A really damaged partition :(...

[Guest SkyDiver]

This morning I tried to installed a 40GB IDE disk on top of the

already installed 150GB SATA one (partitioned - C:\ 30GB and D:\

120GB).

 

When I restarted, the system did not behave nicely.. Windows Explorer

wouldn't launch, etc. I shut down, jumpered the 40GB drive as a slave

and restarted.

This time the system behaved better, but the terrible damage was

already done - C: drive is alive and kicking, OK, but my D: partition

has somehow managed to split into 2 individual partitions (!!) one in

the size of 8GB and the other one 111GB, which is marked as

"unallocated data"...

 

I tried both Active Partition Recovery and Acronics Disk Director, but

both of them fail to recover anything from the 111GB partition..

 

Is my data gone?? we're talking about 7 last months of unbacked up

photos and documents..

 

... HELP!

[Guest R. McCarty]

Re: A really damaged partition :(...

 

Sounds like a lettering collision. The bad part of adding a PATA

drive to a SATA system is how it changes drive lettering. ( and

can also re-assign the boot device. ) Before you attempted any

recovery did you remove the PATA-IDE drive from the PC ?

Instead of data recovery you should be investigating Partition

Table recovery.

 

Seven months without a backup - If you get out of this hole go

buy Acronis True Image and start a more frequent backup routine.

 

"SkyDiver" <skydivergm@gmail.com> wrote in message

news:3f6e91bf-28ff-431c-81b1-6c2fd227b137@27g2000hsf.googlegroups.com...

> This morning I tried to installed a 40GB IDE disk on top of the

> already installed 150GB SATA one (partitioned - C:\ 30GB and D:\

> 120GB).

>

> When I restarted, the system did not behave nicely.. Windows Explorer

> wouldn't launch, etc. I shut down, jumpered the 40GB drive as a slave

> and restarted.

> This time the system behaved better, but the terrible damage was

> already done - C: drive is alive and kicking, OK, but my D: partition

> has somehow managed to split into 2 individual partitions (!!) one in

> the size of 8GB and the other one 111GB, which is marked as

> "unallocated data"...

>

> I tried both Active Partition Recovery and Acronics Disk Director, but

> both of them fail to recover anything from the 111GB partition..

>

> Is my data gone?? we're talking about 7 last months of unbacked up

> photos and documents..

>

> .. HELP!

[Guest db.·.. >]

Re: A really damaged partition :(...

 

you need to assign

the letter c back to

the original harddisk

if you want the o.s.

on it to launch.

 

otherwise, you would

have to reinstall

windows on the

sata's partition c

to launch the o.s.

from it and if your

motherboard permits

you to boot from

the sata.

 

--

 

db·´¯`·...¸><)))º>

 

"SkyDiver" <skydivergm@gmail.com> wrote in message

news:3f6e91bf-28ff-431c-81b1-6c2fd227b137@27g2000hsf.googlegroups.com...

> This morning I tried to installed a 40GB IDE disk on top of the

> already installed 150GB SATA one (partitioned - C:\ 30GB and D:\

> 120GB).

>

> When I restarted, the system did not behave nicely.. Windows Explorer

> wouldn't launch, etc. I shut down, jumpered the 40GB drive as a slave

> and restarted.

> This time the system behaved better, but the terrible damage was

> already done - C: drive is alive and kicking, OK, but my D: partition

> has somehow managed to split into 2 individual partitions (!!) one in

> the size of 8GB and the other one 111GB, which is marked as

> "unallocated data"...

>

> I tried both Active Partition Recovery and Acronics Disk Director, but

> both of them fail to recover anything from the 111GB partition..

>

> Is my data gone?? we're talking about 7 last months of unbacked up

> photos and documents..

>

> .. HELP!

[Guest Calab]

Re: A really damaged partition :(...

 

 

"SkyDiver" <skydivergm@gmail.com> wrote in message

news:3f6e91bf-28ff-431c-81b1-6c2fd227b137@27g2000hsf.googlegroups.com...

> This morning I tried to installed a 40GB IDE disk on top of the

> already installed 150GB SATA one (partitioned - C:\ 30GB and D:\

> 120GB).

> This time the system behaved better, but the terrible damage was

> already done - C: drive is alive and kicking, OK, but my D: partition

> has somehow managed to split into 2 individual partitions (!!) one in

> the size of 8GB and the other one 111GB, which is marked as

> "unallocated data"...

 

What happens when you disconnect the new 40gig drive?

[Guest PD43]

Re: A really damaged partition :(...

 

SkyDiver <skydivergm@gmail.com> wrote:

>Is my data gone?? we're talking about 7 last months of unbacked up

>photos and documents..

 

That's a bigger problem than the one that brought you here.

 

It's time to start thinking about a backup strategy.

[Guest SkyDiver]

Re: A really damaged partition :(...

 

Yes, I removed the PATA-IDE drive before going any further..

