My partition disapeared and had data on it??

Clocker

Golden Member
Sep 17, 2000
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I had 3 partitions on this drive and now all the partitions are gone and says free space. also the only options i get are to create a logical drive or to delete the partition.

I have data on it that i dont want to loose. is there any option for me to restore the partition?

Thanks

This happened when i tried reinstalled my os windows 2000 server and i did not mess with the partitions whatsoever. actually i reinstalled apps on the partitions i had previously created. then they disappeared. wth

any suggestions
clocker
 

n0cmonkey

Elite Member
Jun 10, 2001
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There's a data recovery tool called r-studio or something close to it that might help. It isn't free, but it's been recommended to me by several people. Your best bet is to just restore from backups though...
 

Need4Speed

Diamond Member
Dec 27, 1999
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Originally posted by: n0cmonkey
Your best bet is to just restore from backups though...

well unfortunately, i think you and i are the only ones that perform adequate backups to recover from such 'disasters'. I only took me one failure to learn the importance of a good backup solution. Now days on the other hand, everyone of my pcs is backed up daily, in duplicate across different drives.

I can sympathize with the OP about his loss, but these days when drives are dirt cheap, there really shouldn't be any reason why a decent backup can't be done.

Moving on....the data is probably still there, so long as you havent tried to creat new partitions. I'm pretty sure that pqmagic can restore deleted partitions, as can the acronis software. I dont know how important the data is to you, but it might be worth buying it.

 

n0cmonkey

Elite Member
Jun 10, 2001
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Originally posted by: Need4Speed
Originally posted by: n0cmonkey
Your best bet is to just restore from backups though...

well unfortunately, i think you and i are the only ones that perform adequate backups to recover from such 'disasters'. I only took me one failure to learn the importance of a good backup solution. Now days on the other hand, everyone of my pcs is backed up daily, in duplicate across different drives.

I can sympathize with the OP about his loss, but these days when drives are dirt cheap, there really shouldn't be any reason why a decent backup can't be done.

Moving on....the data is probably still there, so long as you havent tried to creat new partitions. I'm pretty sure that pqmagic can restore deleted partitions, as can the acronis software. I dont know how important the data is to you, but it might be worth buying it.

My backups are barely adequate. :p

Really important stuff goes on my USB flash memory fob and a harddrive. That stuff occassionally gets copied to a second/third hard drive and burned once in a while. Everything else sometimes gets on a DVD-r, but it's rarely important.
 

Need4Speed

Diamond Member
Dec 27, 1999
5,383
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Originally posted by: n0cmonkey
Originally posted by: Need4Speed
Originally posted by: n0cmonkey
Your best bet is to just restore from backups though...

well unfortunately, i think you and i are the only ones that perform adequate backups to recover from such 'disasters'. I only took me one failure to learn the importance of a good backup solution. Now days on the other hand, everyone of my pcs is backed up daily, in duplicate across different drives.

I can sympathize with the OP about his loss, but these days when drives are dirt cheap, there really shouldn't be any reason why a decent backup can't be done.

Moving on....the data is probably still there, so long as you havent tried to creat new partitions. I'm pretty sure that pqmagic can restore deleted partitions, as can the acronis software. I dont know how important the data is to you, but it might be worth buying it.

My backups are barely adequate. :p

Really important stuff goes on my USB flash memory fob and a harddrive. That stuff occassionally gets copied to a second/third hard drive and burned once in a while. Everything else sometimes gets on a DVD-r, but it's rarely important.


well at least you have a backup, even if its barely adequate :) the same can't be said for the OP and about 95% of everyone else here.

I wouldn't go as far as saying that the majority of my backup is critical, as a matter of fact the only thing thats critical is my financial stuff....that would be a real pain to replace. everything else could be replaced with some effort...but as i said, drives=cheap...so why not.
 

