Big Mistake Now Unabble to Logon to my PC I need advice

andrew124c41

New member
Local time
3:08 PM
Messages
30
I am not sure if this is the right place to post this so I apologize in advance if I made a mistake. I have not been on the Forum for awhile.
Many years ago I put together a PC.

I juat realized that I was wrong about something. At that point in time I had not yet learned to use Sysprep. I used a program called profile relocator that moves the users folder from the C or OS drive to a second d or data drive. It is only supposed to be used during the initial installation. In looking at what folders and files EaseUS software has found, I have not identified a users folder. The name may have been corrupted. I wish thee was some simple way to just revert back without having to reinstall everything.

Yesterday, while testing a new hard drive I accidentally did a quick format on my 1 TB hard drive!

Because the login information is stored somewhere on that drive, I am unable to get into the PC. I have most of the important data copied on a portable drive, but not all of it. I thought that I had done a backup with Macrium Reflect, but apparently, I don't.

Right now I am trying to use EaseUS Data Recovery software to get the data back. I have not purchased it yet....just scanning to see if I can get the data back before paying for it. (It is supposed to show you your files if they are recoverable and a quick format doesn't erase anything. I think it deletes the MFT but I am not certain. I have just read that most of the files should be recoverable.

The main thing I need is to be able to get back into my PC. I don't want to have to reinstall the OS and programs all over again and even if I did with an OS backup, without the information on the D drive, I still would not be able to get in because the login credentials are there.

The bottom line is I would like to know if there is some way for me to get back into my PC without the second drive.

(The recovery software has already found almost 2 TB of data....more than the size of the drive. Even if it is finding data that I deleted prior to the quick format, I sill don't understand how it can find more data than the size of the drive!)

What is the name of the folder on my D drive that contains the necessary login information. I tried to look it up and it said "credential manager" which would be on my C: SSD OS drive. It also mentions encrypted information somewhere in appdata which I believe resides on the D: drive, the one which I am trying to do data recovery on.

Any help would be greatly appreciated. I used to be pretty good with this stuff but at 72 my memory is not what it once was.
 
Last edited:

My Computer My Computer

At a glance

7
Computer type
PC/Desktop
OS
7
Motherboard
Asus m597A
If it was just a quick format, free data recovery programs should be able to retrieve the data.

recuva is well known generally pretty good
:ar: Builds


and there is a giveaway from a few years ago by minitool which still works very well.
power data recovery 6.5 you can probabaly still find it on tinternet, must be v6.5 for unlimited free recovery

pdr1.jpg

pdr2.jpg

pdr3.jpg
 
Last edited:

My Computers My Computers

  • At a glance

    7 X64i5 84002x8gb 3200mhz
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    OS
    7 X64
    CPU
    i5 8400
    Motherboard
    gigabyte b365m ds3h
    Memory
    2x8gb 3200mhz
    Hard Drives
    various
    PSU
    pure power 11 400w cm
    Case
    Coolermaster
    Cooling
    cryorig m9i
  • At a glance

    7x64g54008gb ddr4 2400
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    OS
    7x64
    CPU
    g5400
    Motherboard
    ga b365m ds3h
    Memory
    8gb ddr4 2400
    PSU
    xfx pro 450w
Back
Top