Help!!: retrieving data after accidental fdisk.
PAM
After the usual fiddling around with WinXP and screwing it up, I decided to
reinstall the whiole thing over again right from partitioning my drives and
formatting.
However, upon deleting and reinputting the partitions using fdisk, I
remembered that there were photos I had loaded onto the pc from my camera
that I wanted saved. Everything else I could restore from backup but I
hadn't backed these up.
Q: Is there a way of retrieving these photos? My PC is currently in a state
of just created new partitions and not yet formatted the disk. Help would be
appreciated.
Peter
Marie-Alice Clark
photo's are no more,
even then not everyone (CIA and Scotland Yard excepted) would find much if
they have been written over by XP.
If they are not still in the camera forget it.
Retreival software does exist, but it generally needs installed before you
blat the files.
Sorry to rain on your parade, anyone tells you the files are "save"able,
they're talking out a hole in their hat.
Andrew J. Cornell
computer that you could fit the drive into as a slave, and install Easy
Recovery Pro onto, there is a SLIGHT chance that easy recovery pro will
retrieve the files.
Andy
"PAM" <Junk...@Fishnchips.com> wrote in message
news:c1OS7.436$Li.6...@news02.tsnz.net...
Marie-Alice Clark
"Andrew J. Cornell" <an...@actec.fsnet.co.uk> wrote in message
news:9vihbl$fd9$1...@news6.svr.pol.co.uk...
> Hmm, if you haven't yet formatted the drive, and you have access to
another
> computer that you could fit the drive into as a slave, and install Easy
> Recovery Pro onto, there is a SLIGHT chance that easy recovery pro will
> retrieve the files.
> Andy
FDISKED, new partitions, it has gone Andy,
do you know FDISK?
do not give the man false hope,
it has gone.
> "PAM" <Junk...@Fishnchips.com> wrote in message
> news:c1OS7.436$Li.6...@news02.tsnz.net...
However, upon deleting and reinputting the partitions using fdisk, I
remembered that there were photos I had loaded onto the pc from my camera
that I wanted saved. Everything else I could restore from backup but I
hadn't backed these up
PAM.
>
> "Andrew J. Cornell" <an...@actec.fsnet.co.uk> wrote in message
> news:9vihbl$fd9$1...@news6.svr.pol.co.uk...
> > Hmm, if you haven't yet formatted the drive, and you have access to
> another
> > computer that you could fit the drive into as a slave, and install Easy
> > Recovery Pro onto, there is a SLIGHT chance that easy recovery pro will
> > retrieve the files.
> > Andy
> did you read Andy?
> FDISKED, new partitions, it has gone Andy,
> do you know FDISK?
> do not give the man false hope,
> it has gone.
And there was me, hoping that there might be some 'simple' way.
Never mind. I guess I'll have to accept the loss and move on
Cheers peeps
PAM.
dae
<maximumsecuri...@blackplanet.co.uk> writes
>"Andrew J. Cornell" <an...@actec.fsnet.co.uk> wrote in message
>news:9vihbl$fd9$1...@news6.svr.pol.co.uk...
>> Hmm, if you haven't yet formatted the drive, and you have access to
>another
>> computer that you could fit the drive into as a slave, and install Easy
>> Recovery Pro onto, there is a SLIGHT chance that easy recovery pro will
>> retrieve the files.
>> Andy
>did you read Andy?
>FDISKED, new partitions, it has gone Andy,
>do you know FDISK?
>do not give the man false hope,
>it has gone.
>
previous state, and then use a sector editor to rebuild the FAT (or what
ever XP uses), there is a small chance of recovering data. It's probably
not worth the time it will take, but you won't lose much more than time
trying - and the experience will be character forming.
Even with out access to another computer you could fit and install your
XP to a new drive and give it a go.
--
dae
Marie-Alice Clark
"dae" <d...@chaos-cottage.demon.co.uk> wrote in message
news:ObAzvMCN...@chaos-cottage.demon.co.uk...
Aye, right,
lets see you do it then.
it has gone.
More false hope, more nonsense,
has the man got a copy of the original FAT?
which FAT?
forget it, data gone to the big toilet inthe ether.
