Hello everybody!
Watch this video to see the list of most common causes of partition loss from hard disk drives,
and learn how to bring back your files from the missing partitions.
Reinstalling your favorite operating system or changing to another one, accidentally removing
a partition from the hard disk, taking a wrong step while working in a partition manager
utility, hardware issues, bad blocks - these are only a few things that may cause partitions
to disappear from your drive.
The main cause behind partition loss is damaged partition tables.
A partition table is a kind of a system file, and a data structure that contains critically
important information about the hard disk drive’s partitions, including the beginning
and the end of the disk, the file system, the name, size and many other things.
In most cases, though, losing partitions from the disk doesn’t mean you are losing all
your files.
Typically, when anything is removed from the hard disk, it is actually still there on the
disk, but such file or folder is no longer displayed by the operating system.
This is why even in the most complicated cases you still have a chance to restore the files
that you think are gone beyond recovery.
Within a few minutes, we’ll explore all possible causes that make partitions disappear,
and what should be done to finally recover the data - without the risk of losing it for
good.
What you shouldn’t do when an HDD partition disappears
If one or several partitions in your drive have been removed (for whatever reason), you
shouldn’t try to create a new partition in the unallocated disk space that appears
after the removal, or write any new data there.
Don’t do that.
The first thing that you should REALLY do is to stop using the operating system and
the damaged drive in order to avoid causing more damage.
If you don’t, it may result not only in losing the partition, but also in overwriting
the data this partition still holds.
In fact, recovering data after a partition loss is much more complicated and difficult
than doing it after a commonplace case of data removal.
If you want to avoid a partition loss - and I’m sure you do - you should know exactly
why it happens.
Causes behind a partition loss 1.
Damaged partition table To start working with a hard disk, you need
to partition it, so that the operating system “understands” what disk areas are good
for writing data.
As most hard disks have large capacities, they are usually divided into several partitions,
and each of these is assigned a drive letter.
When the disk is partitioned, it receives a partition table which helps the operating
system to recognize the disk properly.
If this table is somehow damaged or lost, the partition will be lost as well, and you
won’t be able to read or write data to this hard disk.
There are several partition styles - MBR, which has been around since first hard disks
were introduced, and GPT - a more up-to-date way to organize the disk space.
Some operating system have their own specific structure - for example, MacOS may use the
APM scheme (which is the abbreviation for Apple Partition Map).
Therefore, if you have a drive with a partition table used by one operating system, and then
try using this drive with a computer having a completely different operating system, the
information on this drive will remain inaccessible for you.
You’ll need to use a third-party software tool to extract the data from the drive.
Hetman Partition Recovery is just the right tool for the job.
It will identify the drive’s file system automatically, and after scanning it, you’ll
be able to view the drive contents and save the required data to another disk.
However, changing the partition scheme without formatting the drive is impossible, and, naturally,
it erases all the data it contains.
But even in that case, our product can recover your files even after the formatting!
2.
The file system is not supported At the moment, there’s a number of various
file systems, and all of them differ more or less from each other in terms of their
internal structure.
Some of them are pretty versatile and recognized by most file systems, but others are only
available for use with a specific operating system.
For example, if your format a drive with Ext4 file system in Linux, write some data there,
and then connect this drive to a Windows computer, the drive will not be recognized, the operating
system will suggest initializing - and oops, this information is gone.
If you accidentally agreed to initialize the drive, and then connected it to the Linux
computer again, you’re not going to see anything - the drive will be empty.
However, if you open this storage device with Hetman Partition Recovery and scan it, you’ll
be able to extract all the information it can find.
3.Accidentally removed partitions The human factor is something we should consider
in every situation.
All humans make mistakes, and to a certain degree, this is inevitable.
When addressing a drive, the operating system suggested formatting it so that it can be
used with this computer, you agreed to that, but then all the data from the drive disappeared.
In a situation like this, anyone may accidentally remove a partition, use the diskpart command
to clean the wrong drive, or do other things which cause loss of data.
If this is what happened, your only option is to find a reliable recovery tool.
4.
Mistakes when modifying partition size in partition manager utilities
Choosing the wrong disk when working with partitions, or accidentally removing a partition
may cause other partitions to disappear, and result in a massive data loss.
When working with programs like AOEMI Partition Manager, you may sometimes choose the wrong
disk and remove all of its data.
If there is power cut or a software error while you are extending or merging partitions,
they may disappear.
When partitioning a drive, the operating system writes the critically important information
- the size, the offset, the volumes, the file system type etc - in the beginning of the
hard disk.
If a few sectors in that disk area are damaged, the operating system will not be able to read
this information, and display all the partitions that exist on this drive.
In the end, all the files are still there, but the operating system cannot access them
because a portion of extremely important information has been erased.
Also, some partition managers may not support a specific file system that your drive is
currently using.
If you continue working with such drive in this manager app, it may erase the drive’s
partition table - and after that, recovering your data becomes quite a challenge!
