Zeroing is not enough.

I was playing with partition locking softwares.
ID Disk Protector
http://www.idsecuritysuite.com/products/id-disk-protector.htm
Disk Password Protection
http://www.exlade.com/products/diskpasswordprotection/

"ID Disk Protector" locked my data partition immediately.
"Disk Password Protection" was slower and required some time to lock my data partition (showing a processing bar).
So I was more impressed by the first one, than the second one.
Both required a password and made my data partition [D:] disappear completely in Windows Disk Management and Windows Explorer as it didn't exist and that's the way I like it.

So I installed ID Disk Protector first in my snapshot-2, later on in my snapshot-1, because after some testing, I noticed when I locked my data partition in snapshot-2, it was still locked in my snapshot-1 and that was inconvenient. I didn't want to reboot to snapshot-2 to unlock my data partition, I wanted to lock/unlock my data partition in both snapshots.

Everything was OK during a few days and my password was "demo", because the fully functional demo-version of "Disk Password Protection" forced me to use the password "demo" and that's why I used the same password in "ID Disk Protector", easy to remember.

Unfortunately, one day I was very tired and sleepy and that is the ideal situation to make mistakes.
I had locked my data partition with "demo", but it wasn't "demo" and when I tried to unlock my data partition with the password "demo", I got the message "Invalid Password". I went to bed without being worried, because I always
backup my data partition every day on an external harddisk, after all I'm invincible.

The next day, I couldn't remember my password either.
1. I uninstalled "ID Disk Protector", but that didn't help, which was predictable.
2. I restored snapshot-2 with a clean archive, that didn't help
3. I restored snapshot-1 with a clean archive, that didn't help
4. I zeroed my data partition, that didn't help
5. I zeroed my system partition and restored a clean image, that didn't help and that's when I got worried.

So I had two new harddisks and my second harddisk was still invisible, even after restoring a clean system image, that never contained "ID Disk Protector".
This is what I call a panic situation, because I ran out of ideas and my technical knowledge = zero. I couldn't ask my wife, she knows nothing about computers and she is certainly not willing to give me any psychological or physical support, because she is angry with me as a computerwidow, not as wife.

So I browsed through my CD/DVD box, but nothing there that would offer any help.
Then I browsed through my diskette box and I found 2 diskettes of a long forgotten PartitionMagic7, but what could PM7 do on a complete zeroed harddisk, that was unlogical. Nevertheless, it was my very last hope,
before I would make myself ridiculous at Wilders.

I rebooted my computer with one diskette and inserted the second one to get PM on my screen.
I created a partition on my second harddisk, did a quick NTFS-format and rebooted my computer.
I opened Windows Explorer and I had my data partiton [D:] back. I was stupified and relieved of course.
I ran the job "Data Restore" in Karen's Replicator and I was back in business.

I learned a few lessons that day :
1. Never ever play with partition lock softwares, when you are very tired and sleepy.
2. Zeroing your harddisk isn't enough, you also need a partitioning software and until now I still don't know why zeroing didn't fix the problem.
These hard lessons won't keep me away from using partition locking software, after all it was my mistake, not a software mistake.

 

Erik - I don't know the first thing about Zeroing but looks like you can't zero something that isn't there - as far as the zero program is concerned ? over the years I have had to use partition programs a number of times. Partition Magic or Acronis Disk Director have always been able to clean up any mess that I have created - allowing me to start again.

when you tried to restore an image which program did you use ?