PAM.
Yes, I can honestly say that it's gone. I've wiped it clean, formatted
C: & D: and reinstalled Win98. The photos were my brothers' whilst he is
on holiday here and he wasn't too pleased when I mentioned to him that
the photos were 'lost'. Still, them's the breaks.
The only issue I have now it trying to get sound out of my
nachine....but that's another story.
Thanks for your non-help and 'lack' of encouragement.
'-)
PAM.
Marie-Alice Clark
> C: & D: and reinstalled Win98. The photos were my brothers' whilst he is
> on holiday here and he wasn't too pleased when I mentioned to him that
> the photos were 'lost'. Still, them's the breaks.
>
> The only issue I have now it trying to get sound out of my
> nachine....but that's another story.
>
> Thanks for your non-help and 'lack' of encouragement.
> '-)
>
> PAM.
now would be a good time to consider a backup strategy,
even if it is just disks of MP3's, game saves and photo's like me.
I do a cd a month of the stuff I think I could not live without, then I
never need them. God only knows what I saved away.... but at least it is
safe.
PAM.
Oh, believe me I have a good backup strategy. I save everything of
importance to disk and backup at least once a week. Always backup before
I do anything to my pc. However, this is a NEW PC, bought on Monday,
installed XP tuesday, photos went on Wednesday, problems with XP
thursday and FDSIKed Friday (Last week). There was nothing on it that
"I" wanted. But forgot that my brother added some photos onto it on Wed.
Most of the stuff I keep is on D: and easy therefore to backup. Even the
software downloads and cracks. So formatting my PC and starting again
only wipes out C:. However, because of thet startup of a new pc and it's
'intricasies', I hadn't managed to create a D: drive and hadn't gotten
into how I wanted the PC set up. I expect I'll format it regularly every
month for the next few months till I get a formula I'm happy with. The
other 10Gb on the PC will be Linux so I can play with that, when I have
time.
There was no way I was adding any real serious data of mine (which is
all on RW disc at present) onto the PC until I was happy with the PC.
PAM.
Andrew J. Cornell
thing in the message was, NOT YET FORMATTED! This means that ALL the files
were still on the hard drive! As pointed out by dae, fdisk only deletes the
Partition Table, so, by telling Easy Recovery Pro that it was searching on a
FAT32 disk ( you don't actually need the original FAT table ), the program
knows how to scan the drive for the files. I can only assume that you have
never used Easy Recovery. But take it from me, it does work in the vast
majority of cases.
Andy
"Marie-Alice Clark" <maximumsecuri...@blackplanet.co.uk> wrote in
message news:9vjan1$rpj$1...@newsg3.svr.pol.co.uk...
Marie-Alice Clark
> YES Marie, I do know fdisk, do you? and yes I DID read, and the important
> thing in the message was, NOT YET FORMATTED! This means that ALL the files
> were still on the hard drive! As pointed out by dae, fdisk only deletes
the
> Partition Table, so, by telling Easy Recovery Pro that it was searching on
a
> FAT32 disk ( you don't actually need the original FAT table ), the program
> knows how to scan the drive for the files. I can only assume that you have
> never used Easy Recovery. But take it from me, it does work in the vast
> majority of cases.
If you want to look smart, be correct.
a quick format deletes only the FAT,
FDISK removes partitions.
Yes the data is there , but lets see you restore partitions to make the data
"readable" without having to format the drive also.
It cannot be easily done, and PAM was looking for a quick solution.
So, you are wrong, and as for the solution you were wrong too.
Do not talk down to me.
Especially as your recovery tool needs previously installed so that it has a
"map" of the file allocation table.
FROM BELOW IS NONSENSE
Marie-Alice Clark
and some folks here do not like top posting
"Marie-Alice Clark" <maximumsecuri...@blackplanet.co.uk> wrote in
message news:9vqt2o$ggo$1...@newsg4.svr.pol.co.uk...
M2fs
maximumsecuri...@blackplanet.co.uk says...
> PS it is rude to SHOUT
> and some folks here do not like top posting
>
LOL it is annoying isn't it.
