Data restoring from formated drive

  • Thread starter Thread starter Sadking
  • Start date Start date
S

Sadking

Hi, I have a laptop with Windows 2000 Pro running on it.
I want to install Windows XP, so I start to install
Windows 98 2ed. I have made a backup drive on the other
partition of the hard disk, and then I copied all my
files I need. After that I've formatted the "C" dive to
install Win98, but when formatting finished Windows 2000
was still there and the "C" drive I've formatted changed
with the other partition name. Now I have lost my back up
file.....Can I restore them back by any way...?!!!

Regards,
 
Here are some tools that might help:

http://www.diydatarecovery.nl/~tkuurstra/downloads.htm
http://www.restorer2000.com/r2k.htm
http://www.zdnet.com/downloads/stories/info/0,,001CVX,.html
http://www.hddrecovery.com.au

I am a little confused by your post. You write
"I want to install Windows XP, so I start to install
Windows 98 2ed." Why would you bother with Win98
if it's WinXP you want?

Furthermore: There are three golden rules of backing up files:

1. Back up all your important files at least once a week.
2. Alternative between at least two backup media (2 tapes,
2 sets of disks, 2 CDs).
3. Keep your backups in a different place from where
you keep your PC.

If I break each and every one of these rules then I expect
to suffer some pretty severe data loss within leass than
a year.

If you have installed an operating system over the top of
your data then your chances of recovering your data are
fairly slim. In this case you may have to look at the
episode as a painful but valuable learning experience.
 
Sounds like the C drive (containing Windows 2000) was formatted as NTFS and your backup partition was formatted as FAT or FAT32. If so, the NTFS partition was completely ignored by Windows 98 and the visible partition became C...which you then probably wiped clean with the FDISK and/or Format command.

There's no need to install Windows 98 in order to install Windows XP. If you have an upgrade version of Windows XP (and I'll assume it's the Home edition) you can do a clean install and provide proof of qualifying ownership during the install. If you have an upgrade version of Windows XP Pro, you can upgrade Windows 2000.

Either way, you're going need to generate the backup data again.

There are many websites that provide detailed procedures for the various installations. Here's one of them:

Windows XP Installation and Upgrade, Part Six
http://www.winsupersite.com/showcase/windowsxp_sg_clean.asp

Even MS can offer some help:

HOW TO: Install Windows XP
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;316941&Product=winxp
 
Back
Top