Restore Deleted Partitions

December 24, 2009 by admin
Filed under Computer Tips

Restore Deleted Partitions

A partition is the space defined on your hard drive to be used for the system or for storing data. The partition is basically the framework of everything on your hard drive. When you delete a hard drive partition, you are not initially deleting everything but just the parameters that mark how the partition is setup. A partition can be recovered because it is not originally deleted; however, to recover the partition you will most likely need software that is made for reestablishing those parameters.

Instructions

Step 1

Leave everything alone. Don’t do anything else to your computer; don’t add anything or remove anything.
Step 2

Restart the computer with a Windows install CD in the computer. Hit whatever key is listed on the screen to go into the Bios. Once in the Bios look for a menu that says “boot order” or “boot priority” to set the CD as the first boot device. Restart the computer and let Windows start the Install process.
Step 3

Agree to all the choices to let Windows install but choose “Repair” rather than install as soon as you see an option to do so. You will be taken to a DOS-like screen. Once in the DOS-like screen type “fixboot” and hit “Enter.” Restart the computer. This may or may not fix the problem. If the partition is not back, move to the next step.
Step 4

Shut down the computer and take the hard drive out. Install the hard drive as a slave to another drive on a working computer. You can attempt to recover the deleted partition on the original computer but it is not the safest way to avoid loosing data. If this method does not work or you do not wish to attempt this method, move to the next step.
Step 5

Find partition recovery software. At this point, there is virtually no other known way to recover the drive except through third-party software designed to do just that (see Additional Resources for software).
Step 6

Run the program and follow the instructions to recover the partition. Choose the drive that you want the software to work on.
The program will take a long time searching for all possible partitions it can recover. The software will then present you with partition choices. Select which partition you want and the program will restore it.
Step 7

Copy the files off of the drive that just had the partition recovered and onto another drive to prevent the files from being corrupted. If you were able to put the drive in another computer, simply copy and paste the files to the other hard drive. If you are using the drive on the original computer or as the system drive, restarting the computer after the recovery process may cause some loss of files.