So, like all people ‘nevitably do, I messed up in a way I should have know better 🙂

While rebuilding my PC I was distracted at the crucial moment.

I used GPARTED to nuke the previous Windows install partition on my primary disk. I installed an SSD and I didn’t want the machine to try to boot from the old Windows install, but I did want the rest of the partitions.

I deleted the wrong partition!

ZOMG I’VE LOST ALL OF BABYLON 5 [and a set of coursework backups], and Red Dwarf too, I think. You appreciate the gravity of the situation.

This actually happened a few months ago. Since wiping that, and also the correct partition, I have not reinstated either of them. There is a 300GB partition still active on the disk which has been used, but not had it’s parameters modified.

Now, assuming it’s just the index/partition table that is modified by this action – how do I recover the affected files from the deleted Data partition? The files should be there still, I hope.

The drive is a 1TB WD Caviar Black. It is NOT the boot drive.

I have Win7 and Ubuntu/Mint at my disposal.

Any help appreciated, ta.

You may be able to get the data off it using something like Helix (free download) or the forensic tools on Kali (free download), but I have never tried to recover a partition using either of those.

I have a strong feeling that, if the disk has been used since you made the boo-boo, data might have leaked over Babylon 5, so you may be out of luck. Try anyway though and see what happens.

I’ve had success with Easeus Partition Recovery, but on a disc with flaky boot sectors/partition table, not a nuked one. I’d clone the drive first though, and work on the copy.

Cloning the drive is a good idea….. except I’ll need another disc, which I probably don’t have. I’ll see what I can find first, then make a decision about what to recover it to .

I downloaded the Helix 3 .iso – which tool would i want to use – they seem geared towards someone who already knows what they’re doing with the software.

Can you point me to one that will scan for partitions, willard?

Thanks guys.

you could try isobuster. its not free but i used it to recover stuff from a cdrom that was no longer readable normally. you shouldn’t have overwritten anything providing you haven’t created a new partition in the free space that was created when you deleted the old one

I’ve used Recuva in the past. Worked well. I think they do a free trial

Crell – Recuva didn’t work, got confused by the partitions.

keefmac – I’ll save paid software for last ditch 😉

Cheers anyway.

TestDisk might be worth a try.
http://www.cgsecurity.org/wiki/TestDisk

TestDisk’ll do it. However it’s a powerful tool and can also cause mass destruction (particularly relevant since you mentioned getting confused by the partitions…)

If you want to give it a try; I’m happy to advise on how to do it. Or I can give you a hand if you are anywhere near Leeds.

Steve

MiniTool Partition Magic/Wizard is handy too

Hi steve – as at happens I am in Bradford. I could travel to Leeds, but it’s a fairly giant machine with a very large CPU cooler and I don’t like to lug it around much.

I launched testdisk, and I’m now doing a scan, but it’s throwing errors about cylinder/head and sector mismatches. I guess I can’t recover the data safely without knowing more about what’s I’m doing.

How’s about I provide beers and you come to mine? No great hurry – whenever’s convenient.

Where ’bouts in Bradford are you ? I’m actually in Tong; so it sounds doable 🙂

BD1 – Canal Road

sam{d0t}firth{?t}gmail{d0t}com

Not tonight or tomorrow – but after that…

Cheers!

No worries; will drop you an e-mail to arrange from here.

Cheers,

Steve