retrieving data

[JoJo]

Hello:


I am looking for information that would enable me to retrieve data from a
faulty hard drive.
My 35GB hard disk drive was once full of useful information, then it started
to mal-function.
Eventually, I re-partitioned and re-formatted only a 2GB segment on which I
reinstalled my Windows 2000 Operating System.
So now drive C (2GB large) is ok. but drive D (33 GB large) cannot be
accessed. The message I get when I try to access drive D (using windows
explorer) is "do you want to format this inaccessible drive" ? I believe
that re-formatting will cause me to permanently lose my data.

* What can I do to access this drive and hopefully get back my data on
the 33 GB drive D?
* Is there any freeware/shareware out there that I can use to get access
to the content of my drive D.



Thanks.

 

[Pegasus \(MVP\)]

Hello:


I am looking for information that would enable me to retrieve data from a
faulty hard drive.
My 35GB hard disk drive was once full of useful information, then it
started
to mal-function.
Eventually, I re-partitioned and re-formatted only a 2GB segment on which
I
reinstalled my Windows 2000 Operating System.
So now drive C (2GB large) is ok. but drive D (33 GB large) cannot be
accessed. The message I get when I try to access drive D (using windows
explorer) is "do you want to format this inaccessible drive" ? I believe
that re-formatting will cause me to permanently lose my data.

* What can I do to access this drive and hopefully get back my data on
the 33 GB drive D?
* Is there any freeware/shareware out there that I can use to get access
to the content of my drive D.



Thanks.

By repartitioning and reformatting the disk you destroyed the old partition
table and the file allocation table. Although it is likely that some data is
still there in the unpartitioned space, it has become much harder to
retrieve it. I think this is a job for the professionals. They would create
an image of your disk, then piece together file fragments they find in the
unpartitioned area. You're talking about big bucks.

You write "My 35GB hard disk drive was once full of useful information, then
it started to mal-function". It's a little late to point this out but a 100
GB backup disk would have cost you less than $100 and would have been
extremely useful as a backup medium. If the data on your disk is important
then you must back it up regularly. It's one of these facts of life.