FIXED!! - Lost partition after power outage, need advice

[Ike0069]

I have my main HDD partitioned into C and D with C for Windows 7 and misc user items, and D is for everything else including games.

I was playing BF3 when the power flashed at my house. It was a very quick flash, but enough to cuase a restart on my PC. After it started back up, it was slow and acting funny. I did a normal shutdown/restart and when it cam back up, all my game and .exe shortcut icon images show the generic image. After looking, I have now found that my D partition is gone. It still shows as D in My Computer, but is blank and states I need to format it before I can use it. As far as I can tell, the C partition is jsut fine.

So, a few questions now:

1 - How does only the game partiton get completely corrupted, yet the Windows partition seems fine? I never would have thought this was possible, but it's defintely better than losing the entire drive.

2 - Is there a way to recover this partition using an installed Windows untility perhaps?

3 - Should I be weary of the entire HDD, of would a reformat of the D partiton be fine if necessary?

 

[corkyg]

You can try and salvage your D drive. Reformat and go from there. Invest in a UPS!

 

[lakedude]

Try this or any other recovery software you like, couldn't hurt at this point.

http://www.partitionguru.com/

 

[chusteczka]

Do not reformat Drive D, at least not until having tried to recover the data.

There are numerous data recovery programs available. The $100 it will cost is negligible compared to the amount of work and lost data. I have experience with Runtime's GetDataBack. It works very well.

http://runtime.org/

First, use a data recovery program to attempt a recovery. You will need an extra hard drive that is empty to copy your D partition to.

If you successfully recovery your data, then format partition/drive D, run a diskutility program to ensure your hard drive is still good, and if it is then copy your data back.

If you do not successfully recover your data, then format partition/drive D, and attempt the data recovery again with the software (Runtime's GetDataBack or some other program).


Once you get things working again, get a UPS or a voltage stabilizer. My preference is for the voltage stabilizer. For home use, I do not need the few minutes uptime if power goes out. What I do need is the voltage stabilizer to regulate the voltage from brownouts/dips and spikes.

Automatic Voltage Regulators
OPTI-UPS SS1200 Voltage Regulator
APC LE1200I Line-R 1200VA Automatic Voltage Regulator
TRIPP LITE LS606M Line Conditioner / AVR System - Automatic Voltage Regulator / AC Surge Suppressor
TRIPP LITE LC1200 Line Conditioner / AVR System
TRIPP LITE LC1800 Line Conditioner - Automatic Voltage Regulation with Surge Protection
TRIPP LITE LC2400 Line Conditioner - Automatic Voltage Regulation with Surge Protection
TRIPP LITE LR2000 Line Conditioner / AVR System

 

[Ike0069]

Ok, I appreciate the replies! One good thing is that there was nothing on this partition that I absolutely need that was not backed up on a seperate drive. I have several games loaded which means re-downloading (which will take forever especially BF3), but if I do lose everything I am not out anything too major.

So I tried EaseUS partition recovery, and the data is there. It shows the partition of ~ 600 GB with about 300 GB available which is correct. It does not see anything that needs to be "recovered".

When I right click on the D drive in My Computer, it takes about 60 seconds to bring up the menu, and when I click properties, it shows the drive as blank with used and free space at 0 bytes. I click tools and check disk and it states "could not be preformed because Windows cannot access the disk"

Doesn't appear there is any data to recover since it's there, right? Any ideas on my next step?

 

[corkyg]

That sounds like you just lost your MBR. That can be repaired. The simplest way to repair or re-create MBR is to run Microsoft's standard utility called FDISK with a parameter /MBR, like

A:\> FDISK.EXE /MBR
FDISK is a standard utility included in MS-DOS, Windows 95, 98, ME.

If you have Windows NT / 2000 / XP, you can boot from startup floppy disks or CD-ROM, choose repair option during setup, and run Recovery Console. When you are logged on, you can run FIXMBR command to fix MBR.

Also you can use third party MBR recovery software or if you've created MBR backup, restore it from there (Active@ Partition Recovery has such capabilities).

 

[Ike0069]

That sounds like you just lost your MBR. That can be repaired.

What's the quickest way? Use same type of dats recovery programs?

 

[Ike0069]

I tried the "fix MBR" in partition wizard, but it did not change anything.

Partition wizard sees the partition and every file in it, so the data is definitely still there. There must be something corrupted that will not let me acces the partition and I'm not sure what it is or how to fix it.