I tried Partition Magic which claimed that my partition reports an

invalid size, it also asked if I'd like to repair this.

All I'm trying to do at this point is to raw-copy the entire 160GB

drive onto my 500GB drive and maybe let PM repair the duplicate, but I

can't seem to execute this task since PM shouts all sorts of errors..

everytime I think I overcome an error - another one pops up.

 

On Jun 16, 12:48 am, "R. McCarty" <PcEngWork-NoSp...@mindspring.com>

wrote:

> Sounds like a lettering collision. The bad part of adding a PATA

> drive to a SATA system is how it changes drive lettering. ( and

> can also re-assign the boot device. ) Before you attempted any

> recovery did you remove the PATA-IDE drive from the PC ?

> Instead of data recovery you should be investigatingPartition

> Table recovery.

>

> Seven months without a backup - If you get out of this hole go

> buy Acronis True Image and start a more frequent backup routine.

>

> "SkyDiver" <skydive...@gmail.com> wrote in message

>

> news:3f6e91bf-28ff-431c-81b1-6c2fd227b137@27g2000hsf.googlegroups.com...

>

> > This morning I tried to installed a 40GB IDE disk on top of the

> > already installed 150GB SATA one (partitioned - C:\ 30GB and D:\

> > 120GB).

>

> > When I restarted, the system did not behave nicely.. Windows Explorer

> > wouldn't launch, etc. I shut down, jumpered the 40GB drive as a slave

> > and restarted.

> > This time the system behaved better, but the terrible damage was

> > already done - C: drive is alive and kicking, OK, but my D:partition

> > has somehow managed to split into 2 individual partitions (!!) one in

> > the size of 8GB and the other one 111GB, which is marked as

> > "unallocated data"...

>

> > I tried both ActivePartitionRecovery and Acronics Disk Director, but

> > both of them fail to recover anything from the 111GBpartition..

>

> > Is my data gone?? we're talking about 7 last months of unbacked up

> > photos and documents..

>

> > .. HELP!

[Guest SkyDiver]

Re: A really damaged partition :(...

 

My C: partition is in tact and my OS is working.

This is not the issue.

 

On Jun 16, 1:00 am, db.·.. ><))) ·>` .. .

<databaseben.public.newsgroup.microsoft.com> wrote:

> you need to assign

> the letter c back to

> the original harddisk

> if you want the o.s.

> on it to launch.

>

> otherwise, you would

> have to reinstall

> windows on the

> sata'spartitionc

> to launch the o.s.

> from it and if your

> motherboard permits

> you to boot from

> the sata.

>

> --

>

> db·´¯`·...¸><)))º>

>

> "SkyDiver" <skydive...@gmail.com> wrote in message

>

> news:3f6e91bf-28ff-431c-81b1-6c2fd227b137@27g2000hsf.googlegroups.com...

>

> > This morning I tried to installed a 40GB IDE disk on top of the

> > already installed 150GB SATA one (partitioned - C:\ 30GB and D:\

> > 120GB).

>

> > When I restarted, the system did not behave nicely.. Windows Explorer

> > wouldn't launch, etc. I shut down, jumpered the 40GB drive as a slave

> > and restarted.

> > This time the system behaved better, but the terrible damage was

> > already done - C: drive is alive and kicking, OK, but my D:partition

> > has somehow managed to split into 2 individual partitions (!!) one in

> > the size of 8GB and the other one 111GB, which is marked as

> > "unallocated data"...

>

> > I tried both ActivePartitionRecovery and Acronics Disk Director, but

> > both of them fail to recover anything from the 111GBpartition..

>

> > Is my data gone?? we're talking about 7 last months of unbacked up

> > photos and documents..

>

> > .. HELP!

[Guest SkyDiver]

Re: A really damaged partition :(...

 

Yeah.. thanks for the heads up.

 

On Jun 16, 1:31 am, PD43 <pauld1...@comcast.net> wrote:

> SkyDiver <skydive...@gmail.com> wrote:

> >Is my data gone?? we're talking about 7 last months of unbacked up

> >photos and documents..

>

> That's a bigger problem than the one that brought you here.

>

> It's time to start thinking about a backup strategy.

[Guest SkyDiver]

Re: A really damaged partition :(...

 

Yeah.. thanks for the heads up.

 

On Jun 16, 1:31 am, PD43 <pauld1...@comcast.net> wrote:

> SkyDiver <skydive...@gmail.com> wrote:

> >Is my data gone?? we're talking about 7 last months of unbacked up

> >photos and documents..

>

> That's a bigger problem than the one that brought you here.

>

> It's time to start thinking about a backup strategy.

[Guest R. McCarty]

Re: A really damaged partition :(...

 

Partition Magic 8.x ? - If so. I wouldn't have allowed PQMagic to

do partition table changes. In an earlier post you mentioned that

you used Acronis Disk Mgmt, was that correct and did you try it

to recover the original D: volume ?

