Member Avatar for computerages

Hey everyone,

I want to recover data from an old partition....the partition used to have win xp sp2 on it...and it all happened when I tried to use some free space from it to create another partition using acronis partition expert...but I was unsuccessful in creating the partition and I lost all the data.

Now, I am running winxp on a different partition (other than the one which initially had winxp)...and I tried to use "RecoverMyFiles" software to recover the data on the old partition...but it didn't properly work out..

Thx.

  • 3 Contributors
  • 3 Replies
  • 112 Views
  • 1 Day Discussion Span
  • Latest Post Latest Post by angelopc

Dani AI

Generated

— stop using that disk immediately. Every write makes recovery harder. Do not run CHKDSK, do not format, and avoid installing or running recovery tools on the affected drive itself.

First, make a sector-by-sector image of the whole disk (not just the partition). Working from an image preserves the original and lets you try multiple tools safely. On Linux use GNU ddrescue; on Windows you can use a sysinternals imaging tool or boot a Linux live environment and run ddrescue there. Example ddrescue usage:

sudo ddrescue -f -n /dev/sdX /path/to/disk-image.dd /path/to/disk-image.log

Keep the image and log on a different physical drive with enough free space. See GNU ddrescue.

After imaging, use a partition-recovery tool that can scan and restore partition tables and NTFS metadata. TestDisk will search for deleted or damaged partitions, let you browse found files, copy them out, and — only after verifying contents — restore the partition table. Run Quick Search then Deeper Search; use TestDisk’s file-listing to copy intact files to another safe drive. See TestDisk.

If TestDisk cannot rebuild the filesystem structures, try file-carving as a last resort (it recovers file contents but usually loses original names and folders) — PhotoRec is a common choice. If SMART reports drive health problems, stop and contact a professional recovery service; hardware faults require specialist labs. Check disk health with a SMART tool such as CrystalDiskInfo.

pointed toward higher-end tools; ’s suggestion of professional recovery is also sensible if the disk shows hardware issues or the data is critical.

Member Avatar for lornranger

Did you write anything on the old partition? If you did, the normal data recovery software will not work.

Try R-Studio which is available at

http://www.r-tt.com/
Member Avatar for computerages

No, I didn't write anything on the old partition...but when I navigate to the old one through window interface, nothing appears.

And I tried using that software but that did not work out...

Thx.

Member Avatar for angelopc

www.ontrack.com

I think this is the company I used to recover some lost data, before.

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.