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Help! Re-installed Windows and can't open partitions

Forum Storage : Hard Disks - Help! Re-installed Windows and can't open partitions

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mildlygifted   12-14-2008 at 06:59:14 PM

I was wondering if someone could help me with an issue i'm having. I just recently re-installed Windows XP on my computer to try to fix some quirks. This should have been an easy process because I re-installed Windows on the C:\ drive, and my partitions would be fine.

I am using two 500GB Seagate SATA internals. Before the reinstall of Windows, they were functioning perfectly--I originally had windows installed on my C:\ drive that was partitioned at around 128 gigs (for some reason Windows didn't detect storage beyond that until I installed service pack 2), and the rest of the capacity on that physical disk and the capacity on the second 500GB hard drive was used to hold media and large applications.

I did nothing different from the first time when re-installing Windows, but to access those other drives, it prompts me to format them, which would erase all data. Is there a way to access it without destroying all of the data?

The file type that is showing on all of secondary partitions is RAW and are showing at 100% capacity. The status is Healthy.

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tphillips63   12-14-2008 at 07:21:19 PM
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You must have done something to the partitions during the install or you do not have SP2 or SP3 installed yet.
RAW is not good news because that is blank, nothing there, like out of the box condition.
What size is C: now? If it is still 128GB you might be ok but if it is 500GB then whatever was on the other drive letter on it is gone.
If you have SP2 or SP3 installed and it still show RAW then the data on it is gone.

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mildlygifted   12-14-2008 at 07:40:05 PM
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C:\ is still 128GB. E:\ (the rest of the 500GB) and F:\ (the other 500GB hard drive) are showing up as RAW.

When I was re-installing XP I deleted the C:\ drive, but not my other partitions.

I do have SP2 installed. Would you recommend having SP3? I have heard some bad things about SP3 but not from necessarily a reliable source.

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snotling   12-14-2008 at 10:45:10 PM
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mildlygifted wrote :

C:\ is still 128GB. E:\ (the rest of the 500GB) and F:\ (the other 500GB hard drive) are showing up as RAW.

When I was re-installing XP I deleted the C:\ drive, but not my other partitions.

I do have SP2 installed. Would you recommend having SP3? I have heard some bad things about SP3 but not from necessarily a reliable source.



you say you "deleted" the C: drive... do you mean Format or delete the partition?

SP3 is fine, go to windows update and take everything that's up there and tell your in-laws :pt1cable: (the usual unreliable source) to keep their MS bashing to themselves! (exept maybe windows search for XP... I don't install it.)

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tphillips63   12-14-2008 at 11:28:33 PM
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Since you have SP2 installed there is no more hope. Sorry to say but RAW as I told you earlier is blank drives without partitions or a blank section needing partitions.
Somehow you messed up during the setup and wiped them all.

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mildlygifted   12-15-2008 at 04:09:40 AM
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Quote :

you say you "deleted" the C: drive... do you mean Format or delete the partition?



When I went to install Windows on the C:\ drive, I received a message warning that there would be boot problems if the drive was not erased first, so it prompted me to do so. This was just the C:\ drive and not the other partition or other hard disk.

I tried using GetDataBack NTFS to scan my partitions, and it found every single file that I had on the disk. I could browse them and even open picture files, etc. But it wouldn't let me copy the files without purchasing an $80 license. The scan itself took 2 hours just to find out I couldn't move forward. Does anyone know a true freeware recovery software out there that would do basically the same thing?

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snotling   12-15-2008 at 02:41:51 PM
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I guess this means that you actually deleted the primary partition...

How much are your pictures and your time worth?

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