Not sure what to advise, with this kind of issue it's really important

to go very slow and methodically as you can easily make it worse

doing the wrong type approaches to fix it.

 

"SkyDiver" <skydivergm@gmail.com> wrote in message

news:92086c25-b4da-4772-8a90-ba6d6ed86b8c@x35g2000hsb.googlegroups.com...

> Yes, I removed the PATA-IDE drive before going any further..

> I tried Partition Magic which claimed that my partition reports an

> invalid size, it also asked if I'd like to repair this.

> All I'm trying to do at this point is to raw-copy the entire 160GB

> drive onto my 500GB drive and maybe let PM repair the duplicate, but I

> can't seem to execute this task since PM shouts all sorts of errors..

> everytime I think I overcome an error - another one pops up.

>

> On Jun 16, 12:48 am, "R. McCarty" <PcEngWork-NoSp...@mindspring.com>

> wrote:

>> Sounds like a lettering collision. The bad part of adding a PATA

>> drive to a SATA system is how it changes drive lettering. ( and

>> can also re-assign the boot device. ) Before you attempted any

>> recovery did you remove the PATA-IDE drive from the PC ?

>> Instead of data recovery you should be investigatingPartition

>> Table recovery.

>>

>> Seven months without a backup - If you get out of this hole go

>> buy Acronis True Image and start a more frequent backup routine.

>>

>> "SkyDiver" <skydive...@gmail.com> wrote in message

>>

>> news:3f6e91bf-28ff-431c-81b1-6c2fd227b137@27g2000hsf.googlegroups.com...

>>

>> > This morning I tried to installed a 40GB IDE disk on top of the

>> > already installed 150GB SATA one (partitioned - C:\ 30GB and D:\

>> > 120GB).

>>

>> > When I restarted, the system did not behave nicely.. Windows Explorer

>> > wouldn't launch, etc. I shut down, jumpered the 40GB drive as a slave

>> > and restarted.

>> > This time the system behaved better, but the terrible damage was

>> > already done - C: drive is alive and kicking, OK, but my D:partition

>> > has somehow managed to split into 2 individual partitions (!!) one in

>> > the size of 8GB and the other one 111GB, which is marked as

>> > "unallocated data"...

>>

>> > I tried both ActivePartitionRecovery and Acronics Disk Director, but

>> > both of them fail to recover anything from the 111GBpartition..

>>

>> > Is my data gone?? we're talking about 7 last months of unbacked up

>> > photos and documents..

>>

>> > .. HELP!

>

[Guest SkyDiver]

Re: A really damaged partition :(...

 

I didn't let PQMagic touch the original drive.

What I would really like is to clone the damaged partitions -verbatim-

(via some raw copy method) onto my 500GB mybook hard drive. Then I

would like to try working with PQMagic on the cloned drive.

All my data is on the 111GB of unallocated space, but I couldn't yet

duplicated it to a different drive.. Not with acronis as well.

 

On Jun 16, 1:03 pm, "R. McCarty" <PcEngWork-NoSp...@mindspring.com>

wrote:

> PartitionMagic 8.x ? - If so. I wouldn't have allowed PQMagic to

> dopartitiontable changes. In an earlier post you mentioned that

> you used Acronis Disk Mgmt, was that correct and did you try it

> to recover the original D: volume ?

> Not sure what to advise, with this kind of issue it'sreallyimportant

> to go very slow and methodically as you can easily make it worse

> doing the wrong type approaches to fix it.

>

> "SkyDiver" <skydive...@gmail.com> wrote in message

>

> news:92086c25-b4da-4772-8a90-ba6d6ed86b8c@x35g2000hsb.googlegroups.com...

>

> > Yes, I removed the PATA-IDE drive before going any further..

> > I triedPartitionMagic which claimed that mypartitionreports an

> > invalid size, it also asked if I'd like to repair this.

> > All I'm trying to do at this point is to raw-copy the entire 160GB

> > drive onto my 500GB drive and maybe let PM repair the duplicate, but I

> > can't seem to execute this task since PM shouts all sorts of errors..

> > everytime I think I overcome an error - another one pops up.

>

> > On Jun 16, 12:48 am, "R. McCarty" <PcEngWork-NoSp...@mindspring.com>

> > wrote:

> >> Sounds like a lettering collision. The bad part of adding a PATA

> >> drive to a SATA system is how it changes drive lettering. ( and

> >> can also re-assign the boot device. ) Before you attempted any

> >> recovery did you remove the PATA-IDE drive from the PC ?

> >> Instead of data recovery you should be investigatingPartition

> >> Table recovery.

>

> >> Seven months without a backup - If you get out of this hole go

> >> buy Acronis True Image and start a more frequent backup routine.

>

> >> "SkyDiver" <skydive...@gmail.com> wrote in message

>

> >>news:3f6e91bf-28ff-431c-81b1-6c2fd227b137@27g2000hsf.googlegroups.com...

>

> >> > This morning I tried to installed a 40GB IDE disk on top of the

> >> > already installed 150GB SATA one (partitioned - C:\ 30GB and D:\

> >> > 120GB).

>

> >> > When I restarted, the system did not behave nicely.. Windows Explorer

> >> > wouldn't launch, etc. I shut down, jumpered the 40GB drive as a slave

> >> > and restarted.

> >> > This time the system behaved better, but the terrible damage was

> >> > already done - C: drive is alive and kicking, OK, but my D:partition

> >> > has somehow managed to split into 2 individual partitions (!!) one in

> >> > the size of 8GB and the other one 111GB, which is marked as

> >> > "unallocated data"...

>

> >> > I tried both ActivePartitionRecovery and Acronics Disk Director, but

> >> > both of them fail to recover anything from the 111GBpartition..

>

> >> > Is my data gone?? we're talking about 7 last months of unbacked up

> >> > photos and documents..

>

> >> > .. HELP!

[Guest Bill in Co.]

Re: A really damaged partition :(...

 

R. McCarty wrote:

> Partition Magic 8.x ? - If so. I wouldn't have allowed PQMagic to

> do partition table changes. In an earlier post you mentioned that

> you used Acronis Disk Mgmt, was that correct and did you try it

> to recover the original D: volume ?

> Not sure what to advise, with this kind of issue it's really important

> to go very slow and methodically as you can easily make it worse

> doing the wrong type approaches to fix it.

 

I'd generally agree with that too, as it's like walking on a razor's edge.

But at this point, if he doesn't allow PM (or some other similar program) to

try and repair the Partition Table, and if he can't raw copy it first to a

backup, what else are his options.

 

> "SkyDiver" <skydivergm@gmail.com> wrote in message

> news:92086c25-b4da-4772-8a90-ba6d6ed86b8c@x35g2000hsb.googlegroups.com...

>> Yes, I removed the PATA-IDE drive before going any further..

>> I tried Partition Magic which claimed that my partition reports an

>> invalid size, it also asked if I'd like to repair this.

>> All I'm trying to do at this point is to raw-copy the entire 160GB

>> drive onto my 500GB drive and maybe let PM repair the duplicate, but I

>> can't seem to execute this task since PM shouts all sorts of errors..

>> everytime I think I overcome an error - another one pops up.

>>

>> On Jun 16, 12:48 am, "R. McCarty" <PcEngWork-NoSp...@mindspring.com>

>> wrote:

>>> Sounds like a lettering collision. The bad part of adding a PATA

>>> drive to a SATA system is how it changes drive lettering. ( and

>>> can also re-assign the boot device. ) Before you attempted any

>>> recovery did you remove the PATA-IDE drive from the PC ?

>>> Instead of data recovery you should be investigatingPartition

>>> Table recovery.

>>>

>>> Seven months without a backup - If you get out of this hole go

>>> buy Acronis True Image and start a more frequent backup routine.

>>>

>>> "SkyDiver" <skydive...@gmail.com> wrote in message

>>>

>>> news:3f6e91bf-28ff-431c-81b1-6c2fd227b137@27g2000hsf.googlegroups.com...

>>>

>>>> This morning I tried to installed a 40GB IDE disk on top of the

>>>> already installed 150GB SATA one (partitioned - C:\ 30GB and D:\

>>>> 120GB).

>>>

>>>> When I restarted, the system did not behave nicely.. Windows Explorer

>>>> wouldn't launch, etc. I shut down, jumpered the 40GB drive as a slave

>>>> and restarted.

>>>> This time the system behaved better, but the terrible damage was

>>>> already done - C: drive is alive and kicking, OK, but my D:partition

>>>> has somehow managed to split into 2 individual partitions (!!) one in

>>>> the size of 8GB and the other one 111GB, which is marked as

>>>> "unallocated data"...

>>>

>>>> I tried both ActivePartitionRecovery and Acronics Disk Director, but

>>>> both of them fail to recover anything from the 111GBpartition..

>>>

>>>> Is my data gone?? we're talking about 7 last months of unbacked up

>>>> photos and documents..

>>>

>>>> .. HELP!

[Guest SkyDiver]

Re: A really damaged partition :(...

 

I managed to duplicate the entire hard disk onto my 500GB one.

The damaged 120GB partition had split up to 8GB of a logical partition

tagged with a RAW file system and the rest is tagged as unallocated

space..

I tried to go further with it and resize the "RAW" 8GB patition, but I

can't seem to do it.

PQMagic won't even launch until it fixes all the length mismatches,

and then when it does launch, it won't allow me to resize that 8GB

partition anyway.. :(

 

Yet again - I'm stuck..

 

On Jun 16, 1:03 pm, "R. McCarty" <PcEngWork-NoSp...@mindspring.com>

wrote:

> PartitionMagic 8.x ? - If so. I wouldn't have allowed PQMagic to

> dopartitiontable changes. In an earlier post you mentioned that

> you used Acronis Disk Mgmt, was that correct and did you try it

> to recover the original D: volume ?

> Not sure what to advise, with this kind of issue it's really important

> to go very slow and methodically as you can easily make it worse

> doing the wrong type approaches to fix it.

>

> "SkyDiver" <skydive...@gmail.com> wrote in message

>

> news:92086c25-b4da-4772-8a90-ba6d6ed86b8c@x35g2000hsb.googlegroups.com...

>

> > Yes, I removed the PATA-IDE drive before going any further..

> > I triedPartitionMagic which claimed that mypartitionreports an

> > invalid size, it also asked if I'd like to repair this.

> > All I'm trying to do at this point is to raw-copy the entire 160GB

> > drive onto my 500GB drive and maybe let PM repair the duplicate, but I

> > can't seem to execute this task since PM shouts all sorts of errors..

> > everytime I think I overcome an error - another one pops up.

>

> > On Jun 16, 12:48 am, "R. McCarty" <PcEngWork-NoSp...@mindspring.com>

> > wrote:

> >> Sounds like a lettering collision. The bad part of adding a PATA

> >> drive to a SATA system is how it changes drive lettering. ( and

> >> can also re-assign the boot device. ) Before you attempted any

> >> recovery did you remove the PATA-IDE drive from the PC ?

> >> Instead of data recovery you should be investigatingPartition

> >> Table recovery.

>

> >> Seven months without a backup - If you get out of this hole go

> >> buy Acronis True Image and start a more frequent backup routine.

>

> >> "SkyDiver" <skydive...@gmail.com> wrote in message

>

> >>news:3f6e91bf-28ff-431c-81b1-6c2fd227b137@27g2000hsf.googlegroups.com...

>

> >> > This morning I tried to installed a 40GB IDE disk on top of the

> >> > already installed 150GB SATA one (partitioned - C:\ 30GB and D:\

> >> > 120GB).

>

> >> > When I restarted, the system did not behave nicely.. Windows Explorer

> >> > wouldn't launch, etc. I shut down, jumpered the 40GB drive as a slave

> >> > and restarted.

> >> > This time the system behaved better, but the terrible damage was

> >> > already done - C: drive is alive and kicking, OK, but my D:partition

> >> > has somehow managed to split into 2 individual partitions (!!) one in

> >> > the size of 8GB and the other one 111GB, which is marked as

> >> > "unallocated data"...

>

> >> > I tried both ActivePartitionRecovery and Acronics Disk Director, but

> >> > both of them fail to recover anything from the 111GBpartition..

>

> >> > Is my data gone?? we're talking about 7 last months of unbacked up

> >> > photos and documents..

>

> >> > .. HELP!

[Guest R. McCarty]

Re: A really damaged partition :(...

 

It is very aggravating when you have what you think are the tools

( & experience ) and can't get 2+2 to equal 4. Over the years I've

seen a lot of sunrises while banging away on these type of innocent

but deadly system changes.

 

Anyway Partition Magic has helped me with a lot of recovery work

for me. However now with Vista and a newer NTFS I've left it for

Acronis Disk Management. It doesn't help that Symantec bought it

from PowerQuest and seems to have abandoned it.

 

I do have a copy of Active Partition Recovery and that's also done

a few system resurrections but I seem to remember you said you

had tried that and it didn't work out for you.

 

Not sure what to suggest, maybe another responder has an idea or

alternate program to try.

 

"SkyDiver" <skydivergm@gmail.com> wrote in message

news:914ce6aa-b0ec-4090-a427-60ea4f8e6674@a70g2000hsh.googlegroups.com...

>I managed to duplicate the entire hard disk onto my 500GB one.

> The damaged 120GB partition had split up to 8GB of a logical partition

> tagged with a RAW file system and the rest is tagged as unallocated

> space..

> I tried to go further with it and resize the "RAW" 8GB patition, but I

> can't seem to do it.

> PQMagic won't even launch until it fixes all the length mismatches,

> and then when it does launch, it won't allow me to resize that 8GB

> partition anyway.. :(

>

> Yet again - I'm stuck..

>

> On Jun 16, 1:03 pm, "R. McCarty" <PcEngWork-NoSp...@mindspring.com>

> wrote:

>> PartitionMagic 8.x ? - If so. I wouldn't have allowed PQMagic to

>> dopartitiontable changes. In an earlier post you mentioned that

>> you used Acronis Disk Mgmt, was that correct and did you try it

>> to recover the original D: volume ?

>> Not sure what to advise, with this kind of issue it's really important

>> to go very slow and methodically as you can easily make it worse

>> doing the wrong type approaches to fix it.

>>

>> "SkyDiver" <skydive...@gmail.com> wrote in message

>>

>> news:92086c25-b4da-4772-8a90-ba6d6ed86b8c@x35g2000hsb.googlegroups.com...

>>

>> > Yes, I removed the PATA-IDE drive before going any further..

