reinstalled Vista; can data be recovered?

Lockstep

I was reinstalling Vista onto my PC but wanted to save a few files (mainly music, along with college documents etc), computer came with a partition so I moved the files I wanted to keep (around 50GB) onto the D; (Data) partition and attempted to reinstall Vista on the C; partition.

Problem was that when I rebooted, the partition was gone so I was left with a completely blank computer. Majority of the stuff I can stomach losing but a few of the documents and photos I'd need back.


Is it at all possible to recover files after a reinstall? I've heard deleted files can be gotten back, don't know about stuff that was wiped after a reinstall.

Overheal

You formatted drive C, or you just used the System Restore tool in the start menu? Formatting might have wiped the something-something that tracks what partitions you have. in which case youre a tad fecked but there are data recovery programs to try. They can take days to scan though, depending on the size of the drive.

Lockstep

I formatted with the disc; I've never been able to get system restore to work.

MarkR

Is the C drive the full size of your hard drive?

Lockstep

Yeah, before there was two partitions of equal size, now there is one drive (c;) with memory equal to that of the previous two drives (C;, D;)

Adyx

Does the partition show up in Disk Management? (Control Panel > Administrative Tools > Computer Management > Storage > Disk Management). If the partition doesn't have a drive letter anymore it might not show up in Windows. You can assign it one there.

Edit: I see from the above post the partition is actually gone. Strange. I've done what you wanted to do in the OP several times without major problems.

Overheal

kickoutthejams wrote: »

I formatted with the disc; I've never been able to get system restore to work.

On manufacturer models with a recovery partition there should also be a system restore/recovery option that one-touch reinstalls the OS. If you bought from Dell etc. you shouldnt have needed to reformat the disk.

Done now.. but

Lockstep

Anything I can do so?

Voodu Child

What size were the original partions? If you had put the files on a second partition, it'll be physically on the far side of the HDD platter, it'll have been untouched by your Vista install. (unless you did a full disk format, and you'll know if you did because it'll have taken hours.)

If so, it'll all still be there and retrievable. The more you use the computer though, the less chance you'll have (as restore points get written to the disc etc), your best shot of retrieval is to stop using the system immediately, mount the drive in an external USB enclosure, and try the retrieval process from another computer.