Lost my partitions after using Partition Magic

[pubudutaranga]

hi guys..
can any 1 help me plzz..

i used partition magic to install win98 as a dual boot in ma winxp running pc..
i had created 4 partitions in my HDD.

I installed win98 successfully and can change between both OS's using boot magic.

But now there are only 2 Partitions in my HDD.
1 with XP and other with win98.

It had merged old 3 partitions as ONE partition and it is a hidden one...
i can see it in Partition Magic software and it's already labeled as a hidden partition.

When i select browse from the software i can see 20 or 30 files with unknown format and that's all the partition contains..

I had lost all my old data..
plzz can any 1 help me out to recover my old data or do something like that..

i didnt try to unhide the partition bcoz the software shows some unknown files without my original data..

Can i get my old data back??
and old 3 partitions??

if u guys know a way plzz tell me..
coz all my future studies depend on my HDD.. and also hardly done projects..


thanx all..
help me if u get any time..

 

[kimsland]

Not rubbing it in too much
But you played with partitions with files in them, that had not been backed up ?
Please learn from this the importance of backing up, important data.

Now, how to return.

Actually I would unhide that partition, so as to see the files in there (clearly)
Also, I expect your PM disc is a bootable disc, so as to go back in at any stage, in case of error. (ie loss of boot partition)

 

[pubudutaranga]

unft. disc is not a bootable 1

i tried to unhide the partition but i can't do that.
PM shows that itz doing some job to unhide the partition but
when i restart the PC it'z still shows as a hidden partition..

act. is there nothing to do for me to get my data back??

i feel like my former 3 partitions merged to a 1 and old data is still in it.
coz it shows used HD space correctly as what that was.

what should i do nw?


thanx..

 

[AlbertLionheart]

I think your boot.ini file is corrupt because the XP file boot.ini has been overwritten by the win98 install routine. There is a thread on this forum about it but I regret I cannot find it....sorry.
In any event, I hope you did a backup - best a ghost - of your files before you started this!

 

[pubudutaranga]

thanx albert..

bt i don think that it's happen coz of boot.ini file corruption.

because i open the partition in several other programs. and they r showing it just like a hidden partition and contains no data..

the worse thing is i don't have any back-ups of my data..

hmm.. i think i lost them forever..

thanx u guys for trying to help me..
if u think i can do any other thing plzz say me..

thanx for all..

 

[AlbertLionheart]

One last trick if you have given up on this - I have done this several times but it does not always work and will delete anything on the drive.
Option 1 Try a reinstallation of XP and take the second option to repair the windows installation if it finds one in any of the partitions.
Option 2 Try a reinstallation of XP and allow it to delete any partitions it finds during the setup routine. Stop the installation and reboot to start again. This time allow it to recreate the partition to default values. Stop the installation and start again. This time take the second option to repair the windows installation if it finds one.

 

[rf6647]

Partition Magic [PM] has two tools.

WRPROG saves/restores track 0. Add this to a boot floppy (Win98 start floppy). This works for the HD jumpered as master. It saves the MBR and the partition table, and whatever else that is part of track 0.

PTEDIT32. This utility edits the partition table and boot records. Enter this command from the command window.

It is possible that partition table entries for 2 partitions retained the count of sectors information. If so then the 'type' field can be set to define the partition.

Sometimes running PM causes trouble when it resizes partitions. Knowing the size of each drive before getting whacked can make this a doable task.

'Recover Lost Data' [stompf] and System Mechanic [iolo] are two utilites that have a reputation for data recovery. The longer the drive is used, this lessens the ability to recover data.

 

[pubudutaranga]

thanx guys for replying me..

yeah albert that's what i gonna do if nothing gt worked for me..
but still im trying to recover my files by doing anything..

rf6647 - I tried System Mechanic but it didn't recognize the hidden partition what containing files that i want to recover.

It only shows the visible partition to choose data for recovery.

Can i get back my partition visible??
or is there anyway to recover data in hidden partitions?

thanx..

 

[AlbertLionheart]

If you can, try connecting the drive to another PC as a slave - you might be able to access your data or use PM to access the drive.

 

[Samstoned]

don't leave out getdataback from, www.runtime.org/
and file scavenger both great file recovery softwares

 

[rf6647]

Message #13 in this thread show a whacked partition table.

This link is a trial version of a tool that gives an indication of the integrity of the data on the HD. The following opinion is based on a case over 4 years ago. It only recovers up to 64KB files. I found this tool very complex, so I made a different choice. It was useful in that it shows that data is recoverable. The complexity that I found relates to the choice of boot records. This tool tries to communicate the confidence for meaningful data depending upon the 'found' boot record.

I have used Recover Lost Data. 50% success ratio. The advance/expert mode is required for your case.

It takes time to understand the tool. While learning the tool, stop it after 5-10 minutes if a directory structure (that looks familiar) is not presented.

At the 1st level, it attempts to use the drives defined in the partition table. Based on your description, it may give meaningful results for two partitions.

At the next level, you direct the tool to look at the entire HD. This takes hours. Here record keeping is a must. In this phase it is looking for boot records. Command it to proceed, it looks for the next boot record. Accept the 'found format' puts into a mode to find structure, and then 'lost' directories & files.

The decision to proceed or accept is trial & error. Keep track of the order of detections, what is detected (ntfs, fat32), and the sector count.

My ability to convert disk size to sectors is horrible. For a HD that has been partitioned several times, you receive many false starting points.

If the recovered data appears in a directory structure, you should have meaniful data. If you rely on the 'lost directories' structure, you should give up, since is saves 1MB of data from the entry point of the 'found file'.

 

[pubudutaranga]

hi guyz...

umm... finally i jack da pot..

able to recover da old partitions n now everythng iz fine.
gt da old data and i gt another important thng instd. of that..

itz da importance of making backups..
if u thnk dat backing up is a time wasting bull****, u gatta face smthng like this..
u can't unterstand hw important is backing up till u get troubled
then u have to waste more time than make a backup to recover ur old golden data..

anyhow thanx guys for looking at me and helping me out..

uh.. and another important thing.. i used PTDD Partition Table Doctor to recover my PT and
itz quite sexy software.. if u have any troubles in ur HD after using something like PM give a try
from this.. and also get data back shows my old files and it make easy my works..

sooo... thanx again guyz..!!

all da bezt...!!

 

[kimsland]

O lny srmat poelpe can ra ed this.
I cdnuolt blveiee that I cluod aulaclty uesdnatnrd what I was rdanieg. The phaonmneal pweor of the hmuan mnid, aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it deosn't mttaer in what oredr the ltteers in a word are, the olny iprmoatnt tihng is that the first and last ltteer be in the rgh it pclae. The rset can be a taotl mses and you can still raed it wouthit a porbelm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the word as a wlohe. Amzanig huh?! Yaeh and I awlyas tghuhot slpeling was ipmorantt! If you can raed th is psas it on !!

 

[mica3speedy]

I think he was a little excited typing that out I've used partition table doctor before and it is a nice tool. I've also used partion magic and that got a fatal error at 99% completion . But I keep extensive backups so I was fine in that regard.

 

[Tedster]

glad to hear you solved your problems. Please post a detailed report so others can learn. Also please refrain from using ghetto English. It's annoying and an insult to people who are educated here. ( not to mention it makes yourself look bad.)