restoring partition table

[Nomor S. Pam]

I was trying to set up Linux on a disk with an unformatted partition
intended for Linux. In one of the steps I accidentally chose
Autopartition/New on a new disk. Without asking for confirmation the
Linux setup program blew away my partition table (actually it set the
new partition table to the entire disk).

I was scared sh*tless as I lost all my existing FAT32 and NTFS partitions.

Thanks to findpart, I was able to get back, in DOS mode, the partition
information.

The questions I have are: How do I re-create the partition table based
on the output from findpart, without destroying data? In the future,
what can I do to save my partition table so that I can restore it easily
if it is ever blown away again?

 

[Svend Olaf Mikkelsen]

I was trying to set up Linux on a disk with an unformatted partition
intended for Linux. In one of the steps I accidentally chose
Autopartition/New on a new disk. Without asking for confirmation the
Linux setup program blew away my partition table (actually it set the
new partition table to the entire disk).

I was scared sh*tless as I lost all my existing FAT32 and NTFS partitions.

Thanks to findpart, I was able to get back, in DOS mode, the partition
information.

The questions I have are: How do I re-create the partition table based
on the output from findpart, without destroying data? In the future,
what can I do to save my partition table so that I can restore it easily
if it is ever blown away again?

To tell how to edit the partition tables using Findpart, I would need
to see the output from

findpart all fp.txt

In that case I may be able to create a batch file to edit the
partition tables. You then could run a file compare with the batch
file you can create yourself from the information on my pages, to
double check

 

[Zvi Netiv]

I was trying to set up Linux on a disk with an unformatted partition
intended for Linux. In one of the steps I accidentally chose
Autopartition/New on a new disk. Without asking for confirmation the
Linux setup program blew away my partition table (actually it set the
new partition table to the entire disk).

I was scared sh*tless as I lost all my existing FAT32 and NTFS partitions.

Thanks to findpart, I was able to get back, in DOS mode, the partition
information.

The questions I have are: How do I re-create the partition table based
on the output from findpart, without destroying data? In the future,
what can I do to save my partition table so that I can restore it easily
if it is ever blown away again?

Let's start from the last question, how to backup the MBR (and restore it when
needed). The simplest is to backup the MBR to one of the unused sectors on
track 0 (there are 62 such sectors, pick anyone you like, from sector 0/0/2 to
0/0/63). A tool that will let you both backup, and restore, is RESQDISK, from
the RESQ utilities. It's free, and it also gives excellent visual control on
what you are doing, to not overwrite anything important.

The advantage of keeping the backup on the drive's own track 0 is that you don't
lose it (like in floppies' case), and there is never a doubt as to what drive
does a particular backup belong.

As to recovering your partitions, there are two ways to go:

1. Let Svend guide you through.

2. RESQDISK /REBUILD.

Regards, Zvi

 

[Joep]

We have 2 programs that may be of help you recover the partition table and
prevent events like this in the future:

- MBRtool (free): Allows the MBR + pri-partition table to be backed up to
spare sectors in track0 or to file.

- DiskPatch (not free): Allows you to rebuild the MBR/partition table from
scratch. By using the Partition Table Backup feature you will dramatically
increase chances of recovery in events similar to yours. ALL partition
tables are backed up, and in case of a Win2000/XP Dynamic disk the LDM is
backed up as well. In case of disaster within a few seconds partition tables
can be restored as they were at the time of the backup.

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.

 

[Nomor S. Pam]

I used EDITPART to restore the two entries in MBR (one primary partition
and one extended partition). All the logical partitions within the
extended partion reappeared automatically. So it seems only the MBR
entries got wiped out. I tried fdisk /mbr before my first post and I
wonder why it did not work? Maybe the MBR was not backed up, or it was
backed up in some place that fdisk could not find it?

Thanks again for these wonderful programs, FINDPART and EDITPART.

 

[Brona]

Greetings

Active@ partition recovery is a great tool that can really help you
It's restore methods are great. You can give it a try to watch th
results, but I'm sure you won't regret it
http://www.partition-recovery.com

 

[Joep]

Greetings,

Active@ partition recovery is a great tool that can really help you.
It's restore methods are great. You can give it a try to watch the
results, but I'm sure you won't regret it.
http://www.partition-recovery.com/

Ah, it appears the Partition Table Doctor group has set a new advertising
standard. Ok.

Greetings,

DiskPatch Partition Repair is a great tool that can really help you.
It's restore methods are great. You can give it a try to watch the
results, but I'm sure you won't regret it.
http://www.partition-recovery-software.com/

 

[Folkert Rienstra]

Ah, it appears the Partition Table Doctor group has set a new advertising
standard. Ok.

Greetings,

DiskPatch Partition Repair is a great tool that can really help you.
It's restore methods are great. You can give it a try to watch the
results, but I'm sure you won't regret it.
http://www.partition-recovery-software.com/

Oh goodie, the Disk Repair mafia.

Now, which one to choose ....