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[SOLVED] Unpartitioned space - now Windows won't load

2K views 5 replies 3 participants last post by  spunk.funk 
#1 ·
Hi all

I have a user with a Dell Optiplex desktop on Windows XP. He was complaining about poor performance lately, so after doing the usual steps of cleaning up temp folders and general junk, I attempted a defrag and chkdsk. Neither would run, with the chkdsk returning an error about "the type of the filesystem is raw".

I did some investigation into this and was advised to run TestDisk to recover the filesystem and restore it to what it was. I did this, but upon rebooting, the computer went straight to the Dell Diagnostics software, which I believe exists on a small partition on the hard drive. If you cancel out of this, reboot, or try anything else, it simply returns straight to the Diagnostics screen again without ever attempting to boot into Windows.

I then inserted an XP CD, went to the recovery console and ran DISKPART to display the current partitions. They are listed as below :

c: Partition 1 [FAT] 55 mb (46mb free)
Unpartitioned space 76238 mb


I assume that the partitions have thus been screwed up during the Testdisk process, and my previous windows installation (and user data & files) is on the large unpartitioned space.

There is a lot of data on this computer which I would prefer NOT to lose, so I don't want to just format it. Is there any way I can restore that 76328mb back to the way it was, when it existed as the c: drive?

Thanks
 
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#2 ·
Re: Unpartitioned space - now Windows won't load

Defrag, chkdsk, and TestDisk combined might do a real mess on the disk, but chances for successful file recovery are still exist. You may try to use R-Studio. This would help you: Data Recovery Using R-Studio. You case is Case 2, Recovery of files that have resided on a data disk with a damaged file system, or on a previously deleted or re-formatted partition.
Although R-Studio is a pay program, it has a demo mode which will give you ability to check if it can recover your files before buying it.
 
#4 ·
Re: Unpartitioned space - now Windows won't load

after doing the usual steps of cleaning up temp folders and general junk
Somewhere in this process, the file system got corrupted. Or the drive is starting to fail.
Try R-Studio or download this trial version of GetDataBack NTFS. Let it scan the drive, and it will tell you what if anything that it can recover, and you decide if it is worth paying for it to actually Restore you files. You will need another drive of the same size to recover your files to.
 
#5 ·
Re: Unpartitioned space - now Windows won't load

I got this fixed thanks. Used R-Studio to successfully find the partition and data that was on it. However, the system still wouldn't boot properly (bluescreening just after Windows XP logo appears) so I burnt a copy of the Ultimate Boot Disk and created a new MBR from the utility on that, followed by a very intensive disk check. All working ok now as it was before, with no loss of data or need to rebuild.

Thanks
 
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