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XP Reinstall but now no d drive [250Gb seen as 128Gb - WE sees it as unformatted]

Discussion in 'PC Hardware' started by Yo Antknee, 2007/05/26.

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  1. 2007/05/28
    Yo Antknee

    Yo Antknee Inactive Thread Starter

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    Christer,
    You're assumptions in post #14 were correct. The truly puzzling part is that I did this once before with no problems. Also, when I format I use NTFS.
     
    Yo Antknee,
    #21
  2. 2007/05/29
    Christer

    Christer Geek Member Staff

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    Yo,
    my bet is that you didn't do it exactly the same way on both occasions. If you did, the result would have been the same.

    (I can't help wondering how many people, with the original RTM CD, do fall into this pit?)

    Patch has recovered his/her files from a hard disk messed up in the same way. He/She didn't use freeware but had to pay for it. If your data is valuable, go for it. If you can live without your data, delete all partitions on the second hard disk and start over.

    Patch,

    I always do it like that. I have not learnt why but sometimes when reinstalling Windows, it may end up on a different partition than intended. Not giving the installer any choices, eliminates that risk. Being tired and yourself telling the installer to install on the wrong partition will also be impossible.

    Christer
     
    Christer,
    #22


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  4. 2007/05/29
    Yo Antknee

    Yo Antknee Inactive Thread Starter

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    Christer,
    I am wondering the same thing. Perhaps the last time I ran the service packs BEFORE trying to access the drive. I think this is one possibility. At any rate, I am beginning to think that data recovery software may be the only way to go unless someone out there has other solutions. However, if I do need to go with data recovery one product I looked at was called GetDataBack. If my VBR was corrupted this program sounds like it will get back my data. Do you or anyone on this post know about this or other software that can save my data from this situation? PS: Now, I too will disconnect all other drives when doing a Windows XP reinstall. Hindsight, eh!?!:(
     
    Yo Antknee,
    #23
  5. 2007/05/29
    Christer

    Christer Geek Member Staff

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    The problem is to make this situation "common knowledge ". The Seagate PDF-document, to which I linked, is the first document I have seen that provides the solution to the 137 GB barrier and also gives warning about what can happen if the OS is reinstalled or a hard disk is moved to a different computer. No such warning from Microsoft (that I can remember reading but I would be pleased if proven wrong).

    Even if the information was readily available on a variety of web pages, is it likely that you would search for information prior to starting the job, information on an issue that you don't even know exists?

    Christer
     
    Christer,
    #24
  6. 2007/05/31
    Yo Antknee

    Yo Antknee Inactive Thread Starter

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    Success!!! After trying this and that, consulting my I.T. Dept at work, I decided to try GetDataBack. Anyone who ran into this "lost drive" problem, there is hope. Well worth the $80. ALL of my files were recovered. The software trial version indicated that my files were recoverable. By forking over the $80 for the license, all files could be copied to a safe place. The software can be found at http://www.runtime.org/ :) :) :D ;)
     
    Yo Antknee,
    #25
  7. 2007/06/01
    PeteC

    PeteC SuperGeek Staff

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    Great to have a thread with a happy ending :) Thanks for the update.
     
    PeteC,
    #26
  8. 2007/06/01
    Christer

    Christer Geek Member Staff

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    Yo,
    thanks for the feedback and I'm really ... :) ... that you managed to recover your data!

    Christer
     
    Christer,
    #27
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