>> > I triedPartitionMagic which claimed that mypartitionreports an

>> > invalid size, it also asked if I'd like to repair this.

>> > All I'm trying to do at this point is to raw-copy the entire 160GB

>> > drive onto my 500GB drive and maybe let PM repair the duplicate, but I

>> > can't seem to execute this task since PM shouts all sorts of errors..

>> > everytime I think I overcome an error - another one pops up.

>>

>> > On Jun 16, 12:48 am, "R. McCarty" <PcEngWork-NoSp...@mindspring.com>

>> > wrote:

>> >> Sounds like a lettering collision. The bad part of adding a PATA

>> >> drive to a SATA system is how it changes drive lettering. ( and

>> >> can also re-assign the boot device. ) Before you attempted any

>> >> recovery did you remove the PATA-IDE drive from the PC ?

>> >> Instead of data recovery you should be investigatingPartition

>> >> Table recovery.

>>

>> >> Seven months without a backup - If you get out of this hole go

>> >> buy Acronis True Image and start a more frequent backup routine.

>>

>> >> "SkyDiver" <skydive...@gmail.com> wrote in message

>>

>> >>news:3f6e91bf-28ff-431c-81b1-6c2fd227b137@27g2000hsf.googlegroups.com...

>>

>> >> > This morning I tried to installed a 40GB IDE disk on top of the

>> >> > already installed 150GB SATA one (partitioned - C:\ 30GB and D:\

>> >> > 120GB).

>>

>> >> > When I restarted, the system did not behave nicely.. Windows

>> >> > Explorer

>> >> > wouldn't launch, etc. I shut down, jumpered the 40GB drive as a

>> >> > slave

>> >> > and restarted.

>> >> > This time the system behaved better, but the terrible damage was

>> >> > already done - C: drive is alive and kicking, OK, but my D:partition

>> >> > has somehow managed to split into 2 individual partitions (!!) one

>> >> > in

>> >> > the size of 8GB and the other one 111GB, which is marked as

>> >> > "unallocated data"...

>>

>> >> > I tried both ActivePartitionRecovery and Acronics Disk Director, but

>> >> > both of them fail to recover anything from the 111GBpartition..

>>

>> >> > Is my data gone?? we're talking about 7 last months of unbacked up

>> >> > photos and documents..

>>

>> >> > .. HELP!

>

[Guest SkyDiver]

Re: A really damaged partition :(...

 

Yeah.. well, thanks anyway.

I've spent 4 sunrises on this whole shebang already..

 

I read that the MBR has a copy somewhere towards the end of the

partition, so my current goal is to try and find it on the unallocated

space section.

So far I found a software called TestDisk, which scans the hard drive

for MBR remnants.

I'm still fiddling with that one..

 

 

On Jun 17, 9:35 pm, "R. McCarty" <PcEngWork-NoSp...@mindspring.com>

wrote:

> It is very aggravating when you have what you think are the tools

> ( & experience ) and can't get 2+2 to equal 4. Over the years I've

> seen a lot of sunrises while banging away on these type of innocent

> but deadly system changes.

>

> AnywayPartitionMagic has helped me with a lot of recovery work

> for me. However now with Vista and a newer NTFS I've left it for

> Acronis Disk Management. It doesn't help that Symantec bought it

> from PowerQuest and seems to have abandoned it.

>

> I do have a copy of ActivePartitionRecovery and that's also done

> a few system resurrections but I seem to remember you said you

> had tried that and it didn't work out for you.

>

> Not sure what to suggest, maybe another responder has an idea or

> alternate program to try.

>

> "SkyDiver" <skydive...@gmail.com> wrote in message

>

> news:914ce6aa-b0ec-4090-a427-60ea4f8e6674@a70g2000hsh.googlegroups.com...

>

> >I managed to duplicate the entire hard disk onto my 500GB one.

> > Thedamaged120GBpartitionhad split up to 8GB of a logicalpartition

> > tagged with a RAW file system and the rest is tagged as unallocated

> > space..

> > I tried to go further with it and resize the "RAW" 8GB patition, but I

> > can't seem to do it.

> > PQMagic won't even launch until it fixes all the length mismatches,

> > and then when it does launch, it won't allow me to resize that 8GB

> >partitionanyway.. :(

>

> > Yet again - I'm stuck..

>

> > On Jun 16, 1:03 pm, "R. McCarty" <PcEngWork-NoSp...@mindspring.com>

> > wrote:

> >> PartitionMagic 8.x ? - If so. I wouldn't have allowed PQMagic to

> >> dopartitiontable changes. In an earlier post you mentioned that

> >> you used Acronis Disk Mgmt, was that correct and did you try it

> >> to recover the original D: volume ?

> >> Not sure what to advise, with this kind of issue it'sreallyimportant

> >> to go very slow and methodically as you can easily make it worse

> >> doing the wrong type approaches to fix it.

