd PC which has Partition Magic, and the disk partition came up as BAD.

    Is there any way to get all my stuff off the drive? I have some backed up, but not all...

    Would really appreciate some help here.

  2. #2
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    Jun 2006
    Posts
    229
    Thanks
    1
    Thanked
    0 times in 0 posts
    • FInalD's system
      • Motherboard:
      • Asus M2N32-SLi Deluxe
      • CPU:
      • AMD AM2 4600+ 2.0GHz
      • Memory:
      • Corsair XMS2 2GB Matched Pair
      • Storage:
      • 3x Seagate Baracuda 7200.10 320GB
      • Graphics card(s):
      • PowerColor X1950 XT
      • PSU:
      • Hiper 580 Type-R
      • Case:
      • LianLi PC7 Plus II
      • Monitor(s):
      • ViewSonic VX922
      • Internet:
      • 2.2MB DSL
    Well for starters it's your own fault for trying to extend a live partition, it can be done but it's a stupid idea.

    As for recovering data that's a little more tricky. Plug it into your 2nd pc/install and boot it into Windows. Go to Control Pannel > Administrative Tools > Computer Managment > Disk Managment.
    What does it come up with the drive being? If it is set to not being active, change it to active and see what that'll do when you go into it by My Computer if it'll let you.
    I'm sure there are programs out there that will allow you to reclaim data from a bad partition, but they'll cost a bomb. If there is important work on it then google the web for HDD data recovery experts and send it to them.

    FinalD

  3. #3
    The late but legendary peterb - Onward and Upward peterb's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2005
    Location
    Looking down & checking on swearing
    Posts
    19,378
    Thanks
    2,892
    Thanked
    3,403 times in 2,693 posts
    Possibly if it is only the partition table that has been destroyed, and you can locate the second copy of the partition table on the disk (assuming that is intact) - but if the data is that critical, it might be worth contacting a specialist data recovery company to do it. Is is VERY easy to make a bad situation worse in this case. If you do want to have a go yourself - and there is no expert advice on this forum, then start googlinging. Meanwhile leave the hard drive in a safe place, in an antistatic bag until you know exactly what you are going to do. In the first instance you might want to make an exact bit copy of the drive onto another identical size drive so at least whatever is on the disk is backed up, so if the first recovery attempt fails, you have a fallback.
    (\__/)
    (='.'=)
    (")_(")

    Been helped or just 'Like' a post? Use the Thanks button!
    My broadband speed - 750 Meganibbles/minute

  4. #4
    Senior Member Rack's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jul 2004
    Location
    LonDon
    Posts
    775
    Thanks
    0
    Thanked
    0 times in 0 posts
    K, thanks guys.
    Yeah, I know it may not have been the smartest thing - extending a lve partition, I have now learnt my lesson.
    Will look into data recovery see what I can find.

  5. #5
    Oufti behappier's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2004
    Location
    Midlands
    Posts
    868
    Thanks
    5
    Thanked
    3 times in 3 posts
    You can try this guy www.retrodata.co.uk

  6. #6
    lazy student nvening's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2005
    Location
    London
    Posts
    4,656
    Thanks
    196
    Thanked
    31 times in 30 posts
    I dont know if this can help you but it is what i use and it works really well too. Also they have spend time making it possible to intergrate it to a bartpe cd too

    good stuff
    http://runtime.org/

    This metions it too http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...060300147.html

    and you can get a drive image using one of the tools http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...060300147.html
    Last edited by nvening; 17-09-2006 at 01:38 PM.
    (\__/)
    (='.'=)
    (")_(")

  7. #7
    Senior Member Rack's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jul 2004
    Location
    LonDon
    Posts
    775
    Thanks
    0
    Thanked
    0 times in 0 posts
    LifesaverGetDataBack for NTFS V3.03

    Recover your files when the data is no longer accessible due to formatting, fdisk, virus attack, power or software failure. Get everything back even when the drive's partition table, boot record, Master File Table or root directory is lost or corrupt.
    Sounds perfect nvening. Thanks. I'll let you know how I go.

  8. #8
    Member
    Join Date
    Sep 2006
    Posts
    86
    Thanks
    0
    Thanked
    0 times in 0 posts
    I've used Ontrack's Easy Recovery Pro a few times, its one of the best investments I've ever made. It too can recover data from a formatted disk and will do so from boot up with a floppy.

Thread Information

Users Browsing this Thread

There are currently 1 users browsing this thread. (0 members and 1 guests)

Similar Threads

  1. Possible IO / Hard Disk Drive / Motherboard Issue
    By Jonny M in forum SCAN.care@HEXUS
    Replies: 18
    Last Post: 05-08-2006, 05:30 PM
  2. Problem installing my new SCSI hard drive
    By scottxxx in forum Help! Quick Relief From Tech Headaches
    Replies: 2
    Last Post: 04-08-2006, 02:24 PM
  3. Hard drive copying data question
    By koocha in forum Help! Quick Relief From Tech Headaches
    Replies: 11
    Last Post: 27-07-2006, 10:46 AM
  4. Looking for a Database Programmer
    By tillyoubreakit in forum Software
    Replies: 35
    Last Post: 25-04-2004, 05:00 PM

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •