OMG I think I just reformatted by data storage partition by accident!

KillrBuckeye · Aug 3, 2005

OMG I think I just reformatted my data storage partition by accident!

I was trying to install Windows on my new 74 GB Raptor, and it just so happened that one of the partitions on my 120 GB IDE drive was 74 GB... you can imagine what I accidentally did. I chose "full format" option... Is there a way I can recover the data that was not written over with other files?

Also, even though I installed Promise SATA drivers by pressing F6 when prompted, my Raptor is not being detected in Windows setup (hence the reason I accidentally formatted my other 74 GB partition). It just says "unknown storage device" or something and it won't me select it. Please help. This has been the build from hell for me. :bang head

Know Nuttin · Aug 3, 2005

you may be able to use data recovery software. definitely do not do anything more to that partition though, leave it as it is now.

you may need to try different drivers for the Promise controller.

KillrBuckeye · Aug 3, 2005

Know Nuttin said:
you may be able to use data recovery software. definitely do not do anything more to that partition though, leave it as it is now.

you may need to try different drivers for the Promise controller.

Thanks, I figured out my problem with the Raptor: I had it plugged into the VIA SATA port instead of the Promise SATA port...

Promise drivers won't do any good in that situation.

Can anyone recommend any data recovery programs? Is there any freeware available to do this sort of thing?

Kill_A._Byte · Aug 3, 2005

Dosn't the raptor come with some kind of set up disk? You know the one where you set up the windows partiton. Like this stuff here .

KillrBuckeye · Aug 3, 2005

Kill_A._Byte said:
Dosn't the raptor come with some kind of set up disk? You know the one where you set up the windows partiton and the like.

My drive was OEM so it came with nothing. I don't know about the retail Raptors. In any case, it's working now with the Promise SATA drivers provided by Asus.

Kill_A._Byte · Aug 3, 2005

This build has been a pain for you hasn't it. Well glad to see you got a handle on it.
Happy OCing Killer,
Killa

Sucka · Aug 3, 2005

Did you delete it or format it?

mikeguava · Aug 3, 2005

I do that once a month...no worries there are plenty of programs that will do the trick - none of them I use are freeware - all the trials are resticted to what size you can recover and a complete waste of time - can sometimes take hours for the proggy to get all files up - and then it asks you to pay....don't even try...

GetDataBack for ntfs or fat has been the best for my purposes

KillrBuckeye · Aug 4, 2005

Sucka said:
Did you delete it or format it?

I did not delete the partition, I just formatted it using Windows XP Setup (full format, not the quick format option).

Xaotic · Aug 4, 2005

You will need recovery software. You can try PC Inspector, freeware, but will likely need a paid version. I use Rstudio.

KillrBuckeye · Aug 4, 2005

Xaotic said:
You will need recovery software. You can try PC Inspector, freeware, but will likely need a paid version. I use Rstudio.

Could someone explain in a bit more detail how these recovery programs would work? I am mainly concerned with recovering MP3s, some .jpg files, and application install files (games, utilities, drivers), etc. Is it a drag-and-drop process assuming the recovery software finds the files?

Cheator · Aug 4, 2005

I use Restorer2000. Its a grat program that you need to buy but works like a dream.

Basically how it works (assuming this is what your are asking) is it scans the disk for all the data and I beleive you can drag and drop. IT recovered most of my files when I last formated my drive and installed linux over it. hopefully windows didn't install over some important parts of your files.

Xaotic · Aug 4, 2005

There are a couple of different methods, but here are the basics.

Generally, the recovery process will allow you to select files and directories to be recovered and the location to save them into.

First, do not write anything further to the HDD. The ideal process is to image the HDD fisrt and then attempt recovery from the cloned disk. Most decent recovery applications run from a separate installation of windows or other OS. Older versions may run in DOS or similar bootable mode and will be excrutiatingly slow and best avoided as many lack NTFS support. Disconnect any other HDDs before installing the OS and recovery software. You will need space on another drive to store the files into. When recovering, work methodically and save the data to the other disk.

KillrBuckeye · Aug 4, 2005

Xaotic said:
There are a couple of different methods, but here are the basics.

Generally, the recovery process will allow you to select files and directories to be recovered and the location to save them into.

First, do not write anything further to the HDD. The ideal process is to image the HDD fisrt and then attempt recovery from the cloned disk. Most decent recovery applications run from a separate installation of windows or other OS. Older versions may run in DOS or similar bootable mode and will be excrutiatingly slow and best avoided as many lack NTFS support. Disconnect any other HDDs before installing the OS and recovery software. You will need space on another drive to store the files into. When recovering, work methodically and save the data to the other disk.

Thanks. In my case, I now have the OS on my Raptor, and the data that I want to recover is on a partition of my IDE drive. So I assume the imaging process would be unnecessary, right? There should be plenty of room on my 74GB for what I need to recover off that partition.

Enablingwolf · Aug 4, 2005

The imaging part is so you can try mulitple attempts if you have to. No one program is perfect. If you happen to mess up you can reinstall the image and start over.

I take the extra time for an image. Recovery is not a speedy process anyways and the more steps you take will hopefully not be needed, but can pay off in a EBCAK.

KillrBuckeye · Aug 4, 2005

Enablingwolf said:
The imaging part is so you can try mulitple attempts if you have to. No one program is perfect. If you happen to mess up you can reinstall the image and start over.

I take the extra time for an image. Recovery is not a speedy process anyways and the more steps you take will hopefully not be needed, but can pay off in a EBCAK.

So during the recovery process, the contents of the drive can be altered, and this is the reason that an image should be made? I can make an image of the drive and put it on my Raptor. If I screw up the recovery process, do I just restore that image back onto the IDE partition and try again? Thanks for the advice.

Enablingwolf · Aug 4, 2005

The image is just insurance in case of another EBCAK. There is a few different methods to do recovery. The more attempts you make for recovery. The less chances of retaining reliable data. Since the drive is not damaged, this is not as bad.

If your new to using Data Recovery it is just a good idea to do a backup, for the just incase. Once you gather that data you just recovered. Just dump the image.

KillrBuckeye · Aug 4, 2005

Enablingwolf said:
The image is just insurance in case of another EBCAK. There is a few different methods to do recovery. The more attempts you make for recovery. The less chances of retaining reliable data. Since the drive is not damaged, this is not as bad.

If your new to using Data Recovery it is just a good idea to do a backup, for the just incase. Once you gather that data you just recovered. Just dump the image.

Are there certain options I need to select when making the image (clone vs. image)? I'm worried that the imaging program will just copy the files it sees on the drive and not worried about what it sees as "blank space". Or is this not how imaging programs work?

Restorer · Aug 5, 2005

Typically, an image is a byte-by-byte copy of an entire partition. This captures the filesystem records, the known files, and any hidden data (e.g. lost files). I'm not experienced with imaging utilities in Windows, but as long as you don't do what looks like a "fast image" or a file copy, you should be fine.

OMG I think I just reformatted by data storage partition by accident!

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