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Well it looks like i just lost 10 gb worth of my "C" drive which contained my proile, which i wasnt always the best about backing up.


Here's the symptoms:
-First the partitions just all disappeared.
-tryed recovering them.
-some tools found them still there and active. others didnt.
-recovery tools that did find them tried to write them back. they -disappeared again.
-tried creating a partition. disappeared.
-cleared mbr. cleared part table. cleared embr.
-ran tools that came with hard disk. wrote a new MBR, and wrote new partitions.

they all, disappeared.

odd isnt that?

any ideas?

Looks like im screwed though.

P.S. this all started when i was backing up my C drive to another hard drive and Windows XP BSODed on me. went by so fast, i couldnt see the error. rebooted and "No boot record on IDE-0."

The MBR is the weak point of the drive, if the MBR sector is damaged then the partitions still exist but there is no way for the operating system to know they're there (and the BIOS can't boot the drive without the bootsector).

Look at the bright side.
You can start over again and build a much better base foundation for your OS.

And you'll never slight on data backup again.

ok..I have another hard drive......


would it be possible that i could still use the defective hard drive as a second drive? (I wouldnt think so but i thought id ask)

Hm. Harddrives sometimes do this kind of things. Suddenly inaccessible sectors. Damaged surface due to abrupt stop - my laptop hd died out of that. Now I need to acquire another one. Not that this is sooo funny to repair. Lotsa screws and so.

To your question.... I wouldn't do that. It's not only not likely to work. It also might damage what is left on the hard disk.

I find it more common that if software crashes at the wrong moment, the partition goes whacked even if there's nothing wrong with the hardware. I've had this happen a few times with W2k and XP, and once with Linux. Usually the reason was some buggy (non-harddrive) driver crashing the system.

That said, harddrives do break once in a while. It's annoying. That's why you should backup regularly, so that if you have a problem, at least ONE of your backups will still have the data. Also remember to backup to an offline media, or at least another computer, so that you don't lose the backup-disk at the same time (had this happen once, too).

Try a programme called recover my files. It worked miracles on ma harddisk. Just died out and Windows dint see it anymore. Was able to get bac ma data even after formatiing

Well after trying about every possible data recovery program on the planet i decieded to try something. I erased the whole disk with zeros (including the first 63 sectors), and the used the Max Blast utility which wrote a new MBR (again) and then ran partition magic, created partitions and now the drive works. Unfortantly i wasnt able to get any of my data back but atleast now i dont have to try and get an RMA number for it and wait forever to get a replacement.


Lesson learned from this: Back up EVERYTHING, often.

Just to add another small lesson to it: Whenever you need to restore data on a computer disk that's inaccessible, make a copy before trying to modify it. Also, make sure that both your working copy and your backup copy are both on a good working disk. If necessary, borrow a 30-40g disk from somebody.

Something I routinely apply to floppy disks - applying to hard drives might be expensive but worthwhile:

If it failed you once, dump it and get a replacement.

If it really was the hard drive failing you, I wouldn't continue using it.

But backing up your crucial data on regular basis is a beginning. Especially sources, since they can't be replaced (as opposed to your MP3 collection and downloaded reference material etc., since losing them is just a nuisance, not really a loss.)

I also physically damage any floppy disks that fail me. Hard enough that I can see it later. Usually involves either bending them until they crack, or throwing them agaist a wall. Both are great ways to release some aggression.

I also physically damage any floppy disks that fail me. Hard enough that I can see it later. Usually involves either bending them until they crack, or throwing them agaist a wall. Both are great ways to release some aggression.

hahahahaha.
I dont know if its just be, but I've noticed that when I put information on a floppy disk, sometimes when I try to load it on another computer (like my computer downstairs), it makes a lot of clunking noises and doesnt load the dats. Its like that floppy can only be read on my computer. No, it is not write protected . It just seems like I never had problems like this in the old days where we didnt have cd burners.

they dont make 'em [floppy disks] like they used to i guess.

They don't make them at all anymore