GUID Partition Table & MBR Mistake

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  1. Posts : 18
    Windows 7 Enterprise 64-Bit SP1
       #1

    GUID Partition Table & MBR Mistake


    Evening Folks.

    First off, I want to say how appreciative I am of having the SevenForums as a resource. You all are absolute heroes to many that come on here seeking help!


    Down to the problem.

    I recently received a new SSHD, and replaced my previous HDD with it. I did a fresh install of Windows 7 Enterprise (Same OS I had on my previous HDD), and got everything running as it should have been. I went to go pull my old user data (Docs, Pics, Music, Etc) off of the previous HDD, and when I loaded the disk with my drive bay, nothing showed up.

    So, I went into Disk Management to see if it was there. It was. However, when I clicked on it, a window popped up saying GUID or MBR. Now, I'm new to the Enterprise realm of things, so I chose what I was used to using: MBR. WRONG CHOICE....

    Long Story Short:
    Is it possible to recover my data that is still on the drive by somehow switching it back to GUID Partition Table, without erasing the data? I'm currently running a program called TestDisk which I've had success with in the past, but it is taking an absolute eternity to run.

    Also down a bit with the finances, so if there's any solution that doesn't break the bank, that's good too.


    Thanks guys!
      My Computer


  2. Posts : 7,055
    Windows 7 Home Premium 32 bit
       #2

    Questions:

    1. Did you pull out the old HDD from your Toshiba laptop before replacing it with the SSD?

    2. What is the make, model No. and capacity of the old HDD?

    3. Was it partitioned as a GPT drive while it was in the laptop? How many partitions did it have?

    4. How is your present SSD partitioned? Is it MBR or GPT?

    5. Does your Toshiba Satellite sport UEFI?

    6. What is the make and model number of your HDD dock? Is it compatible for use with GPT drives?

    7. What exactly did you see in the Windows Disk Management? Was it seen as RAW or something else?

    8. Were you asked to initialise the HDD and you selected MBR and completed the initialisation? Did you go ahead and format the drive thereafter? (Don't format it now just because I asked this question. Just answer.)

    I think that should be sufficient information for any of the experts to work on your problem.( Right now everything is vague. :))

    It would also help if you post a screenshot of your HDD in the dock in Windows Disk Management.

    Please go through the questionnaire and answer each, point by point without missing anything.
    Last edited by jumanji; 23 Jan 2014 at 06:36.
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  3. Posts : 18
    Windows 7 Enterprise 64-Bit SP1
    Thread Starter
       #3

    Questions:

    1. Did you pull out the old HDD from your Toshiba laptop before replacing it with the SSD?
    I removed the previous hard drive after shutting down the PC. Placed the new SSHD in the computer, and installed a new installation of Windows 7 Enterprise from scratch.

    2. What is the make, model No. and capacity of the old HDD?
    Toshiba MK6475GSX 640GB HDD.

    3. Was it partitioned as a GPT drive while it was in the laptop? How many partitions did it have?
    Yes. I am assuming it was done on installation, because I never specified intentionally for it to be a GPT drive.
    It had two partitions, one with a Windows 7 Enterprise Installation, one with a Windows 8.1 Pro Installation.

    4. How is your present SSD partitioned? Is it MBR or GPT?
    I am unsure how to tell.

    5. Does your Toshiba Satellite sport UEFI?
    How would I find this out? I am willing to look.

    6. What is the make and model number of your HDD dock? Is it compatible for use with GPT drives?

    7. What exactly did you see in the Windows Disk Management? Was it seen as RAW or something else?
    RAW at the moment.

    8. Were you asked to initialise the HDD and you selected MBR and completed the initialisation? Did you go ahead and format the drive thereafter? (Don't format it now just because I asked this question. Just answer.)
    I did not format the drive. I believe I initialized it as MBR, but did not format it afterwards. Have not formatted it now either.

