external hard drive partition not accessible, but "Healthy, Active" in Computer Mngt

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bobloblaw16

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Mar 23, 2016
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I had to do factory reset of Windows Vista, after unsuccessful install of Ubuntu. After the fresh Vista install, I noticed only one of the two partitions (each 1 TB) of my 2TB Seagate external hard drive were visible in Windows Explorer. I have a lot of important files on the inaccessible partition. In Computer Management, the inaccessible partition has no drive letter assigned, and right clicking on it, only shows "Delete Volume" and "Help" enabled as options. It does state that it is "863GB Healthy (Active, Primary Partition)".

Can someone please help me regain access to the partition? It's upsetting enough to have lost everything on my C: drive with the Vista reinstall, but it's even more stressful knowing I may have lost a TB of data. I would greatly appreciate your help!

bobloblaw16

(I tried attaching a screen shot of my Computer Management, but I don't think that's possible)

 
Solution
Boogieman_WD
Well, it basically is not a good idea to write anything on a drive which you are trying to recover data from (but that mostly goes for drives with bad sectors and other physical damage). However if you install it in a different partition, then you shouldn't have anything to worry about, since the partition you'll be installing it on, does not use the sectors of the partition you're trying to recover data from.
If you are asking if the program itself is going to write something and make data recovery more difficult, then - no. Basically you shouldn't have anything to worry about regarding this question.
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Boogieman_WD

Boogieman_WD

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Jul 31, 2014
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Hey there, bobloblaw16.

About the screnshot - you have to upload it somewhere first (like imgur.com for example) and you can post just the link afterwards.

Now for the problem at hand - what's the file system of that partition?
Basically what I'd recommend is that you try the drive with a different computer and a different USB cables (preferably shorter than 12"), to see if the same thing happens. You could also try accessing it via Ubuntu Live USB/DVD, to see if the partition is properly recognized and if you can get to your files. Another option would be data recovery software: http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/forum/id-1644496/lost-data-recovery.html & http://pcsupport.about.com/od/filerecovery/tp/free-file-recovery-programs.htm.

Hope that helps. Please let me know how everything goes.
Boogieman_WD
 
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Shaun o

Shaun o

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Oct 7, 2007
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Right.
So you have a drive in the system that is the boot drive and contains the boot able working os for the system.

And in windows explorer, or my computer the external drive does not either show, or one of the partitions the drive is split into does not show in my computer or explorer.

But the drive while in disk management of windows shows the drive has two partitions.

The answer would be that out of the two partitions.
The drive letter for the partition is duplicated with another hard drive or device connected to the system.
Creating a conflict, and why in windows my computer or explorer it is not displayed.

You should be able to select the drive or right click on the partition.
and select change drive letter.

Select a drive letter higher up in the alphabetical range as it`s drive letter assignment.
And apply it.
Then restart your system and let windows load, and check to see if the drive or partition is then listed in windows my computer or explorer.

You will then see all of the working drives along with there drive letter assignments from C to Z.
And if you wish for example if the two drive letters of the external drive are E.

Again change the drive letter of the second partition to a more suitable order.

C: Windows OS drive or partition.
D: System reserve or system image restore recovery partition.
E: Eternal partiton 1
F: Eternal partition 2
G: CD/ Dvd rom drive.

 
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bobloblaw16

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Mar 23, 2016
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here is the link to what I see in Computer Mngt:

script>


sorry. tried embedding picture, but didn't work. here is actual imgur.com link:
https://i.imgur.com/8HamUA5.jpg
 
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bobloblaw16

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Mar 23, 2016
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Hi Boogieman,
Thanks for replying to my post. I was able to link to a screenshot of my Computer Mgt. It is here: https://i.imgur.com/8HamUA5.jpg
The file system is NTFS. I tried connecting the external drive to my Windows 7 work laptop, but I got the same result as my Vista desktop: first partition is not accessible & second partition is accessible. The first partition says 100% free, which worries me.

My problem started when I tried using Ubuntu bootable USB to try to recover some files I deleted. I followed the instructions given, but something went very wrong, and it seemed I lost Windows Vista. It would not boot up normally. And System Recovery did not work either. So I had to start a fresh install of Vista, which wiped out my C: drive. Once it came back up, that's when I discovered that the first partition was no longer being recognized. I'm concerned I effected it during attempted Ubuntu install somehow. So long story short, as a result I'm not too eager to try another Ubuntu solution (Live).

I saw your links to recovery software. I read that most have varying degrees of success in recovering files.

Have you tried TestDisk? I've been searching through threads here with similar issue I'm having, and it was mentioned a few times as being pretty effective. http://www.cgsecurity.org/wiki/TestDisk_Step_By_Step

 
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bobloblaw16

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Mar 23, 2016
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Thx Shaun. But as I said earlier, when I right click the inaccessible partition of the external drive, everything is greyed out/disabled, except "Help" and "Delete Volume" (which I obviously do not want to do, since I have nearly a TB worth of files on it). So I don't have option to assign a drive letter to it. The screenshot of my Computer Mgt is: https://i.imgur.com/8HamUA5.jpg
 
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Boogieman_WD

Boogieman_WD

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Jul 31, 2014
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Unfortunately it looks like you really might have started and not completed an Ubuntu installation process, which might have led to this issue. The partition seems to have no files system, which is why you are unable to access it. The way I see it, I doubt that you'd be able to access it just by running Ubuntu Live USB/DVD, so no worries there, you won't have to try it again.
I guess your options remain partition/data recovery programs or a professional solution such as a data recovery company.

Having in mind taht the drive itself is in a good physical condition, there should be no problem for you to try out various data recovery tools. Unfortunately, as an official WD rep, I can't really recommend a product, which is not under the WD brand, sorry about that. However I have seen recommendations for that tool as well so it might be a good idea to try what you think might work in this case. Note that each data recovery case might be a bit different so it's not guaranteed that something that has worked for someone else, will have the same results for you. Go through the suggestions from the forum's thread as well (link in my previous post).

Please keep me posted on your progress.
 
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bobloblaw16

Commendable
Mar 23, 2016
5
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1,510


hi again. thx for the kind advice. so I tried TestDisk.

the good news:
I was able to recover the initial set of files (which were on partition2 still accessible now), that started this whole fiasco. I wish I read about this software, before using Ubuntu. :(

the bad news:
seems like TestDisk is unable to find/recover partition1 that I installed Ubuntu on. here are results:
http://i.imgur.com/yP9q5HH.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/BDOdWnM.jpg

I think I'll move on to the recovery software you reco'd. see if I'm able to have more success with that.

Question: Will using a product like Recuva potentially overwrite sectors in the affected hard drive, that may prevent recovery if I decide to use a professional service later?
 
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Boogieman_WD

Boogieman_WD

Judicious
Jul 31, 2014
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Well, it basically is not a good idea to write anything on a drive which you are trying to recover data from (but that mostly goes for drives with bad sectors and other physical damage). However if you install it in a different partition, then you shouldn't have anything to worry about, since the partition you'll be installing it on, does not use the sectors of the partition you're trying to recover data from.
If you are asking if the program itself is going to write something and make data recovery more difficult, then - no. Basically you shouldn't have anything to worry about regarding this question.
 
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