Partition info lost 2

[johnwm]

Is it possible to get partition info back from a crashed drive - or have I misread the problem?

I've just had a mains crash which took my computer (3.2G dualcore with 200G Maxtor) out. On reboot I get 'Insert Boot disk or select bootable disk'. Figuring that I've lost an XP file I have inserted XP disk to boot from. As XP goes through loading routine it finds the drive and says drive not partitioned.

Not wishing to repartition (so losing everything) I exited from install. I have now installed an old 80G HD with XP already on. XP now boots OK from 80G disk. Device manager shows both HDs OK but OS only sees one drive (the 80). That seems to confirm that I may have lost partition info.

Any suggestions on where to look next? or any suggestions on rebuilding partition table to avoid data loss?


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[vacunita]

Rebuilding partitions tables is a risky business. It will most likely yield poor results, and may have adverse effects on the information.

I recommend using any commercial Data recovery software to back up the data that's still retrievable, and then Proceed to Format and re-install.

GetDataBack from Runtime.org, is one of the better options, although a little pricey. There is of course a trial available that will let you see what data can be recovered, but won't actually allow you to recover it, unless you purchase the full version.

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Ignorance is not necessarily Bliss, case in point:
Unknown has caused an Unknown Error on Unknown and must be shutdown to prevent damage to Unknown.

 

[Lemon13]

i recommend you try pcinspector filerecovery first, its for free and worked for me.
u can also try to boot in recovery console and try a fixmbr and fixboot

 

[johnwm]

Thank you both for your help. Having done some further research, I did a full surface check on the disk with the free version of Partition Table Doctor from

http://www.easeus.com/index.htm

That showed no surface errors so I ran the Partition Table Recovery utility. That found all partitions and files as OK, with the only disk error being on the actual partition table. I then bought the full version and ran it, with a full recovery. The disk is now exactly as it was, bootable, partitioned correctly and all the data is readable.

I suspect that I was fortunate that there was only one problem, and that the disk was mechanically sound. I do have recent backups of course, but I did want to avoid the hassle of re-installing everything and getting all the settings back where I want them.

___________________________________________________________
If you want the best response to a question, please check out FAQ222-2244 first.
'If we're supposed to work in Hex, why have we only got A fingers?'
Drive a Steam Roller
Steam Engine Prints

 

[vacunita]

you were indeed very lucky. that all partition information was rebuildable. I've had times when there isn't enough partition information left to rebuild a partition.

But in any case, glad you sorted it out.

----------------------------------
Ignorance is not necessarily Bliss, case in point:
Unknown has caused an Unknown Error on Unknown and must be shutdown to prevent damage to Unknown.