BTW you can retrieve a significant amount of data even from a formatted
drive but the word "easy" would not apply
--
~~~~~~~
M2fs http://www.xdude.co.uk/flashed-mar2001.htm
~~~~~~~
Tim ...
"M2fs" <M2...@bigfoot.com> wrote in message
news:MPG.168b1e78...@news.ntlworld.com...
> BTW you can retrieve a significant amount of data even from a formatted
> drive but the word "easy" would not apply
.....assuming of course that the drive had had no subsequent write
operations performed.
M2fs
<usenet_bounce@]-[ot]\/[ail.com> says...
--
~~~~~~
M2fs
~~~~~~
PAM.
>
> > > BTW you can retrieve a significant amount of data even from a formatted
> > > drive but the word "easy" would not apply
> >
> > .....assuming of course that the drive had had no subsequent write
> > operations performed.
> >
What HAVE I started. It was only a simple question. And it doesn't
matter now. I've re-installed everything (Except WinXP)
PAM.
Andrew J. Cornell
installed, and it doesn't have to 'rebuild' the partition table or the fat!
It works by scanning the drive for data, telling it which type of file
system lets it know the size of the allocation units, so it knows how to
scan the drive. It doesn't need either the FAT, or the Partition Table to do
this. Also, I'm not sure where you get the bit about quick formatting, I
only pointed out that Pam had declared that the drive hadn't been formatted,
only fdisk'd. Further more, I wasn't trying to look smart, merely making a
statement of fact, it is possible to recover data from a drive that has been
fdisk'd, as long as it hasn't had a full format, but, even then, it is
possible. The only thing that can prevent data recovery is a low level
format, or by wriring 1's or 0's to every allocation unit.
Andy
"Marie-Alice Clark" <maximumsecuri...@blackplanet.co.uk> wrote in
message news:9vqt2o$ggo$1...@newsg4.svr.pol.co.uk...
Marie-Alice Clark
Thankyou for the support Gentlemen, if you look below, Andy is babbling on
some more. I give up, the boy obviously works as a data retrieval expert for
Scotland Yard, he will suit up in "whites" and remove the platters next.
Marie-Alice Clark
"PAM." <Junk...@FishnChips.com> wrote in message
news:3C213981...@FishnChips.com...
> What HAVE I started. It was only a simple question. And it doesn't
> matter now. I've re-installed everything (Except WinXP)
>
> PAM.
Think of it as Jousting for Nerds (geeks' too exhaulted a word for this lot)
Marie-Alice Clark
there are no such things as "partition tables", partitions (active,
extended, logical......) but they are not tabled.
Young man, you are making this up as you go along, admit it, you are and we
know you are.
"Andrew J. Cornell" <an...@actec.fsnet.co.uk> wrote in message
news:9vrlie$i3$1...@newsg2.svr.pol.co.uk...
M2fs
maximumsecuri...@blackplanet.co.uk says...
> > >
> > > .....assuming of course that the drive had had no subsequent write
> > > operations performed.
> > >
> >
> > Even that statement is not necessarily true
> > --
> > ~~~~~~
> > M2fs
> > ~~~~~~
>
> Thankyou for the support Gentlemen, if you look below, Andy is babbling on
> some more. I give up, the boy obviously works as a data retrieval expert for
> Scotland Yard, he will suit up in "whites" and remove the platters next.
>
The problem with you dude is you are unable to accept either criticism or
the fact that in some area's you do not have a clue what you are talking
about,
If you wont to progress further in IT (which I wish you the greatest
success) you must be prepared to keep an open mind and pick other peoples
brains and ideas to advance your own knowledge.
Data Recovery is not my speciality at all but I have done some contract
work for a U.S. firm, And what is recoverable even from an overwritten
H/D is astonishing.
