Due to a system crash I had to reinstall Windows XP, but because my hard drive is 300 gig Windows didn't pick it up properly.
I've had a read up and found that I need Windows XP with SP2 integrated to pick up my hard drive properly.
However before I knew this, I tried using Windows XP the original with no service packs integrated, and it picked my hard drive up as about 128 gig. I pressed F3 to quit so as not to change the partition table, only to find that Windows had created a 128 gig partition on my hard drive, but the partition is not accessible and I think I may have lost all the information that was on my drive.
I think it may have corrupted the boot block and have used various tools to rewrite the MBR, but still nothing.
Does anybody have any idea if I can restore the hard drive to how it was before the 128 gig partition was created, or of any software that will scan the drive and allow me to copy the contents to another drive.
Thanks in advance
2007-02-15 12:58:09 · 13 answers · asked by Anonymous in Computers & Internet ➔ Hardware ➔ Other - Hardware
P.S. the hard drive was partitioned in 2 before Windows ballsed it up.
Partition 1 : 20 gig
Partition 2 : The rest
2007-02-15 13:00:43 · update #1
Don't worry, nothing is lost...your data is still there. In fact, you could even format a Hard Disk (not low level format though) and still be able to recover the data.
I recommend a software called Spinrite (from grc.com/spinrite.htm) but it will cost you 80 bucks. I had a chance to use this program a number of times and it never let me down. If you don't want to spend money on this, then maybe you can go to download.com and search for free hard disk recovery tools. But I don't have a recommendation in this case.
Whatever you choose to do, when you get to the point in which you can recover your files, don't write them to your hard disk. You might overwrite your old data and then you really loose it. Copy your files to a different hard disk.
2007-02-15 13:16:15 · answer #1 · answered by Silo 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Well...
For me...I would try the easy to use FREE open source method. Stay away from Microsoft products...they got you in the jam in the first place. So the first thing to do is load a live linux cd and see if your files are still there or not...it could be that the re-install trashed the drive.
I would recomend puppy linux, Knoppix or Ubuntu. Puppy would be the really fast in this situation because it is so small and all loads into ram.
If your files are there and you happen to have a second hard drive...your live CD will let you copy them over. If not you can burn them to a disk...or even better fire up your home network and copy your files over to share on a different PC.
Then I would use a tool called Partition Magic or QTparted to take a look at my partition and move it around if necessary.
Then when you try to load Windows you can do a Repair and try fixboot or fixMBR.
These steps will give you a good start.
2007-02-15 13:13:29 · answer #2 · answered by R. D 2 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Thats installing Windows for you it doesn't listen. Anyhow, you are going to have some serious issues. You'll need to use something like dd or dd_rescue to recover all the data you can before you make any more changes. If you remember enough about your computer you can try to change the partition table back to the way it was before Windows messed it up. The boot block is probably ok, but it doesn't know where to boot to really. Once you fix the partition table you can use fidsk /mbr OR you can just install grub. Good luck, Windows has caused you a world of pain.
2007-02-15 13:45:35 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
Answers to your points: 1. Windows 98 Boot disk will not work with Windows XP - WinXP uses a different Files System. 2. Have you placed it in an Enclosure - do the laptop hard drive acts as an external drive? 3. "Fixmbr" repairs the startup partition's master boot code. The variable device is an optional name that specifies the device that requires a new Master Boot Record. Or "Fixboot" writes a new startup sector on the system partition. Type "Fixmbr /?" for info. Without the Quote Marks. 4. You may have the errors because of your point 1. Try Step 3 to fix the boot sector. If all fails, get a new hard drive.
2016-05-24 05:17:23 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
As soon as you format the partition then your out of luck to recover the files on that partition. Hmm maybe this teaches you a lesson to back up your data?
2007-02-15 13:07:28 · answer #5 · answered by Questions 2 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Microsoft has a thing called debug i cant remember how to apply it though as far as your files they can be recoverd with data reovery software if needed.Debug does work i had the same thing happen to a harddrive a couple of years ago and debug fixed it
2007-02-15 13:06:05 · answer #6 · answered by Alpha~Omega pc repair 4 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Norton partition magic
2007-02-15 13:05:46 · answer #7 · answered by natallbad 4 · 0⤊ 1⤋
before you try ANYTHING, you may want to look at 'spinrite' a non destructive disk recovery utility from 'GRC.COM'. it's fairly cheap (70-$80 us), and will get any data back, where you can copy it to another disk (via a 2nd pc) this is the industry standard, so if there are valuable items on the bad drive, this is the one you want.
2007-02-15 13:11:23 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
try booting your computer from the 20 gig it should have your original xp on there with every thing you need.
2007-02-15 13:06:47 · answer #9 · answered by c0mplicated_s0ul 5 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Hey if its that good of a PC, upgrade to Microsoft Windows Vista, you can view the PC requirements at the website:
www.microsoft.com
You should see a link, that says, Expirience the "WOW", thats Vista right there.
Enjoy.
2007-02-15 13:11:23 · answer #10 · answered by storrsw123 2 · 0⤊ 3⤋