Partition "Disappeared"

[dustbuster]

I have an 80GB ExcelStor IDE hard drive. I took it out of one of those Costco type surveillance systems (it writes video to the hard drive).

I plugged the drive into a new computer I had on my bench and I could read the files fine. I shut down the computer, removed the drive and then sent the computer out (I don't have that computer anymore).

Now when I plug the drive into any computer the partition is gone. I didn't drop it, run a magnet over it, or anything like that. I've tried locating the data with Easy Recovery Pro and many different partition programs but none of them can find the data.

This data is pretty important so any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

 

[vanka25]

If your partition disappeared, you won't be able to fix it using "regular" recovery tools. You'll need something like R-Studio Recovery/Undelete software that scans the whole drive and tries to find the data. This of course assumes that you have not tried writing to the disk or creating new partitions.

 

[acewarlock]

BIOS mismatch for the HD. when it starts to boot hit F1 or whatever your PC uses to get to the BIOS setup and check to see what it reports.




This is an Analogy so don't take it personally as some have.

Why change the engine if all you need is to change the spark plugs.

 

[dustbuster]

I used Easy Recovery Pro and found the data but it was all messed up. I think the data was stored in a proprietary format so the known header signatures aren't recognizing the data. Maybe?

I tried this drive on a number of different systems and in an external USB enclosure. The data just didn't want to be found.

 

[acewarlock]

Does the BIOS see the drive????




This is an Analogy so don't take it personally as some have.

Why change the engine if all you need is to change the spark plugs.

 

[dustbuster]

Yeah, the Bios sees the drive and it is named properly as far as I can tell.

 

[vanka25]

Do you know what the file-system type is?

 

[dustbuster]

I don't know the file system type. It wasn't in the manual for the system and tech support for the system is non-existent.

 

[micker377]

What OS are you using now? If it is XP, you should be able to see the partition in Disk Management. Possible reasons for your problem: Data is in NTFS format and your Fat 32/DOS computers can't see it. Another is that it has a drive assignment letter that is already used on the current computer. Have you tried putting the drive into an external drive case and accessing it through the USB port?

 

[wahnula]

I just read a review in last month's CPU magazine that gave 4 out of 5 stars to "Stellar Phoenix Windows Data Recovery" :

http://www.Stellarinfo.com/partition-recovery.htm

It will show you what it can recover before you buy...worth a shot. I wish you luck.

Tony

"Buy what you like, or you'll be forced to like what you buy"...me