>

> >> "SkyDiver" <skydive...@gmail.com> wrote in message

>

> >>news:92086c25-b4da-4772-8a90-ba6d6ed86b8c@x35g2000hsb.googlegroups.com...

>

> >> > Yes, I removed the PATA-IDE drive before going any further..

> >> > I triedPartitionMagic which claimed that mypartitionreports an

> >> > invalid size, it also asked if I'd like to repair this.

> >> > All I'm trying to do at this point is to raw-copy the entire 160GB

> >> > drive onto my 500GB drive and maybe let PM repair the duplicate, but I

> >> > can't seem to execute this task since PM shouts all sorts of errors..

> >> > everytime I think I overcome an error - another one pops up.

>

> >> > On Jun 16, 12:48 am, "R. McCarty" <PcEngWork-NoSp...@mindspring.com>

> >> > wrote:

> >> >> Sounds like a lettering collision. The bad part of adding a PATA

> >> >> drive to a SATA system is how it changes drive lettering. ( and

> >> >> can also re-assign the boot device. ) Before you attempted any

> >> >> recovery did you remove the PATA-IDE drive from the PC ?

> >> >> Instead of data recovery you should be investigatingPartition

> >> >> Table recovery.

>

> >> >> Seven months without a backup - If you get out of this hole go

> >> >> buy Acronis True Image and start a more frequent backup routine.

>

> >> >> "SkyDiver" <skydive...@gmail.com> wrote in message

>

> >> >>news:3f6e91bf-28ff-431c-81b1-6c2fd227b137@27g2000hsf.googlegroups.com...

>

> >> >> > This morning I tried to installed a 40GB IDE disk on top of the

> >> >> > already installed 150GB SATA one (partitioned - C:\ 30GB and D:\

> >> >> > 120GB).

>

> >> >> > When I restarted, the system did not behave nicely.. Windows

> >> >> > Explorer

> >> >> > wouldn't launch, etc. I shut down, jumpered the 40GB drive as a

> >> >> > slave

> >> >> > and restarted.

> >> >> > This time the system behaved better, but the terrible damage was

> >> >> > already done - C: drive is alive and kicking, OK, but my D:partition

> >> >> > has somehow managed to split into 2 individual partitions (!!) one

> >> >> > in

> >> >> > the size of 8GB and the other one 111GB, which is marked as

> >> >> > "unallocated data"...

>

> >> >> > I tried both ActivePartitionRecovery and Acronics Disk Director, but

> >> >> > both of them fail to recover anything from the 111GBpartition..

>

> >> >> > Is my data gone?? we're talking about 7 last months of unbacked up

> >> >> > photos and documents..

>

> >> >> > .. HELP!

[Guest SkyDiver]

Re: A really damaged partition :(...

 

EPILOG!!

-------------

 

Following is a summary of my insights from the past 5(!) days of

trying to resurrect my hard disk.

 

My problem began when I attached a PATA-IDE hard disk side-by-side

with a SATA disk.

The result was that my 120GB data partition was split into a small 8GB

one and the rest got lost and appeared as "unallocated space".

 

I guess that it had also something to do with the fact that attaching

extra disks drives causes confusion in drive letters (still, breaking

my partition like that was plain nasty).

To my fortune, my C: was not affected at all (I later on read that

Primary partitions drive letters are allocated first, then extended

partitions receive drive letters and then it goes to other peripherals

suck as disk-on-key, card readers, etc).

 

Before going any further, I used EASEUS's Disk Copy (http://www.easeus.com)

in order to duplicate the faulty hard disk into a different one (needs

to be a different -physical- drive).

This way I was able to safely perform several tests and to try

different software and approaches to recover my data partition.

 

When I launched Partition Magic offered to fix partition lengths, but

that didn't turn out to be any help.

Acronis Disk Director, Active Data Recovery and several other software

work on the logical drive letter level (C: D: E:, etc), but I was

looking for software that works on the low level of sectors and

cylinders.

 

I began realizing that the MBR (Master Boot Record) is what probably

broke down and caused all the confusion.

With further reading I realized that the MBR is BACKED UP towards the

end of a partition... Interesting...

 

From there I started searching for some software that will scan the

entire disk, sector by sector, and will track the MBR's backup.

 

Finally, I came across the GetDataBack software (http://www.runtime.org).

This one worked like a charm - scanned the entire disk, found the

correct MBR and successfully revived all my lost data.

 

Kudos to Runtime Software!!

 

 

GOOD LUCK!

 

On Jun 18, 8:17 am, SkyDiver <skydive...@gmail.com> wrote:

> Yeah.. well, thanks anyway.

> I've spent 4 sunrises on this whole shebang already..

>

> I read that the MBR has a copy somewhere towards the end of thepartition, so my current goal is to try and find it on the unallocated

> space section.

> So far I found a software called TestDisk, which scans the hard drive

> for MBR remnants.

> I'm still fiddling with that one..