There are also a few utilities for home users like the one below have a
read.
http://www.runtime.org/gdb.htm
--
~~~~~~
M2fs www.xdude.co.uk/flashed-mar2001.htm
~~~~~~
Andrew J. Cornell
make! I have been building & repairing computers for longer than I care to
remember, and the term 'young man' doesn't apply to me at all. You know, I
post in here to try to help people, and pass on some of the knowledge gained
with experience. The files that Pam lost, were very probably recoverable
usint the method I suggested, but, because YOU have no knowledge of the
program I suggested, that makes me wrong!! May I suggest that you obtain a
copy of Easy Recovery Pro, or Hard Disk Mechanic and try them. Now, on the
subject of Partition Tables, below is an extract from
http://www.win.tue.nl/~aeb/partitions/partition_tables-2.html#ss2.4 I think
this will explain what a partition table is, and what it does.
2.4 Partition table structure
Sector 0 of a disk, known as the Master Boot Record (MBR), is a partition
table sector, and thus contains four partition descriptors. The partitions
described in the MBR are known as primary partitions. If a primary partition
has a type indicating an extended partition, then the first sector of this
partition is again a partition table sector. The partitions described in
partition table sectors other than the MBR with a type not indicating an
extended partition are known as logical partitions. The partitions described
in partition table sectors other than the MBR with a type indicating an
extended partition are known as inner extended partitions and start again
with a partition table sector. All partition table sectors other than the
MBR contain at most two used partition descriptors, namely at most one
partition descriptor with a type not indicating an extended partition and at
most one partition descriptor with a type indicating an extended partition.
In this way the first sector of each primary extended partition becomes the
head of a linked list of partition table sectors which ends with an
partition table sector without partition descriptor with a type indicating
an extended partition. [Usually there is only one primary extended
partition, and hence only a single such linked list.]
I hope this explains things to you,
Andy
"Marie-Alice Clark" <maximumsecuri...@blackplanet.co.uk> wrote in
message news:9vs42h$6th$1...@newsg4.svr.pol.co.uk...
Andrew J. Cornell
longer than I care to remember! You know, I post in here to try to help
people, not to get into slanging matches. The information I posted was
correctThe files that Pam lost, were very probably recoverable, but, because
you know nothing of the program I suggested, you tried to make me out to be
a fool. Well, may I suggest you get hold of a copy of Easy recovery Pro, or
Uglywares Hard Disk mechanic, and test them out.
Below is an extract from this web address :
http://www.win.tue.nl/~aeb/partitions/partition_tables-2.html#ss2.4
2.4 Partition table structure
Sector 0 of a disk, known as the Master Boot Record (MBR), is a partition
table sector, and thus contains four partition descriptors. The partitions
described in the MBR are known as primary partitions. If a primary partition
has a type indicating an extended partition, then the first sector of this
partition is again a partition table sector. The partitions described in
partition table sectors other than the MBR with a type not indicating an
extended partition are known as logical partitions. The partitions described
in partition table sectors other than the MBR with a type indicating an
extended partition are known as inner extended partitions and start again
with a partition table sector. All partition table sectors other than the
MBR contain at most two used partition descriptors, namely at most one
partition descriptor with a type not indicating an extended partition and at
most one partition descriptor with a type indicating an extended partition.
In this way the first sector of each primary extended partition becomes the
head of a linked list of partition table sectors which ends with an
partition table sector without partition descriptor with a type indicating
an extended partition. [Usually there is only one primary extended
partition, and hence only a single such linked list.]
I think this clearly shows that partitions ARE tabled!
"Marie-Alice Clark" <maximumsecuri...@blackplanet.co.uk> wrote in
message news:9vs42h$6th$1...@newsg4.svr.pol.co.uk...
Marie-Alice Clark
> The problem with you dude is you are unable to accept either criticism or
> the fact that in some area's you do not have a clue what you are talking
> about,
> If you wont to progress further in IT (which I wish you the greatest
> success) you must be prepared to keep an open mind and pick other peoples
> brains and ideas to advance your own knowledge.
> Data Recovery is not my speciality at all but I have done some contract
> work for a U.S. firm, And what is recoverable even from an overwritten
> H/D is astonishing.
> There are also a few utilities for home users like the one below have a
> read.
> http://www.runtime.org/gdb.htm
>
> --
> ~~~~~~
> M2fs www.xdude.co.uk/flashed-mar2001.htm
> ~~~~~~
I'll stop tugging his whiskers.