NesuD

Diamond Member
Oct 9, 1999
4,999
106
106
Sounds kind of like what sometimes happens when you move a disk from one computer to another in win2k. Is the disk showing a status of "foreign" in disk management? If it is right click the disk not the freespace part but the part at the left where it shows disk staus and type, then click import foreign disks then in the Import foreign dialogue box, select the appropriate disk set. The dialogue box should then display any defined partitions or volumes on the disk. click OK to finish. Not certain this is what will fix it for you but I am thinking that maybe with the windows reinstall that the OS is treating it like a foreign disk.

Imported disks are usually grouped by computer name but if your compter name is the same as before you reinstalled server that may not be apparent.
 

JE78

Golden Member
Jun 6, 2004
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get a copy of partition magic. I had something similar happen to me when I formatted one of my 2 hdd. It was a 200gb drive and had 150gb of info on it. I'm not sure what happend but I I guess it made a new partition on the entire drive. I loaded the drive in partition magic and choose to delete the partition and thankfully all my files were there unharmed.
 

DnetMHZ

Diamond Member
Apr 10, 2001
9,826
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Originally posted by: n0cmonkey
There's a data recovery tool called r-studio or something close to it that might help. It isn't free, but it's been recommended to me by several people. Your best bet is to just restore from backups though...

I own a copy of R-studio NTFS, it has worked very well for me in the past.
I use it on the occasions when I shift + delete something out of habit and need it back ;)
 

Clocker

Golden Member
Sep 17, 2000
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Thanks for the help. And i do back up what is really really important. but man my ape files are on those partitions and its like 30 gigs. try to reencode that :)

btw partition magic doesnt worker on win 2000 server. i had a copy and it would not let me load. i dont have r studtion and i really really hope it isnt too expensive.
 

Need4Speed

Diamond Member
Dec 27, 1999
5,383
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Originally posted by: Clocker
Thanks for the help. And i do back up what is really really important. but man my ape files are on those partitions and its like 30 gigs. try to reencode that :)

btw partition magic doesnt worker on win 2000 server. i had a copy and it would not let me load. i dont have r studtion and i really really hope it isnt too expensive.

while difficult to replace, at least you could if need be.
 

Woody419

Senior member
Sep 22, 2001
770
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You can use a program like BootIt NG to image the drive before playing with partition managers. BootIt will even delete and make partitions. BootIt installs to and boots from a floppy.

DON'T INSTALL BOOTIT TO YOUR HD! It makes a hidden partion. Boot from the floppy it makes and click on Cancel when you get the install screen. The partitioning and image screen will then appear.

With any luck, BootIt will see the missing partitions which you could then image to another drive. There is also a free file viewer on their site so you can view and copy individual files inside the BootIt image.

Edit: I use Bootit as my backup program too.
 

Clocker

Golden Member
Sep 17, 2000
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is there an easy way to make bootable floppys into cds. thanks. i need to make a bootable cd. if possible.
 

Woody419

Senior member
Sep 22, 2001
770
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Yes, Bootit will make an .iso image and burn it to a cd if you don't have a floppy. The instructions are on the PDF file included in the Bootit download.
 

afab

Junior Member
Aug 12, 2004
19
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0
You might want to try Acronis Disk Director Suite -- it includes an app called Recovery Expert. The app is designed specifically to recover lost partitions. It also includes Acronis Partition Expert, which is easier to use than Partition Magic and just as powerful. Also, Acronis makes a disk imaging product called True Image. It keeps winning awards -- CNET, PC Mag, MaxPC and more. It's really quite good as a backup/disaster recovery tool -- lots easier to use than Ghost. (Maybe you can tell -- I'm a big Acronis fan.)
 

Clocker

Golden Member
Sep 17, 2000
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All in all the acronis software worked best for me. This software is a lifesaver and is extremely powerful as well as easy to use. I think i might switch over to acronis for good. i had a copy of partition magice but when i get money i will buy the other acronis software.

it really is that damn good. and it rebuilt my last partition perfectly.