>

> On Jun 17, 9:35 pm, "R. McCarty" <PcEngWork-NoSp...@mindspring.com>

> wrote:

>

> > It is very aggravating when you have what you think are the tools

> > ( & experience ) and can't get 2+2 to equal 4. Over the years I've

> > seen a lot of sunrises while banging away on these type of innocent

> > but deadly system changes.

>

> > AnywayPartitionMagic has helped me with a lot of recovery work

> > for me. However now with Vista and a newer NTFS I've left it for

> > Acronis Disk Management. It doesn't help that Symantec bought it

> > from PowerQuest and seems to have abandoned it.

>

> > I do have a copy of ActivePartitionRecovery and that's also done

> > a few system resurrections but I seem to remember you said you

> > had tried that and it didn't work out for you.

>

> > Not sure what to suggest, maybe another responder has an idea or

> > alternate program to try.

>

> > "SkyDiver" <skydive...@gmail.com> wrote in message

>

> >news:914ce6aa-b0ec-4090-a427-60ea4f8e6674@a70g2000hsh.googlegroups.com...

>

> > >I managed to duplicate the entire hard disk onto my 500GB one.

> > > Thedamaged120GBpartitionhad split up to 8GB of a logicalpartition

> > > tagged with a RAW file system and the rest is tagged as unallocated

> > > space..

> > > I tried to go further with it and resize the "RAW" 8GB patition, but I

> > > can't seem to do it.

> > > PQMagic won't even launch until it fixes all the length mismatches,

> > > and then when it does launch, it won't allow me to resize that 8GB

> > >partitionanyway.. :(

>

> > > Yet again - I'm stuck..

>

> > > On Jun 16, 1:03 pm, "R. McCarty" <PcEngWork-NoSp...@mindspring.com>

> > > wrote:

> > >> PartitionMagic 8.x ? - If so. I wouldn't have allowed PQMagic to

> > >> dopartitiontable changes. In an earlier post you mentioned that

> > >> you used Acronis Disk Mgmt, was that correct and did you try it

> > >> to recover the original D: volume ?

> > >> Not sure what to advise, with this kind of issue it'sreallyimportant

> > >> to go very slow and methodically as you can easily make it worse

> > >> doing the wrong type approaches to fix it.

>

> > >> "SkyDiver" <skydive...@gmail.com> wrote in message

>

> > >>news:92086c25-b4da-4772-8a90-ba6d6ed86b8c@x35g2000hsb.googlegroups.com...

>

> > >> > Yes, I removed the PATA-IDE drive before going any further..

> > >> > I triedPartitionMagic which claimed that mypartitionreports an

> > >> > invalid size, it also asked if I'd like to repair this.

> > >> > All I'm trying to do at this point is to raw-copy the entire 160GB

> > >> > drive onto my 500GB drive and maybe let PM repair the duplicate, but I

> > >> > can't seem to execute this task since PM shouts all sorts of errors..

> > >> > everytime I think I overcome an error - another one pops up.

>

> > >> > On Jun 16, 12:48 am, "R. McCarty" <PcEngWork-NoSp...@mindspring.com>

> > >> > wrote:

> > >> >> Sounds like a lettering collision. The bad part of adding a PATA

> > >> >> drive to a SATA system is how it changes drive lettering. ( and

> > >> >> can also re-assign the boot device. ) Before you attempted any

> > >> >> recovery did you remove the PATA-IDE drive from the PC ?

> > >> >> Instead of data recovery you should be investigatingPartition

> > >> >> Table recovery.

>

> > >> >> Seven months without a backup - If you get out of this hole go

> > >> >> buy Acronis True Image and start a more frequent backup routine.

>

> > >> >> "SkyDiver" <skydive...@gmail.com> wrote in message

>

> > >> >>news:3f6e91bf-28ff-431c-81b1-6c2fd227b137@27g2000hsf.googlegroups.com...

>

> > >> >> > This morning I tried to installed a 40GB IDE disk on top of the

> > >> >> > already installed 150GB SATA one (partitioned - C:\ 30GB and D:\

> > >> >> > 120GB).

>

> > >> >> > When I restarted, the system did not behave nicely.. Windows

> > >> >> > Explorer

> > >> >> > wouldn't launch, etc. I shut down, jumpered the 40GB drive as a

> > >> >> > slave

> > >> >> > and restarted.

> > >> >> > This time the system behaved better, but the terrible damage was

> > >> >> > already done - C: drive is alive and kicking, OK, but my D:partition

> > >> >> > has somehow managed to split into 2 individual partitions (!!) one

> > >> >> > in

> > >> >> > the size of 8GB and the other one 111GB, which is marked as

> > >> >> > "unallocated data"...

>

> > >> >> > I tried both ActivePartitionRecovery and Acronics Disk Director, but

> > >> >> > both of them fail to recover anything from the 111GBpartition..

>

> > >> >> > Is my data gone?? we're talking about 7 last months of unbacked up

> > >> >> > photos and documents..

>

> > >> >> > .. HELP!