Member Avatar for thecleaner

I had a windows xp problem...computer wouldn't boot up..and I decided to restore it with a quick restore cd.

Thinking the restore cd would carefully prompt me through each step before proceeding to the final restore, it started to restore both the C and D drives. (My computer initially came with one large C drive that I had partitioned into a C "Programs" & D "Data" drives.
The restore CD apparently assumed it was restoring the one large C drive..not recognizing the partitioned C and D drives I had created.)

Like I said before it started formatting both C and D without asking me if I wanted to continue, no options, no warnings at all that it was going to take off and start formatting without asking me first! (First time ever attempting to restore.)

In my horror, I immediately stopped the restore after about 5 seconds by pulling the power cord.

I have since added a new Western Digital Drive and loaded XP onto that and partitioned it into a programs and data drive also. I now have two hard drives, the new Western Digital and the old Maxtor.

The Maxtor Drive itself shows to be perfectly healthy..mechanically okay, but the problem I have now is with the partially formatted E and F drives, not being able to run Windows on it, and not being able to access my data of course.

I wish to recover data from the Maxtor, but cannot read from that drive.

After opening "My Computer", I can see the two partitions of my Western Digital and no sign of my old Maxtor.

In Disk Management, both the Western Digital and the Maxtor are shown..each with two partitions, BUT, here's what it shows:

Western C: Healthy (System)
Digital D: Healthy
_____________________________
Maxtor (drive letter grayed out): Healthy (EISA Configuration)
F: Healthy (Active)

When I open the F: I get an error message that reads the disk is not formatted..do I want to format it now?
Didn't want to do that in case of data loss.

Can't open the grayed out drive, all that pops up is "Help" even when right clicking on it...no Properties, etc...

How do I safely, and easily if possible (not computer savvy by any stretch), recover the data from the Maxtor that was 5 seconds into the formatting process?

Thanks so much for taking the time to read this!

  • 5 Contributors
  • 5 Replies
  • 197 Views
  • 3 Months Discussion Span
  • Latest Post Latest Post by articles

Dani AI

Generated

A concise, practical plan based on the thread and Disk Management output: the quickest safe route to usable results is to stop any further writes to the Maxtor, make a full sector-by-sector image of it to a different physical disk, then run recovery and partition-repair tools against that image rather than the original. The Disk Management flags described (an EISA-type partition plus an active partition showing as unformatted) are consistent with a restore/reimage starting to overwrite partition metadata; interrupting the process can leave file data mostly intact but metadata damaged.

Recommended forensic workflow (no changes to the original drive):

  • Preserve the original drive: do not click Format, do not run chkdsk, and do not assign drive letters.
  • Create a sector copy to another drive equal or larger in size. A reliable approach is to boot a rescue/live Linux environment and use GNU ddrescue so bad sectors are handled and copying can be resumed if interrupted. Example commands (replace device and paths carefully):
    sudo ddrescue -f -n /dev/sdX /media/backup/maxtor.img /media/backup/maxtor.log
sudo ddrescue -d -r3 /dev/sdX /media/backup/maxtor.img /media/backup/maxtor.log

    Confirm the source device node before running any command; choosing the wrong device will overwrite data.

Post-image recovery steps:

  • Attempt partition-table and boot-sector repair tools against the image first (some tools can restore partitions without touching originals).
  • If partition repair fails, use file-carving tools on the image to recover common file types; carving often recovers file contents but typically loses original filenames and folder structure.
  • Commercial suites and many utilities offer demo modes—run those against the image to confirm recoverability before purchasing.

Notes and cautions:

  • If the Maxtor is making unusual noises or produces many read errors, stop imaging and consult a professional data-recovery service (mechanical failure requires clean-room repair).
  • Work only on copies, verify recovered files, and then implement a reliable backup strategy. Several members on this thread (, , ) suggested recovery software; use the image to test any suggested tool rather than the original drive.

Recommended Answers

All 5 Replies

Member Avatar for willcomp

Your best bet is GetDataBack. There is a trial version so you can see whether it will recover data before purchasing the software.
http://www.runtime.org/

Member Avatar for thecleaner

I appreciate the suggestion. Someone else had also recommended it, but didn't mention the trial version.
Thanks again!

Member Avatar for bobbyraw

There are numerous software you can try to recover your HDD
R-Studio
Nucleus
most work in demo mode to give you an idea how well you data will be recovered.

For future reference when you use a restore CD it WILL wipe everything from you HDD including partitions. Basically it put the PC back to the state when you got it from the manufacturer

Do a search and choose something thats right for you. there are also free utilities you can use

Member Avatar for caperjack

I have R-studio and use it with great success

Member Avatar for articles

<snip>

Edited by crunchie because: snipped url
Be a part of the DaniWeb community

We're a friendly, industry-focused community of developers, IT pros, digital marketers, and technology enthusiasts meeting, networking, learning, and sharing knowledge.