Solved Any way to recover partitions deleted by Windows Update gone bad?

[Orthoducks]

This morning my computer notified me that it had to reboot to install updates. (This was a routine Windows Update notification, nothing suspicious about it.) When the reboot finished, all of my hard disk's partitions except drive C were gone. In their place was a single unallocated space. This took out all of my data files and most of my applications' profiles.

I can restore most of this data, but the process will be time consuming and incomplete. Before I do it, is there any hope of recovering the partitions that Windows Update blew away?

 

[ignatzatsonic]

Yes.

But I'm not qualified to do it.

Jumanji is the guy who needs to help you. He's a member.

In the meantime---DON'T attempt to recover individual files. You first need to concentrate on recovering the partition proper. If you can recover it, the files will likely be unchanged.

 

[Brink]

Hello Orthodducks, and welcome to Seven Forums.

You may be able to use an option in the tutorial below to recover the deleted partition. It could take a while to do though, so it would be best to try when you have the time.

Partition - Recover Deleted Partitions in Windows

 

[Megahertz07]

As to deal with partitions is a risky task, ask Jumanji for help.
http://www.sevenforums.com/member.php?u=163641

 

[Orthoducks]

Thank you for the reference, but how do I leave him a message? I see others' messages on his page but I don't see a "Leave message" link, and when I searched the page for "message" I found none.

 

[jumanji]

No need to contact jumanji. He is Omni-present , but kept quiet since Brink had given you three options to read and try.

Follow option 2 in the tutorial Brink has mentioned in post #3. That is, use Partition Recovery Wizard in MiniTools Partition Wizard Free Edition 9.1 Best Free Partition Manager for Windows | MiniTool Partition Free

Launch PartitionWizard, on the left Pane click on Partition Recovery Wizard > Next > Select your Drive > Next > Full Disk > Next > QuickScan > Next. Allow the quick scan to complete. At the end of the quickscan you will get a window showing all the found partitions (like the one below).



Post a screenshot of it. After you have taken the screenshot click on Cancel button on that Window and close PW. You can run it again after getting further instructions from me.

Also mention how many partitions ( volumes ) you had on that drive apart from C:

If more than the number of partitions that was there is shown that means your drive had been formatted more than once and/or changes were made after the first format.( just like two audio volumes in my screenshot) You have to select the correct partitions that will show your drive as before in the preview map below the partitions found list without any unallocated space. That is the reason why I want to examine the screenshot..

 

[Layback Bear]

No problem Orthoducks

I have P.M. Jumanji asking for help.
He lives in India. Which means a large time difference.

I personally don't understand how Windows 7 Updates could cause such a problem.

 

[Orthoducks]

Thank you, Jumanji and Bear. I'll do that and report back -- by Monday I hope. Right now I have some priorities in my offline life that are even higher than recovering my data, so I'm not sure exactly when it will happen.

As for how Windows Update could cause this problem -- it is fooling around with Windows' basic operating software, so I don't find that surprising. I can't trace cause to effect, since I rarely know what Windows Update is doing anyway, but over the yeas I've had disruptive things happen to my system immediately after a Windows Update on several occasions.

After I recover from this incident I'm going to take steps to my data security, and those may include disabling Windows Update, along with tightening up my backup procedures.

 

[Orthoducks]

Here is the screen shot. The program I got is v7.0, but I downloaded it from the publisher's web site, so I don't think I'm going to find a later one.

The UI was not as you described it, probably because the version is different. There was no wizard interface and no "Quickscan" button. I just got this page when I clicked "Lost Partition Recovery."

The partitions listed are a complete set. The amount of data is far less than the drive sizes, but much more than the free program's 1 GB recovery limit. I'd guess there is a total of about 10 GB.

 

[jumanji]

"Follow option 2 in the tutorial Brink has mentioned in post #3. That is, use Partition Recovery Wizard in MiniTools Partition Wizard Free Edition 9.1 Best Free Partition Manager for Windows | MiniTool Partition Free "

You didn't do what I wanted you to do. Best Free Partition Manager for Windows | MiniTool Partition Free

 

[Orthoducks]

I installed the version of the program that you specified. When I ran it, it reported finding only two of the three lost partitions. I took a screen shot and tried to open a program with which I could save it to a file, but Windows froze after I opened the start menu. I could move the mouse pointer but I could not select a program, close the menu, open Task Manager, or switch tasks. I had to do a hard power-down and reboot.

I opened the program again and returned to the lost partitions report. This time it showed all three lost partitions, but when I tried to open an application for saving a screen shot the system froze again.

I pressed Ctrl+Alt+Del. After a very long delay, it opened an error box that said: "The logon process was unable to display security and logon options when CTRL+ALT+DEL was pressed. If the operating system does not respond, press ESC or restart the computer by using the power switch."

I pressed ESC and Windows returned to the Desktop. This time I was able to save the screen shot, which is attached.

I then tried the version 7.0 of the program again, and was able to capture a screen shot of the Lost Partitions report with no freeze-ups or error boxes.

Based on my experience so far, I have doubts about reliability of version 8.1. I hope you can explain the problems I had in a way that eliminates them as a future concern.

 

[jumanji]

I have noted your concerns. I am using Partition Wizard Free Edition 9.1 since its release and have faced no problems. (My OS Windows 32bit version.) Dozens of users who have used it here when recommended, haven't reported any problems so far and have recovered the partitions.