I was able to copy the partition, but it makes me copy to a drive with enough unallocated space, so I cannot access the copy in Windows either.

If I reformat the corrupted partition, would that fix the issue or would it still be inaccessible by Windows?

 

[Ike0069]

FIXED!!

I was able to access the files after I copied the partition to an external drive, but still could not get Windows to access the D drive. I booted with the Windows 7 CD and tried to repair, but there were no problems found. I then ran fixmbr form the command prompt and it was successful, but still no luck.

I knew I could format and reinstall all files, but I was hesitant because I felt like there was an easy answer out there, I just had to find it.

I kept playing with Partition Wizard and saw a tab that said "check file system". I clicked on it to run on D and it found a bad cluster and said to run with fix enabled and it would fix it. I ran it and it was supposedly fixed, but no change. I ran it again to see if it found a bad cluster and it did and "fixed" it again. I then checked and D was back!!!!!!!!!!

I ran it again and it found no problems. Restarted and everything is back. Clicked on a few shortcuts and they are working!!!!!!

I appreciate the replies and maybe this thread will help out someone else in the future. I had found a thread from 2010 with what appeared to be the EXACT same problem I had, but it was never solved.

 

[chusteczka]

Good job. :thumbsup:

 

[Ike0069]

Good job. :thumbsup:

Thanks. I took your first sentence to heart as I nearly reformatted right away out of ignorance and impatience.

I used to have my PC on a UPS but the battery no longer held a charge and it was only 400W, so I have been without one for over a year and it nearly bit me. Time to get one.

 

[chusteczka]

Thank you for your follow-up. I have not thought of CheckDisk for a few years now. Typically, if the drive is failing the best thing to do is copy all the data off it or to image the drive. It seems this has become the standard solution, to copy the data (using data recovery software if needed) and abandon the drive. You were persistent and it paid off.

Hard drives can continue operating with failed sectors but once sectors start going bad the drive tends to create more and more bad sectors, eventually failing. Your drive experienced a one-time power surge. It is impossible to tell at this time if your drive will continue failing or if it will continue working with no further problems.

Make sure you backup your data properly onto another drive. Just to be sure. You may want to purchase another hard drive or two when you see them on sale.


Regarding the UPS, replacement batteries every few years get expensive and costly for the environment. Also, the Windows operating system has matured to be very reliable when power is lost. Applications now tend to save work every few minutes just in case power may be lost. Because of this maturity, I have found a UPS is not necessary. If the system shuts down, my work will be recovered later when power is restored. My fingers also habitually press CTRL-S while working to save each important step. (And I write things like this reply in Notepad++ or OpenOffice in a saved temp file for file recovery just in case. This way I do not have to write everything all over again if something does happen.)

The important thing to prevent damaged components is to prevent voltage brownouts (dips) and spikes. This is what a line conditioner or Automatic Voltage Regulator (AVR) does. Many UPS's with batteries also have AVR. I have used the Opti-UPS on several systems for several years now with success. In fact, I hand out that Opti-UPS AVR as Christmas gifts to family and friends. I get weird looks but at least do not have to recover their data later after a storm or random electrical work. Hard drives are most susceptible to voltage problems due to the spinning platter and delicate electronics. This means AVR is needed to protect data, especially in older buildings with older electrical systems.

the Opti-UPS is not certified by Underwriters Laboratory and I would prefer that it was. But the pictures for the other brands do not show any UL trademark either.

 

[Amanda Barron]

Hi,

When you find that a hard drive partition somehow disappears, you can adhere to the following 7 do’s and don’ts to cope with this issue effectively.

1. Check Disk Management
1)If the partition is there but without a drive letter: Just reassign a drive letter to it.
2)If the partition is not there: You are suffering partition loss. Now move on to the following dos and don’ts.
2. Stop Any Operations on the Hard Drive
3. Never Try Unreliable Recovery Methods
4. Don’t Format the Hard Drive
5. Don’t Rely on Partition Table Rebuild Completely
6. Recur to Trustworthy Partition Recovery Tool
7. Ask Data Recovery Professionals for Help

With these do's and don'ts, not only may you be able to get back your data, but also you will avoid further data damage or loss.

For more detailed info, you can check the following article:

https://www.datanumen.com/blogs/7-dos-donts-hard-drive-partition-disappears/

Hope these can help you!

Amanda

 

[Burpo]

Nothing like bringing a 5 yr old thread back to life...