File & Partition Recovery - HELP!!!

[dogma]

Hi all

I have lost my data and hidden partition on my laptop :'( In short this happened today whilst I was trying to reinstall my laptop with my ACER recovery (back to factory settings) DVD - but the DVD can no longer be read.


I played around with ultimate boot CD and probably messed things up, as I now can only see one partition (instead of 3 I initially had 1. ACER recovery partition 2. XP (OS) Partition 3. DATA partion). I have now lost the ACER (hidden) recovery partion and all my files. In desperation I installed XP (keeping file system intact) on my laptop to try and recover file using recovery programs but without any success.

Will it be possible to recover:

1. The ACER hidden partion?
2. All my other files? Seems like I can, with paid software.

PLEASE HELP!!! :wacko: :'( :gack: :wacko: :'( :'(

[MrBrian]

Did you try TestDisk on Ultimate Boot CD for DOS?

[dogma]

Thanks. Tried textdisk UBCD for Win, searched for partitions but the hidden partition didn't come up. Even though I did it repeatedly, I ain't sure I done it correctly.

I didn't try dos, will it make a difference?

[MrBrian]

Maybe somebody else knows if there are capability differences between the DOS and Windows versions of TestDisk. You can also find PhotoRec on the Ultimate Boot CD. It can be used to recover some types of files. Scalpel is another such program.

Here (http://www.pcstats.com/articleview.cfm?articleID=1139) is a data recovery guide.

You probably will not be able to recover the old contents of those bits that have already been overwritten, unless you had a backup.

[dogma]

Thanks for the guide, but I've run and re-run testdisk without any success.

The hidden partition was named PQSERVICE, which is not found by Testdisk.

Luckily, I can recover 99% of my data. I have just ordered the Seagate Freeagent 1TB Pro (for just over $200) to backup all of my files. Can't afford this happening again!!! and lucky it happened on the eve of a weekend.

[Huupi]

Acronis Disk Director ? to recover deleted and unhide partitions ?

[dogma]

Thanks Huupi, Downloading as I write, will I be able to use this recovery feature with the trial?

update - no luck, it states no unallocated space on the drive the reason

[pandlouk]

-{ Quote: "Thanks Huupi, Downloading as I write, will I be able to use this recovery feature with the trial?" }-
Where did you install the windows XP and where was placed the Acer hidden partition? (some acer notebooks place it at the begining, some at the end, and in the last one that I saw it had 2 hidden partitions, one at the begining and one at the end).

ps. the best tool for recovering partitions is Partition Table Doctor (http://www.ptdd.com/index.htm)

Panagiotis

edit: for recovering lost data the best solution is Ontrack EasyRecovery Pro (http://www.ontrackdatarecovery.com/file-recovery-software/); I suggest that you try also the freewares Pc Inspector File Recovery (http://www.pcinspector.de/Sites/file_recovery/info.htm?language=1) and Recuva (http://www.recuva.com/).

[dogma]

Thanks pandlouk. The original partitions were like so: 1. PQSERVICE (hidden) 2. ACER WinXP MCE 3. ACERDATA (to store any data etc). Currently I installed XP by creating a separate 20 gig partition that I had to create.

Playing around with Testdisk and others I have somehow re-written the three partition tables.

Then with the free Paragon Manager 8.5 unhid the partitions and assigned the a letter to the second partition to regain acces to my files.

However I can't make sense with the data that seems recoverable on the hidden partition. Will leave it there.

Thanks to everyone who tried to help.