Help to recover partition with DMDE

[wongnog]

Hi guys, I just made a new PC build with Windows 10 x64 onto a new SSD drive. My 2TB hard drive (D: drive) was previously used as a Windows 10 x32 boot drive with all my data. I did something really stupid and used Paragon Partition Manager to delete the old System Reserved partition to merge it with my main partition in order to recover a measly 500Mb. Paragon was able to delete the System Reserved partition, but it gave me some weird errors when re-sizing the main partition. Now when I boot into Win10, it says the D: drive is RAW and that I need to format it because the volume does not contain a recognized file system.

I am trying DMDE right now to try and recover my files. It can detect the lost NTFS partition but I'm not exactly sure what my next step(s) should be. Any advise?

 

[viometrix]

If you delete the partition you will lose all data, but you seem to have corrupted it anyways..... wise care pro 365 has an awesome deleted files recovery that I have used to recover files from a damaged partition. this is provided there is no physical damage to the disk. it looks to me though as you may have made the drive unrecoverable and need to format it to make it usable.

 

[USAFRet]

I did something really stupid and.....

You need to start over from square 1.
Either install, activate, and update your original OS and Upgrade to Windows 10
or
Full reinstall of the Windows 10 that you may have purchased.

 

[wongnog]

Well I'm using DMDE right now and it is able to find all my lost files. I just have never used this program before to recover data. Looks like I will need another storage device in order to save my recovered files to. Or is there an "easier" fix that will simply restore the MBR?

Here is what DMDE shows in the Partitions window for this drive:

Physical Drive 1 [1.50 TB]                      MBR            1.50 TB  [   T      ] LBA:  0               -  2 930 277 167   
                                 unallocated                   105 MB   [          ] LBA:  1               -  204 799         
System Reserved                  found          NTFS           105 MB   [   B C F  ] LBA:  2 048           -  206 847         
 (D:)                            Primary        MSData (07)    1.50 TB  [ E!x      ] LBA:  204 800         -  2 929 350 655   
Media & Data                     found          NTFS           1.50 TB  [   B C F  ] LBA:  206 848         -  2 929 352 703   
                                 Primary        Unknown (27)   472 MB   [ E        ] LBA:  2 929 352 704   -  2 930 274 303   
$Noname 01                       found          NTFS           472 MB   [   B C F  ] LBA:  2 929 352 704   -  2 930 274 303

 

[USAFRet]

Finding the original files is one thing.
Reconstituting them in a usable state is something else.

 

[wongnog]

Yes I know, that is why I am asking a question here trying to seek a solution. I don't think "start from square 1" is a very viable solution...

 

[USAFRet]

Starting from square 1 is a mostly guaranteed way to fix this.

Whatever you recover with whatever tool you use may or may not actually work to reconstitute that partition an OS in a fully working condition.

To fix that boot partition?
Possibly boot from your install media, and select Repair. This may fix things.
Otherwise....start over.

 

[wongnog]

Ok maybe I'm confused by what you mean by "starting from square 1" as it sounds like you want me to format my hard drive and put the OS back on it??? I already have Windows running fine on my SSD. It's the data on my old boot drive that I am trying to restore.

 

[USAFRet]

Ok maybe I'm confused by what you mean by "starting from square 1" as it sounds like you want me to format my hard drive and put the OS back on it??? I already have Windows running fine on my SSD. It's the data on my old boot drive that I am trying to restore.

OK then.
Why can't you just connect that drive, and grab whatever data you need?

Secondarily, if the OS was installed on the SSD with more than one drive connected, the boot partition will end up on the 'other drive'.
So...to fix - Have only the target boot drive connected.
Boot from your install media
Select Repair
This may fix things

Then, reconnect your other drive and grab what you need from it.

 

[wongnog]

Firstly, Windows says the drive needs to be formatted and detects it as RAW. So I can't easily "grab whatever data" I need from it. I also can't boot from the old drive for this same reason. Thankfully DMDE is a great program, and very fast at reading the "lost" files. I am able to recover the files I need onto a spare external drive. So I guess I answered my own question.