Recover data from partition that I accidentally shrunk

[ellemonopy]

Short version:
I accidentally shrunk the main partition on my external hard drive to 32gb (from 1 tb), and all of the files are gone. Can I simply expand the partition then run data recovery software to recover it, or will expanding the partition overwrite the data?

Long version:
I was attempting to create a recovery drive using the Create a Recovery Drive tool in Windows 8. I shrunk the E: drive (main partition of the external hard drive) by 20gb and created an F: drive that was 20 gb. I ran the Create a Recovery Drive tool and chose the F: drive as the recovery drive, and after it was finished my F: drive was gone (the F: drive was empty so no loss there), the E: drive was shrunk to 32gb, and all of the files from the E: drive were gone. I ran some data recovery software but it just turned up a dozen or so pictures, and I ran some partition recovery software but it just found the deleted F: drive. What's the best way to go about recovering my lost data?

 

[E-50]

Short version:
I accidentally shrunk the main partition on my external hard drive to 32gb (from 1 tb), and all of the files are gone. Can I simply expand the partition then run data recovery software to recover it, or will expanding the partition overwrite the data?

Long version:
I was attempting to create a recovery drive using the Create a Recovery Drive tool in Windows 8. I shrunk the E: drive (main partition of the external hard drive) by 20gb and created an F: drive that was 20 gb. I ran the Create a Recovery Drive tool and chose the F: drive as the recovery drive, and after it was finished my F: drive was gone (the F: drive was empty so no loss there), the E: drive was shrunk to 32gb, and all of the files from the E: drive were gone. I ran some data recovery software but it just turned up a dozen or so pictures, and I ran some partition recovery software but it just found the deleted F: drive. What's the best way to go about recovering my lost data?

In my personal experience R-studio or UFSexplorer are the best tools to recover data in this case, and restore what is left of the actual structure.

 

[ellemonopy]

Short version:
I accidentally shrunk the main partition on my external hard drive to 32gb (from 1 tb), and all of the files are gone. Can I simply expand the partition then run data recovery software to recover it, or will expanding the partition overwrite the data?

Long version:
I was attempting to create a recovery drive using the Create a Recovery Drive tool in Windows 8. I shrunk the E: drive (main partition of the external hard drive) by 20gb and created an F: drive that was 20 gb. I ran the Create a Recovery Drive tool and chose the F: drive as the recovery drive, and after it was finished my F: drive was gone (the F: drive was empty so no loss there), the E: drive was shrunk to 32gb, and all of the files from the E: drive were gone. I ran some data recovery software but it just turned up a dozen or so pictures, and I ran some partition recovery software but it just found the deleted F: drive. What's the best way to go about recovering my lost data?

In my personal experience R-studio or UFSexplorer are the best tools to recover data in this case, and restore what is left of the actual structure.

To clarify, would expanding the E: drive then running free recovery software overwrite the data, or is it doubtful that that would work? I'd like to avoid spending money on this if I don't have to.

 

[E-50]

neither of those 2 tools are free, but they are the best to deal with your situation. just make sure that recovered data is being saved onto another hard drive (external drive for example), and not the same partition that you are trying to recover.

 

[ellemonopy]

neither of those 2 tools are free, but they are the best to deal with your situation. just make sure that recovered data is being saved onto another hard drive (external drive for example), and not the same partition that you are trying to recover.

Would it be worth it to try expanding the partition and running free recovery software first, or would that make the problem worse?

 

[ellemonopy]

Could someone let me know if expanding the partition would be harmful or not, so that I could try that before going with E-50's solution?