External hdd after windows reinstall

ctwoods · 10-22-2009, 10:38 AM

I screwed up and reinstalled Windows xp on a new hdd, after a mechanical failure, but forgot to disconnect my external drive that had all my backed up files on it.

I have tried a program called "Recover My Files" online, but it has taken over 2 days and it still isn't a third of the way through the drive searching for my photo's and mp3's.

I read through the sticky for 'lost files' but not sure if either of those will work for my situation.

If one of the programs in the 'sticky' is what I need to do, I am all for it.

Currently, the overwrite broke the drive into two partitions. One of them is around 5 GB for the 'recovery' partition, the other is around 15 GB which it left empty. There is still 130 GB that is unallocated on the HDD.

It is a Seagate USB drive if that matters.

Dogg · 10-23-2009, 03:42 PM

What exactly happened?

"I screwed up and reinstalled Windows xp on a new hdd, after a mechanical failure, but forgot to disconnect my external drive that had all my backed up files on it." << that sounds like you installed XP onto a new HDD while the external was still attached. Was XP installed onto a new HDD or onto the external HDD? If XP was installed onto the external, you aren't likely to get all of the files back.

Try using the sticky: Have you "lost" a hard drive, partition or files in your computer?

10-22-2009, 10:38 AM	#1 (permalink)
ctwoods Registered User Join Date: Oct 2009 Posts: 48 OS: xp pro sp3	External hdd after windows reinstall I screwed up and reinstalled Windows xp on a new hdd, after a mechanical failure, but forgot to disconnect my external drive that had all my backed up files on it. I have tried a program called "Recover My Files" online, but it has taken over 2 days and it still isn't a third of the way through the drive searching for my photo's and mp3's. I read through the sticky for 'lost files' but not sure if either of those will work for my situation. If one of the programs in the 'sticky' is what I need to do, I am all for it. Currently, the overwrite broke the drive into two partitions. One of them is around 5 GB for the 'recovery' partition, the other is around 15 GB which it left empty. There is still 130 GB that is unallocated on the HDD. It is a Seagate USB drive if that matters.

10-23-2009, 03:42 PM	#2 (permalink)
Dogg Tech Hardware Team Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: St Louis, MO Posts: 2,084 OS: XP sp3	Re: External hdd after windows reinstall What exactly happened? "I screwed up and reinstalled Windows xp on a new hdd, after a mechanical failure, but forgot to disconnect my external drive that had all my backed up files on it." << that sounds like you installed XP onto a new HDD while the external was still attached. Was XP installed onto a new HDD or onto the external HDD? If XP was installed onto the external, you aren't likely to get all of the files back. Try using the sticky: Have you "lost" a hard drive, partition or files in your computer? __________________ Google is your friend !