CHAOS - PartitionMagic 7.0 Destroyed My HARD DISK.......HELP ME

[TroKnight]

Help Me...

This is my PC spec for your refference:
P4 384MB RAM
Windows 98SE
2 HDD (30GB & 120GB) - OS was installed on 30GB HDD and data was stored on the 120GB HDD.
PartitionMagic 7.0 (PM7)was installed together with the OS drive.

PROBLEMS: >>>
I try to make new primary partition on the 2nd HDD(120GB) which contains only datas. While applying changes, PM7 freeze after performing 5% of the entire process. I press CTRL-ALT-DEL, and the windows shows PM7 is not responding.

I then cancelled the operation and the mess begins....>> Nothing wrong with the 1st HDD, but now the 2nd HDD was not readable. Before running PM7, my 2nd HDD was labelled with DATA and occupied 80Gb from the available 120GB, but now the 2nd HDD label was changed to *.?i? and occupied the whole drive. Worst..Windows Explorer can't detect my 2nd drive and again WORST.......I can't see/open any of my datas.

HELP ME....anyway to undo/reverse the process or recovered my datas again...????

HELP ME....

 

[wolluf]

See if this app can read your drive:-

http://www.pcinspector.de/file_recovery/UK/welcome.htm

 

[DallasKelsey]

HOPEFULLY you didn't have any data on your second HDD. If this is the case, you should be able to get back on your feet relatively painlessly.

Obtain a DOS boot diskette with FDISK on it and reboot your system. When it comes up, type FDISK <Drive Letter> /mbr. This undocumented command with re-write your master boot record (thus the switch 'mbr') and make the volume accessible again. If not, it's time for a recoverly utility. PM7, if this is what you are using, should provide a reasonable expectation of getting your data back. If none of this works and you DID have important data there, I would recommend looking for a partition recovery tool or consulting a data recovery service. Data recovery services are EXTREMELY expensive but would almost definitely be able to help you. A partition recovery tool should help because if all you were doing was repartitioning, it is reasonable to assume that most if not all of your data is still there, it is just inaccessible because the partitioning action was fubarred somehow. For future reference, I always recommend doing your REpartitioning from a boot disk, even though Win9x will let you do it from within the OS. New partitions are safe to create and format from within the OS, but reworking partitions is scary stuff and its best to minize the potential for any hangs or snags, which most any Windows OS has plenty of opportunities for. Dallas S. Kelsey, III
DKelsey@CHGLaw.com
Cox, Hodgman, & Giarmarco, P.C.
Troy MI 48084