Andrew J. Cornell
original post without even considering I may be right? And is that why you
belittled the program I mentioned with absolutely no knowledge of it? And
could you be more specific in which areas you find my deficiency? After all,
it was you who said that Partition tables did not exist!!
I bow to your superior knowledge, you obviously know more than I do, but
I've only been a computer engineer for 25 years, so I guess I have a lot to
learn.
Data recovery is not my speciality either, but, given that I repair
computers for a living, I have had cause to try it a great number of times
over the years.
anyway, just for you, I shall no longer bother to try to help anyone in
here, for they now have you to guide them!
Andy
"Marie-Alice Clark" <maximumsecuri...@blackplanet.co.uk> wrote in
message news:9vtl01$d6a$1...@newsg3.svr.pol.co.uk...
Tina
Hi!I used R-STUDIO for restoring files on hard and floppy disks. It
restores files , even if their partition structures are damaged. Look
site http://www.r-tt.com for more information
Good luck!
Tim ...
> I bow to your superior knowledge, you obviously know more than I do
I think not .... maybe more in certain areas, but not globally.
And to 'catch you out' with reference to partition tables et al, simply
confirms these antics as nothing more than playground activities. Did I hear
Miss calling the children back into school ..... ?
Being able to address ones peers on an equal level, accommodating different
levels of knowledge, demonstrates far better qualities than a know-it-all,
don't you think?
> I've only been a computer engineer for 25 years, so I guess I have a lot
> to learn.
Indeed you do ..... but so do CISCO and RF engineers, Doctors, Scientists
etc ....
> Data recovery is not my speciality either, but, given that I repair
> computers for a living, I have had cause to try it a great number of times
> over the years.
It's good to see that although you admit it's not an area you excel in, you
at least have tried.
> anyway, just for you, I shall no longer bother to try to help anyone in
> here
Please don't even consider this as an option.
> for they now have you to guide them!
That's what worries me.
There's no guidance .... there's condescending belittlement so far, but no
guidance.
M2fs
says...
> Well Marie, I give in!! Keep an open mind? is that why you dismissed my
> original post without even considering I may be right?
> > OK,
> > I'll stop tugging his whiskers.
> >
Er Andrew I _Think_ you have misread a post from me addressed to
M.A.Clark and thought it was their reply? Easily done with the mix of top
and bottom posting in this thread!
Anyway im flying home for the Christmas tonight, so no more arguments
till I get back.
Merry Christmas to everyone and Kenny have fun with whatever you do with
the Hog New-Year north of the border
--
~~~~~~
M2fs
~~~~~~
Jim Killian
news:c1OS7.436$Li.6...@news02.tsnz.net:
> Community,
> After the usual fiddling around with WinXP and screwing it up, I
> decided to reinstall the whiole thing over again right from
> partitioning my drives and formatting.
> However, upon deleting and reinputting the partitions using fdisk, I
> remembered that there were photos I had loaded onto the pc from my
> camera that I wanted saved. Everything else I could restore from backup
> but I hadn't backed these up.
>
> Q: Is there a way of retrieving these photos? My PC is currently in a
> state of just created new partitions and not yet formatted the disk.
> Help would be appreciated.
>
> Peter
>
>
The ONLY very outside chance you might have is using the following:
http://www.terabyteunlimited.com/utilities.html
Look down the page for a ZIP called MBRWork (v1.06), it can (essentially)
scan for deleted partitions and can sometimes recover it. As always, it
takes a little luck, and hopefully your reinstallation didn't write to that
specific area (or hasn't since posting). All in the all, the chances of
recovering are slim to none, but if desperate, it's worth a try.
HTH
-- Jim
kellyro...@gmail.com
> Community,
> After the usual fiddling around with WinXP and screwing it up, I decided to
> reinstall the whiole thing over again right from partitioning my drives and
> formatting.
> However, upon deleting and reinputting the partitions using fdisk, I
> remembered that there were photos I had loaded onto the pc from my camera
> that I wanted saved. Everything else I could restore from backup but I
> hadn't backed these up.
>
> Q: Is there a way of retrieving these photos? My PC is currently in a state
> of just created new partitions and not yet formatted the disk. Help would be
> appreciated.
>
> Peter