Is there any way to recover the MBR and partition tables...

[Iguana]

without having a previous backup???

This is what happened to me, please tell me if I can recover my data...

I had 3 NTFS partitions and Windows XP installed on my system:

C: 24gb (this partition I used for installing windows xp and all applications)
D: 75gb (like 30gb of metal mp3's...right now I'm crying...can't believe it)
E: 40gb (other stuff)
Unpartitioned space: 13gb

Then I made a linux partition of about 6gb and installed Slackware 9. I installed LILO in the master boot record and told it to recognize my Windows XP partition ( C: ).

I reboot and it doesn't boot. An "L" appears after "Booting from IDE....OK" message. I tried like 3 times and nothing.

I insert Windows XP and go to the recovery console and did this (I had no idea of what I was doing): FIXBOOT C:

Still nothing...

I reboot and insert Windows XP and it says I only have one partition ( C: ) of like 135gb, 10mb space left and FAT32...

I cry in despair, delete the partition (the only one) and reinstalled Windows XP.

I don't have a MBR backup.

Is there anything I can do to recover my previous partition and data after rewriting the partition table???

[jlreich]

Welcome to http://www.pcguide.com/ubb/pcgubb.gif forums.

First off I wouldn't do anything more to the drive until someone with more expertise can better assist you. The more you change things the less chance you have of recovering any data. ;)

I'm not an expert on data recovery, but there shouldn't be much of a problem recovering your data, but your original partitions are probably lost at this point. If you hadn't reinstalled windows there is a good chance everything could have been fixed. I don't mean that to sound harsh, just want you to know not to do anything else until properly advised.

Wait for someone better suited to help you. In the mean time you can download GetDataBack (http://www.runtime.org/gdb.htm) . Make sure you get the right one for your file system: FAT or NTFS(probably NTFS since XP). It will scan you drive and show deleted file systems and files. You can save one file at a time for free, or pay for it to recover batches. If nothing else you can see that your data is there, and the probability of recovery. It's a read only program so it is safe to use.

You never know, I have seen some of the members around here pull some amazing tricks out of their hat. ;)

[Fruss Tray Ted]

Stop writing anything to that drive immediately.

One of 2 things you could do:
Get a small inexpensive harddrive and install XP onto it to use until all of your data is recovered onto dvd's in the affected pc or slave the problematic drive in a pc with a dvd burner. Either way, to backtrack and get to where you once were is, for all intents and purposes, impossible.

Get Data Back is a good program that I have used in the past on removable storage devices as well as harddrives. Expect some losses due to being overwritten but you should be able to get most if not all of your mp3's back due to their being further on the drive than where the operating system usually resides.

Get yourself set up as stated above and plan on taking on a project of quite some magnitude if you go with the free version. Each file needs to be opened individually and saved one at a time which is a slow process to say the least. If you go for the paid version, I seem to recall reading about the recovery being able to be done in batches which would save quite a lot of time.

No more panic moves please,,, consult guidance from this site before making any moves you are unsure of.

The luckiest thing about your situation is that you used partitions for your music etc, files. They are always a wise choice in secure strategies against data loss. We will only know the extent of the losses once you begin and see the damaged files.

Personally in both my cases, I was recovering picture files and they would open with only the upper or lower half when damaged. I saw some audio/video files also during the project and clicked on a couple and they were fine, but they weren't what I was after.

(If you: ) Install XP to the small drive, and don't worry about registration. Do your project, then you can wipe it clean and use it for other purposes.

Good luck :)

[Iguana]

thanks...

A) So there is no way to recover my whole partition with my mp3s? I have to go one by one saving it into another drive? damn...Theres no way like hmmm modifying one of the partitions of MBR and tell it to point to the beggining of the partition with my mp3s so it can be recognized again or something?

B) What should I do to prevent this kind of thing happen to me in the future again? Backing up the MBR?

[Paul Komski]

and reinstalled Windows XP.
This was possibly the worst thing you did but you dont indicate where and what size this partition is. The likelihood is that all or much of your data is recoverable but the other big unknown is what the Linux installation actually did when it was installed. The normal way to clean up an mbr (ie get rid of LILO or GRUB on the MBR) using the recovery console is the fixmbr option and not the fixboot option, which only alters the code in the partition boot sector and doesnt touch the master boot record. Fixmbr doesnt alter the partition tables themselves - just the bootstrap code. That is probably history now since a number of changes have occurred in the interim.

There are two basic approaches to solving your problem. Using GetDataBack for NTFS (or similar) is the first one and though a bit long-winded is very likely to get your files back. The deeper the files are on the drive the greater the likelihood of restoring them.

The other approach is to search the whole drive for partition boot sectors and work out the geometry of the drive from their positions. With this knowledge the partition tables can in fact be re-written using something like PTedit or any disk hex editor. I think there is software that will dig out the information - though I generally would search the drive myself to dig it out. Teaching someone to do this at long distance is also not the easiest thing to do - but I mention it to reassure you that your situation is likely to be recoverable - except for any data that installing slackware and reinstalling WinXP may have overwritten.

I suggest that you try GDB for NTFS first and report back if it lists your files when it scans your system. The other advice about refraining from writing anything more to this drive in the meantime cannot be overstated.

[Paul Komski]

Active@ Partition Recovery is one of the apps that can rebuild the mbr from deleted partitions.
http://www.partition-recovery.com/download.htm

No harm in READING THE PDF FILE VERY CAREFULLY, making the floppy and scanning your system with it. Rebuild any found partitions at your own risk.

If this data is very precious get yourself a second large HDD and let GetDataBack make a clone of the problem drive on the new drive. Then try and recover the clone because if the experimenting goes wrong you still have the original.

WinHex http://www.x-ways.net/winhex/index-m.html if it does detect the deleted partitions would allow pretty simple recovery of them from its explore function.

[Iguana]

I love you guys, did you know that?

I'm looking for those applications...

@Paul Komski: I reinstalled Windows on a new 24gb partition, so I hope it didn't touch the NTFS tables of the mp3 and the other stuff partitions.

[Iguana]

I DID IT!!!!! I RECOVERED ALL MY MP3'S AND MY DOCUMENTS AND PROGRAMS!!!!!

I used Partition Table Doctor from http://www.ptdd.com/, BEST SOFTWARE EVER!!!!

:D:D:D:D:D

[Paul Komski]

Very happy for you and thanks for letting us know. It's always useful to know about software that has worked for someone.

Now find a way to backup your important stuff so that a HDD failure or virus infection wont be catastrophic.