Hetman Partition Recovery will deal with any of these problems easily, read the drive contents,
find the removed partitions and restore all the information which is still there.
5.
Partition loss as a result of formatting or changing the file system
Another thing causing partition loss is formatting.
There are two ways to format a drive - quick format and full format.
With quick format, only boot sector and an empty table of the selected file system are
written to the drive.
The disk space is marked as unused, but the actual data is not removed.
In other words, all the information is intact, but it’s no longer displayed by the operating
system.
In case of a full format operation, the drive is overwritten with zeros, and this is when
all the data is actually erased: after such formatting, most recovery tools are useless.
When a drive is partitioned, the first logical disk may contain important information about
the partitions created on this drive.
When your run a full format operation on the first disk, this data can be overwritten with
zeros, and other partitions containing more information will be lost as well.
Another scenario is converting the file system, for example, from FAT to NTFS: the service
data can be damaged in the process and the operating system will never find another partition.
Even when you choose to convert the file system with the command prompt and without losing
data, you can never be sure that one of the partitions doesn’t disappear.
6.
Removing or creating partitions When an HDD is partitioned, or its partitions
are removed, created, or merged, some of them may be lost in the process.
If you accidentally removed the wrong partition in the Disk Management tool, or a partition
disappeared after certain operations and no longer shows up in the Explorer window, only
a data recovery tool can help you restore the information from the hard disk.
7.
Bad sectors and physical problems with the HDD
The platter inside the hard disk drive is divided into concentric rings, called tracks,
and these in turn are divided into sectors.
If a sector cannot be read or written normally, such sector is referred to as damaged or bad.
If there is a number of bad sectors, the drive may break down completely, and reading or
writing operations will be impossible.
However, if only a few sectors are damaged, the information from the drive can be read,
Except for cases when they contained critically important information about the drive partitions
- then the operating system may not display the hard disk in the Explorer window.
If that’s your case, you have to find some specialized software to help you.
8.
Drive failure or shutdown during a write operation Talking of external drives... if there is
an error or an emergency power cut while your drive is busy writing data or formatting its
disk space, this can easily leave it damaged and you won’t be able to use it again until
you format it again.
It happens because the information may be written only partially, and - as some data
is missing - it may be difficult or even impossible to read such files from the drive.
To put things right, you’ll have to restore the data structure, and it’s the process
which is literally bound to cause a loss of some data - or even all the data - from your
hard disk or USB stick, and often beyond recovery.
To avoid damage to removable drives, always use the “Safely Remove Hardware and Eject
Media” option.
It is especially important for external hard disks, because before shutting down, they
need power to have their read-write heads parked in a safe area where they can’t damage
the platter surface.
If these heads park in the wrong place, there’s always a risk that they may land right onto
the rotating platter, damage its surface, and cause physical damage that results in
data loss.
9.
The drive letter is not assigned Sometimes, Windows fails to assign a corresponding
letter to external drives and USB sticks.
If a partition has not been assigned a drive letter, it remains hidden from the operating
system.
Moreover, if the drive letter has changed, then trying to access the hard disk by addressing
the previously used drive letter causes an error.
So, if the operating system can’t assign a drive letter automatically, help your computer
by doing it manually.
Open Disk Management - find your drive - right-click on it - Change Drive Letter and Path - Add
- select a letter which is not in use - and hit OK.
If this trick doesn’t help, and there is nothing to show, then it’s time to use a
data recovery tool.
How to recover data from a lost partition with Hetman Partition Recovery
Hetman Partition Recovery will help you get your data back in most cases of partition
loss.
The program analyzes all data in the hard disk, even if the tables are erased or missing,
and recovers the lost data with the signature search.
A deep analysis of the hard disk allows it to recover information after system errors
or hardware failures, and even when the disk is unreadable.
It will scan the hard disk automatically and display all the information still remaining
on the disk, so the only step left to take will be to recover it.
But if the Fast scan can’t find the information, then go for Full analysis.
The next step is to select the files you want to recover, click Recovery, select where you
want to save them, and click Recovery again.
When the entire process is over, you will find the recovered files in the folder you
have chosen.
When the file system table is damaged and the program failed to find the lost partitions
automatically, use the partition search option.
Start the program, open the Drive Manager tab, right-click on the drive where the lost
partitions used to exist, and select the option “Find Partitions.”
This is where you need to specify the file system type for the lost partition.
If the disk had several partitions with different file systems, choose all of them, and then
click “Find.”
When the search is complete, the program will display all removed partitions in this window,
and they will appear in the Drive Manager.
Now the final step is to scan it and recover your data.
Conclusion Partitioning a disk helps you to store and
manage your files in a more convenient way.
However, before you do anything to your hard disks, make sure to back up all important
information, so that you can be secured against possible data loss.
And remember: even if the situation seems absolutely hopeless, there’s always a solution
to fix the problem.
The trick is to know exactly what you’re doing and select a proper tool for the job.
That is all for now!
Hopefully, this video was useful.
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Thank you for watching.
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