Lost partitions and corrupted disk drive
Ellis Freedman
Version: NU95 version 3.x
Operating system: Windows 95a
I just installed (or tried to install) Norton AntiVirus on
my system, a Pentium II with 128 MB RAM and 2 hard drives.
The second hard drive (4.3 GB) was partitioned into 5
different partitions. I placed AntiVirus on the first
partition, D:, with all of my other applications and
utilities, including Norton Utilities. At the end of the
install procedure, it prompted me to restart my system. I
did, and during reboot I was notified that there was a
damaged sector on the D: drive. After several attempts to
reboot, I found that I could only enter Windows in Safe
Mode. I can see the list of files on the D: drive, although
some of them are inaccessible. I cannot see any of the
other partitions except for the C: drive, which is
physically different. I tried running WinDoctor (which is
on the D: drive) and it advised me not to try because some
drivers were missing. I tried to run DiskDoctor, and I got
a blue screen with a fatal error. I got past this screen
and had it run diagnostics on the D: drive. It said that
there were errors on hard disk 2. It scanned it and found
2 partitions, save their location on a floppy, stopped, and
refused to respond past that point. Now all of my data is
inaccessible unless I can somehow restore my disk.
I sent this same message to the tech support for Norton
Antivirus, and they referred me to you. My Norton Rescue
Disk for this system is corrupted, so I tried using an old
one. It found no additional data or partitions beyond the
first one to which I have partial access. I even bought and
used a program called Hard Disk Mechanic 3.0, but it did
even less than my old Rescue disk. Please help! I understand
that you do data recovery, but your prices seem a bit steep for
me. Is there anything that you can do?
Vernon Balbert (Symantec)
Ellis,
There's not much we can do online except to suggest that you run the
DOS version of NDD and see if that takes care of anything. Other than
that, you'll have to call our telephone support people for help as to
do anything online will take weeks.
Vernon Balbert
Senior Support Analyst
Symantec Corporation
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