    It would also help if you post a screenshot of your HDD in the dock in Windows Disk Management.
    As you requested. http://kodanet.com/images/HDD1.png

    Thank you! Any way I can make this easier for you, let me know.
      My Computer

  4.    #4

    You said you made the wrong choice of MBR when you plugged in the disk and were asked to initialize it. What told you this?

    Only if your PC supports UEFI can Win7/8 be installed to a GPT initialized disk. You should know whether you had to boot into a UEFI DVD or Flash stick to install as shown in UEFI (Unified Extensible Firmware Interface) - Install Windows 7 with - Windows 7 Forums.
    If you did not then it's likely MBR. To check enter BIOS setup at boot to look for UEFI settings, Legacy BIOS (turns off) or Compatibility Support Module (CSM) which allows both modes to be bootable.

    To determine which is presently being used check which conversion is offered when you rightclick on the disk in Disk Mgmt as shown here (but do not convert): Convert GPT Disk to MBR Disk - Windows 7 Forums. Rightclick on the Disk number as shown in red box. If it says Convert to MBR it means it is GPT, and vice versa:



    If your system is not UEFI and the HD was installed as MBR then it is the correct choice, but I'm wondering why it was asking you to initialize the HD since this normally only happens with a new HDD/SSD. It's possible that you had a UEFI SYstem previously which was changed to Legacy or CSM in BIOS, and which called into question GPT formatting for the old boot disk. In that case you might be able to convert it back to GPT to have it read. However this is not certain by any means. You may have lost your data by re-initializing without asking first.

    Once you determine the format this HD was originally installed with, and the data still doesn't show up, you can try Partition Wizard Partition Recovery Wizard - Video Help. If the partitions have simply been deleted then it can undelete them.
    Last edited by gregrocker; 23 Jan 2014 at 14:54.
      My Computer


  5. Posts : 7,055
    Windows 7 Home Premium 32 bit
       #5

    gregrocker said:
    ....... You may have lost your data by re-initializing without asking first......
    Just wanted to clear the air. Just initialising the disk does not result in any data loss. When one initialises what all it does is to write the MBR code into the first sector (sector 0) of the drive ( in the case of MBR drives) and prepares the drive to be partitioned and then formatted. As long as the drive is not reformatted the data remains put where it was.

    OP may feel easy. :)
      My Computer


  6. Posts : 24,479
    Windows 7 Ultimate X64 SP1
       #6

    If a drive needs to be initialized, doesn't that mean a format must follow?
      My Computer


  7. Posts : 7,055
    Windows 7 Home Premium 32 bit
       #7

    Not necessarily.I can leave it hanging (as the OP seems to have done here. He did not format. My question No.8)).And when I do partitioning again I need not format. When that step is undertaken the partition table is written again to sector 0. Then I can choose one partition to be formatted NTFS and another FAT32 or what I may wish. And then when I hit format the file system gets written.In all these operations what is manipulated is only the very first sector (Sector 0) and the first sector of each partition.
      My Computer


  8. Posts : 24,479
    Windows 7 Ultimate X64 SP1
       #8

    Every time I've had "This drive needs to be initialized" pop up, following through with the prompts, formatting is one of the steps, which of course, will wipe all data.
      My Computer


  9. Posts : 7,055
    Windows 7 Home Premium 32 bit
       #9

    My disk 1 is not initialised, and Windows is asking me to initialise.

    GUID Partition Table & MBR Mistake-not-initialised.jpg

    I say OK boss, do it.

    And the boss takes the order :) . Initialised.

    GUID Partition Table & MBR Mistake-initialised.jpg

    The buck stops there. This is what happened in OP's case.

    He merely initialised it. And initialising merely writes the MBR code into the first sector. Nothing more than that.
      My Computer


  10. Posts : 24,479
    Windows 7 Ultimate X64 SP1
       #10

    You're right, I just tried it on a SSD I had secure erased, but have never tried it on a drive with data. The bit I was thinking of was creating a new volume.

      My Computer


 
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