Help me please! (to recover all my data in a damaged FAT32 partition)

[kasti]

Hello, my name is Andrés (from Colombia, SouthAmerica). The last week
I
was trying to get some space for a new extended partition (to install
RedHat-Linux beside my SuSE-Linux / WinXP partitions) so i used
"Partition Magic" (from the diskette version (i think v8)) which I
have
used repeatedly before and have found very worth for these procedures
in
all last years.

The problem is that my home got a power-cut in the middle of a
move/resize procedure of my data-partition (a 31+MB FAT-32 partition)
and
when I checked out again later the partition was reported as a "PqRP"
partition and the data was unrecoverable (but readable as garbage-data
when I mount it (read-omly) in my SuSE-Linux).

Doing some research in the internet i found a FAQ page about this
problem
in http://www.diydatarecovery.nl/~tkuurstra/PqRPFAQ.txt, in these
pages is mentioned that if the procedure was at a -10% the problem
would be
resolved using the "ptedit" utility by Powerquest but as i remember
the
last time i saw the display the percentage was about 41% so I haven`t
tried this trick in the hope to avoid make things worse.

Also, in this FAQ i found this group listed so as i'm currently stuck
in the problem i guess that my only option is to ask anyone for some
help. I have to say that i would be absolutely grateful if anyone can
bring some time and expertise to help me recover at least some of my
data -including my thesis :-(

As it is not possible to make attachments in the lists (and i am at mt
work place) i would attach later the output of some
helpful/informative utilities ("findpart" , "pqrp" and "partinfo" )
if someone ask me.

Again, any piece of help would be HUGEly appreciated!


Thanks, Kasti :-(

p.s. please excuse my english redaction, this is not my native
language

 

[Zvi Netiv]

Hello, my name is Andrés (from Colombia, SouthAmerica). The last week
I was trying to get some space for a new extended partition (to install
RedHat-Linux beside my SuSE-Linux / WinXP partitions) so i used
"Partition Magic" (from the diskette version (i think v8)) which I have
used repeatedly before and have found very worth for these procedures
in all last years.

The problem is that my home got a power-cut in the middle of a
move/resize procedure of my data-partition (a 31+MB FAT-32 partition) and
when I checked out again later the partition was reported as a "PqRP"
partition and the data was unrecoverable (but readable as garbage-data
when I mount it (read-omly) in my SuSE-Linux).

You don't tell what was the physical order of the damaged partition, if it was
first, or higher. It may have importance for the recovery.

Doing some research in the internet i found a FAQ page about this problem
in http://www.diydatarecovery.nl/~tkuurstra/PqRPFAQ.txt, in these
pages is mentioned that if the procedure was at a -10% the problem would be
resolved using the "ptedit" utility by Powerquest but as i remember the
last time i saw the display the percentage was about 41% so I haven`t
tried this trick in the hope to avoid make things worse.

If the data is important, and it seems it is, then I wouldn't operate on the
damaged drive but on its clone.

Also, in this FAQ i found this group listed so as i'm currently stuck
in the problem i guess that my only option is to ask anyone for some
help. I have to say that i would be absolutely grateful if anyone can
bring some time and expertise to help me recover at least some of my
data -including my thesis :-(

The fact that the process stopped when already very much advanced doesn't offer
a good prognosis. Still, it could be worth trying on a clone.

I would first try to rebuild (on the clone!) the original partitions with
RESQDISK /REBUILD (a RESQDISK /ASSESS report would help in assessing the problem
and figure out which structures of the old configuration are still intact on the
mutilated disk).

If the conversion went already too far, then there still is chance to recover
files, especially Word, Excel and JPG, with RESQDATA, provided the file were
contiguous (defragmented) and the time disaster struck.

The RESQ utilities are available from http://resq.co.il/resq.php, including disk
cloning software (you need forensic quality cloning software!).

The important thing now is not do more damage to your data and drive with
inappropriate procedures.

As it is not possible to make attachments in the lists (and i am at mt
work place) i would attach later the output of some
helpful/informative utilities ("findpart" , "pqrp" and "partinfo" )
if someone ask me.

Regards, Zvi

 

[Papa]

Hello Andres:

I think your English is a lot better than that of some of my friends here in
the States.

Anyway, if the data is valuable you should try a commercial data recovery
service, and, unfortunately, it will probably be expensive.

If the data is not too important, I would just forget it. However, the next
time you do a partition or format, back up the data first.

Good luck.

 

[Joep]

The results of mounting the partition from Linux probably indicate that just
using ptedit isn't going to the trick.

Repost with a findpart output attached (see FAQ), in subject line put:
"attn: Svend - findpart ... ".Svend is often able to repair damage as he
seems quite familiar with the sequence of changes PM makes.

If you receive no reply or do not want to wait, a commercial data recovery
program may be able extract the data from the partition and copy it to
another drive. Note that, depending upon the stage where PM was at the time
of the powercut, partitioning and a file system may be in some in between
state, and you may even need some additional help from the datarecovery
software manufacturers getting the commercial data recovery tools going.
Correctly identifying the locations of the partitions for starters can
tremendously increase the chances for a succesful recovery.

Do a google search for data recovery software and you'll find plenty.

Kind regards,
Joep

--
D I Y D a t a R e c o v e r y . N L - Data & Disaster Recovery Tools

http://www.diydatarecovery.nl
http://www.diydatarecovery.com

Please include previous correspondence!

DiskPatch - MBR, Partition, boot sector repair and recovery.
iRecover - FAT, FAT32 and NTFS data recovery.
MBRtool - Freeware MBR backup and restore.

 

[Svend Olaf Mikkelsen]

The results of mounting the partition from Linux probably indicate that just
using ptedit isn't going to the trick.

Repost with a findpart output attached (see FAQ), in subject line put:
"attn: Svend - findpart ... ".Svend is often able to repair damage as he
seems quite familiar with the sequence of changes PM makes.

I can confirm that the case was solved some time ago in mail. Yes, it
is a good advice you gave. When one have used so much time to examine
PM cases, it is nice to use the experience.