Not another recovering deleted partition thread

[Nicki2012]

Hello guys

Yes, this is yet another recovering deleted partition thread.

There is a bit of twist though, please be patient and read on.

First of all, I should have known better.

I have this 1T Mechanical HDD, divided into 2 partitions, let's call them part 1 &2.

Note that part 2 is behind 1. As the sequence suggests.

I emptied then deleted part 1 in hoping to extend 2 forward into 1.

So I tried to do this using Win10's disk management (which is where I should have known better)

This is what I did:

First delete part 1. Now it's "unallocated".

Then I clicked part 2 and chose "extend partition" (or something like that)

A wizard poped up and I walked through it.

Then I noticed instead of having a lengthy process of moving part 2 backward (or forward, depend on your perspective) into part 1, there are 2 partitions, which clearly wasn't something I want.

So I clicked the newly allocated parition believing it was a different partition (on hindsight this assumption may be completely wrong) and decided to delete it so I can boot into Gparted and get the job done.

I was more than sure I clicked on the newly emerged partition, where the old part 1 used to be.

Boom! All paritions are gone, the entire 1T drive now has 930+ GB of unallocated space.

OK, I think you got the jest of the idea.

My question is: what is the most fool-proof, least risky way to recover it?

Note I have not done anything since the last operation, the "delete" operation, that is. No overwriting, no formatting, no nothing because I know what not to do. I haven't even restarted my computre. However I couldn't find the deleted partition using "list volume" command in powershell of win10.

My options are:

Use Gparted. But it could be tricky, after all it's a bit of a tool for "pros". I haven't been fiddling around it for quite a while. I could be wrong though. Come to think of it, I should have used it to begin with, would save me all this trouble.

Use EaseUS. I don't want to because it's not free, last time I installed it it slipped in a lot of adware, although I got admit it's very laymen friendly.

Use some other free but relatively small-time tool, I'm not sure if they are reliable.

The true matter of the problem is that I couldn't afford any more mess-ups. I've already made a mistake, if I make another my data could very well be all gone, and there are 600 GB of it.

HELP, PLEASE!

[Nicki2012]

Help? No one?

[pepe]

Hello,

I know it's hard to wait but after 2 and a half hours...?

I would clone it before touching it with any tools. I dunno much about free tools, but many recommend HddSuperclone here, and there's dd or ddrescue under linux as well.
After that you can run whatever logical recovery tools on it ( preferably on the clone).

pepe

[fzabkar]

Could we see the Partitions window in DMDE?

https://dmde.com/

[Nicki2012]

Could we see the Partitions window in DMDE?

https://dmde.com/

Hi, thank you!

As what I have posted above suggested, the partition table was likely deleted due to a lapse of judgement,
not because of corrupted tracks caused by for example old age of the HDD, or with the sudden loss of electricity.

And as such, the DMDE easily and quickly identified all the partitions that I have deleted as early as two years ago.

In other words, the partition I deleted last night was successfully recognized by DMDE, and I've clicked the "open volume" button,
everything seems to be alright!

Shall I click "restore volume" next? Should I do something before doing that? How exactly should I safely recover the partition?

I don't want to make any more mistake again.

[Tomset]

Nicki2012,
Safest of all.
Immediately copy the data to another drive in DMDE.
And then try restoring the volume.

[fzabkar]

Usually it would be safe to r-click the partition and select "Insert the partition (Undelete)", then Apply Changes and reboot. If it goes wrong, only sector 0 would be affected (in an MBR system).

It would be safer if you could upload the partition info so that we could examine it.

[Nicki2012]

Hello,

I know it's hard to wait but after 2 and a half hours...?

I would clone it before touching it with any tools. I dunno much about free tools, but many recommend HddSuperclone here, and there's dd or ddrescue under linux as well.
After that you can run whatever logical recovery tools on it ( preferably on the clone).

pepe

You are absolutely right, but unfortunately I do not have any spare HDD at the moment.

[Nicki2012]

Nicki2012,
Safest of all.
Immediately copy the data to another drive in DMDE.
And then try restoring the volume.

I understand what you meant and I agree.

Too bad I don't have any spare 1T HDD as of now.

[Nicki2012]

Usually it would be safe to r-click the partition and select "Insert the partition (Undelete)", then Apply Changes and reboot. If it goes wrong, only sector 0 would be affected (in an MBR system).

It would be safer if you could upload the partition info so that we could examine it.

Here's a screen shot of what I see after clicking "open volume". Sorry for the resolution because the forum imposes a size limit.

Not sure where the partition info is. Where should I copy and paste?

[Nicki2012]

Usually it would be safe to r-click the partition and select "Insert the partition (Undelete)", then Apply Changes and reboot. If it goes wrong, only sector 0 would be affected (in an MBR system).

It would be safer if you could upload the partition info so that we could examine it.

Hi, I have decided to move forward, however if I click "Insert the partition (Undelete)"

There is this message warning me:

yg534qah.png (3.56 KiB) Viewed 13257 times

I am guessing that it's trying to remind me the I don't have a boot record at the very beginning of my hdd, so should I click
the restore button here:

t423.png (863 Bytes) Viewed 13257 times

to "restore boot sector from copy"?

4qt23t4q23t3q.png (2.57 KiB) Viewed 13257 times

as suggested, FIRST?

[pepe]

Too bad I don't have any spare 1T HDD as of now.

Then consider getting one
It's not gold, you can buy them at affordable price.
pepe

[Nicki2012]

Too bad I don't have any spare 1T HDD as of now.

Then consider getting one
It's not gold, you can buy them at affordable price.
pepe

It's lock-down and that's going to be difficult.

On the other hand do you know how to use DMDE?

[Nicki2012]

Usually it would be safe to r-click the partition and select "Insert the partition (Undelete)", then Apply Changes and reboot. If it goes wrong, only sector 0 would be affected (in an MBR system).

It would be safer if you could upload the partition info so that we could examine it.

Hello when will you go back on line?

[fzabkar]

If the boot sector and partition data are the only missing items, then your proposed solution should work. However, without seeing the damage for myself, I would suggest that you try to backup your critical files while you can.

[Nicki2012]

If the boot sector and partition data are the only missing items, then your proposed solution should work. However, without seeing the damage for myself, I would suggest that you try to backup your critical files while you can.

I am still not sure where to acquire the information you demanded...

[fzabkar]

It's hard to know what has been changed when you don't have physical access to the drive. If I had the drive in front of me, I would be examining the boot sector and the sectors immediately following it.

[Nicki2012]

It's hard to know what has been changed when you don't have physical access to the drive. If I had the drive in front of me, I would be examining the boot sector and the sectors immediately following it.

Problem solved!

I restored it first, then undeleted it later.

All data recovered, thank you so very much!