But generally speaking, after the Windows Oct updates, users have been experiencing new problems that didn't exist before. Even I am experiencing some problems. On startup, my mouse pointer freezes - sometimes. I shut down with the power button and restart and then everything is fine. On certain websites pages take a long time to load and also to open when the tab is clicked. Pages do not close immediately. I get impatient and resort to ctrl+alt+ del and I get the same message you get - " The logon process ......." - before Task Manager opens. In Google Toolbar Suggestions and History have vanished. A reinstall also does not bring them back. It is quite possible that PW 9.1 is also impacted on 64 bit version Windows. Yours may be the first report on it. In such cases Microsoft/ the software vendor has to take note of it and do the needful. Users can't do anything about it except by way of any workaround if one exists or found..( I am also a user )

Anyway if PW version 7 works fine , stick with it for now. Execute the following instructions meticulousy without making any mistakes and without overshooting.

Shut down your PC and then reboot. Let it complete the boot process. Allow sometime.

Launch Partition Wizard straightaway . ( Do not open and run any other program/Utility/Tool/Windows Disk Management ) No multitasking.

Run Partition Recovery Wizard, Quick Scan as before.

Do you get the same Partitions found Window as in your previous post showing two existing and three Lost/deleted partitions? Verify used size and size also.

If everything is ditto as in your last screenshot click on the square at the left of all partitions to select.

Now look at the preview map below and confirm that it has changed from Unallocated and now shows all partitions in your drive as it existed before.

Click on Finish and that Window will close exposing the Main Window.

Look at your drive in it. Does it show all your partitions now as it was before?

Only if it is so , click on APPLY on the top Menubar to complete Partition Recovery

Note: If you see any unallocated space on the drive, stop and do not APPLY. Close PW, telling not to make any changes and Report.

If everything goes fine and the process is completed, close PW and then reboot your PC

Done.

Good Luck.

( If you want to post any screenshot use Windows Snipping Tool to take it and save it.

Snipping Tool How to Use the Snipping Tool inVista ( applies to Windows 7 also))

Also let me know what application/program you have used to take and save the screenshot. Is it impacting PW 9.1. ? I can't rule out that also.

 

[Orthoducks]

I tried to perform the recovery with version 7.0, but its user interface is different from the one you described and it wasn't clear how to perform the operation. Consequently I returned to version 9.1.

When I reached the final screen, the "Scanning progress" bar halted at 99%. I tried to select the three lost partitions, but program would not let me do so. The window's title bar displayed "Partition Recovery Wizard (Not Responding)."

After a long time (perhaps ten minutes) the progress bar disappeared and the program allowed me to select the three lost partitions. I did so, then clicked "Finish."

The program opened a message box that said, "At least one of the existing partition [sic] will be deleted. Are you sure that you want to continue?"

I cancelled the program and turned off the computer. I do not want to delete any of the partitions -- particularly not the System partition or drive C, which are the only two "existing" ones as I understand that word!

 

[jumanji]

"If everything is ditto as in your last screenshot click on the square at the left of all partitions to select."

My dear friend, I have clearly said click on the square at the left of all partitions. I repeat you should select all 5 partitions both existing as well as Lost/deleted.

"Now look at the preview map below and confirm that it has changed from Unallocated and now shows all partitions in your drive as it existed before."

( If you had selected only the three lost/deleted partitions the space of the two existing partitions would still have remained Unallocated in the Preview map below that partition list..)



That is not all.

"Click on Finish and that Window will close exposing the Main Window.

Look at your drive in it. Does it show all your partitions now as it was before?

Only if it is so , click on APPLY on the top Menubar to complete Partition Recovery

Note: If you see any unallocated space on the drive, stop and do not APPLY. Close PW, telling not to make any changes and Report."

 

[Orthoducks]

Your meaning is clear now. It was not clear before because I interpreted your message to mean that I should click a single square to the left of all partitions. I imagined the list of partitions, to the left of it a square for each, and to the left of them a single square that was somehow indicated to apply to all of them. I interpreted your instructions as I understood them as well as I could to apply to the dialog the program displayed.

The screen shot in your last message makes your intention clear. I'll try it again as soon as I can (I hope tonight) and report the results.

 

[Orthoducks]

I tried again and was able to recover all of the partitions. The program got their drive letters mixed up, but that was easily remedied.

Thank you for helping me straighten this out.

 

[jumanji]

Glad you did it finally . You took me on a roller coaster ride in what otherwise is a simple partition recovery.

And for your information what you were referring as version 7 is not MiniTools Partition Wizard but MiniTool Power Data Recovery which is altogether a different program and it is option 1 in the tutorial what Brink referred to in his post #3 Partition - Recover Deleted Partitions in Windows

It would appear to me that you never read that tutorial to differentiate between MiniTool Power Data Recovery (Option 1) and MiniTool Partition Wizard (Option 2)

I chose option 2 "Follow option 2 in the tutorial Brink has mentioned in post #3. That is, use Partition Recovery Wizard in MiniTools Partition Wizard Free Edition 9.1 Best Free Partition Manager for Windows | MiniTool Partition Free "

But you downloaded MiniTool Power Data Recovery and created all the confusion.

Anyway, all is well that ends well.

 

[SIW2]

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