Deleted Storage Hard Drive Whilst Installing Windows

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ManchesterUK

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I have a 60gb SSD, 250gb HD and 500gb HD in my system. I was reinstalling windows 10 and got distracted, I then deleted all of the sections to set up the installation. I realised what I did and just installed windows on the SSD. Problem is now I cannot see the 500gb drive and this has a lot of personal stuff on it such as pictures of the family etc and some programs that I cannot lose. I didn't format the drive or anything, I just cannot see it in windows.

Can anyone help fix this?
 
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mjslakeridge
I operate under the assumption that every day when I power up my computer, all of my data is gone. For my ProTools audio recording computer, at the completion of each day's recording/editing, I copy the session to an external drive, and also copy it over the network to my everyday computer. As for photos, documents, etc., they get backed up from my C drive to my D drive as part of my periodic Acronis True Image backups. Photos also get backed up to my other computer and to a DVD that I can add to over time (may be the weakest link). I also copy my document folders to a USB flash drive periodically so things like my check book register and logon IDs spreadsheet are stored in at least 3 places. I don't do this all that frequently, as...
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USAFRet

USAFRet

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1. This is why every thread in here about installing the OS has a line about having only the target drive connected when you do the install.

2. If you "deleted all of the sections", you may well have deleted the partition on the 500GB drive.

3. Please show us a screencap of your current Disk Management window

4. An application like TestDisk may assist in recovering what was on that drive.
But you will need another drive to recover to.
Whatever you do...don't write any new data to that 500GB drive right now.

5. And this is what backups are for
 
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M

ManchesterUK

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Struggling to add an image as there is no option to attach a screenshot. The drive in question in disk management is grey with lines and it says 465gb with unallocated under it.

I know ive done wrong, ive been swapping hard drives for a few hours and then the wife shouted me and I forgot I had a couple connected. I realised as soon as I pressed delete delete delete...
 
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USAFRet

USAFRet

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OK...that drive and partition is potentially 'wiped'.

The above mentioned applications (TestDisk or EaseUS) may recover some or all of it.
I stress the word may.

In working with those, you will need to try recover to a whole different drive.
Do nothing with this 500GB drive except try the recovery from those applications.
 
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M

ManchesterUK

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I started to run EaseUS and it finds everything on the drive (or has started to).

I haven't formatted the drive, its just been unallocated. Can I not just re-allocate it some way?

It would seem windows fails to protect users from such a mess, an "are you sure" could save an idiot like me from a nightmare!
 
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ManchesterUK

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Do I use partition recovery or data recovery on easyUS. Its a full 500gb of images and files, I have a back up of most of it but not all of it and I don't know what is backed up or not. Thanks for the help.
 
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USAFRet

USAFRet

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No, there is no 'undo' like what you are speaking of.
Let that EaseUS thing run.

As far as "are you sure"...
There was more than one click involved in deleting that partition.

And from a professional viewpoint, I see this all the time at work.
3 layers of clicks and dialog boxes of "Do you really want to do this...your stuff will be permanently gone", results in a phone call of "Can you restore my stuff?"
 
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USAFRet

USAFRet

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Use the partition recovery only if you have another drive of sufficient size to recover it to. You can't recover it over itself.
 
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M

ManchesterUK

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Ive pressed delete, the info is still there and it says unallocated. A reallocate button would make someone a millionair. Why doesnt it exist?

If life was that simple eh.

I just need to make sure i can get the pictures back, i had a few programs on there but im sure they are backed up somewhere. Worst bit of the night is that ive just knocked a pc together for my brother and was installing a few programs from the drive onto his which i could have just downloaded for free. Its now turned into a huge mess. Sigh, thanks for the help though, its more than appreciated.
 
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USAFRet

USAFRet

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Applications on that drive are irrelevant.
Your family pics are the only thing that count.

And, once you retrieve whatever you can....tomorrow go buy another drive to back up to.
An external or whatever.

A backup is a second copy. Used in cases exactly like this.
Data that lives in only one place may be said to not exist at all. A misclick, distraction (as we have here), or a simple drive failure...all is gone.
 
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mjslakeridge

mjslakeridge

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I operate under the assumption that every day when I power up my computer, all of my data is gone. For my ProTools audio recording computer, at the completion of each day's recording/editing, I copy the session to an external drive, and also copy it over the network to my everyday computer. As for photos, documents, etc., they get backed up from my C drive to my D drive as part of my periodic Acronis True Image backups. Photos also get backed up to my other computer and to a DVD that I can add to over time (may be the weakest link). I also copy my document folders to a USB flash drive periodically so things like my check book register and logon IDs spreadsheet are stored in at least 3 places. I don't do this all that frequently, as I know I can reconstruct the check book register from the online bank records if necessary (and I don't have too many transactions per month). As for programs I have installed, I just keep a spreadsheet of everything installed, in the event my primary and backup image gets destroyed and I want to re-create the same system state.
 
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ManchesterUK

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I'm looking at instructions for testdisk, its starting to make sense... But like any maverick I just jumped straight in. If the spouse finds out ive deleted our entire family history then I'm sure she will have a picture of my grave stone on a usb stick to show the grandkids when I no longer exist. Anyone reading this with all your stuff on one hard drive, dupe it before you need to headbutt your desk. Just a thought, I used to dupe all my Amiga floppy disks, now look at me!
 
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mjslakeridge

mjslakeridge

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I don't think it would be too expensive for someone to recover the data from your HDD. It is not like the drive failed, which could be expensive.

I only get to watch 1 match per week here in the U.S. as I don't have cable TV, but I'm sure I could find some streaming option if I looked around. I like to follow the fortunes of the promoted clubs.
 
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