Lost Partition Recovery

Position: How Tos — Data Recovery — Lost Partition Recovery: Recover Deleted/Lost Partition in Windows 10

Summary

DiskGenius — Best partition recovery software to recover deleted, lost, formatted or corrupted partitions.

Table of contents:

Overview on lost partition recovery

Hard drive is the major data storage device in computers, and it is usually divided into one or multiple partitions. The purposes of creating several partitions on hard disk can be various, such as improve hard disk performance, separate operating system from personal data, install multi systems, etc. With multiple partitions, users can store and manage data in a smart and secure way, for instance, you can encrypt a partition which contains sensitive data. Partitions can be formatted to different file system types like FAT, FAT32, exFAT, NTFS, EXT, etc. so that they can be accessed under different operating systems.

With the passage of time, each partition on your computer will be filled with vital data, and data backup should be carried out as data loss issue cannot be avoided. However, only part of users attach importance to backup and carry out backup in regular. In most cases, data loss occurs without any prior indications and you may lose large amount of data or even data of an entire hard drive one or the other day. When a partition gets deleted from hard disk, you lose all files on the partition. If you have backup, you can easily restore data from previous backup. What if there is not backup available?

«Hello guys, I am looking for help to restore my important files from internal hard disk whose partition are missing. The second local hard drive of my desktop got corrupted suddenly and I checked it in Disk Management and there is only unallocated space on it. I have no idea why partitions disappeared. The capacity of the hard disk is 2TB. I tried two data recovery programs; one couldn’t recognize the disk, not sure whether it work if I create new partition on the disk. The other software seems to take forever to finish the scanning. Is there any solution on this issue? Is it possible to restore partitions directly instead of recovering files?»

Recovering lost partition is different from recovering deleted/lost files, for the former should search for partition instead of single files. Is it possible to restore lost partitions? Generally, when a partition gets deleted, operating system removes its information from partition table without wiping sectors taken by the volume. Thus, as long as that section remains untouched, we have chance to restore deleted partition with the help of partition recovery program. The rest part of this article will show you how to restore lost partitions from hard disk and other storage devices.

What are the reasons behind drive partition missing issue?

Broadly speaking, partitions created on hard drive can get lost, which is similar to file loss. Thus, there might be various factors leading to partition missing issue. The following part lists common causes of partition loss issue.

• Accidental deletion: all partitions except for system-related volumes can be easily deleted in Disk Management, Diskpart or third-party disk partition software when Windows is running. It is common to delete a partition by mistake and the disk space occupied by lost partition turns to unallocated space.
• Partition table corruption: partition table stores information like partition location, size, type, etc. Once partition table gets damaged or corrupted, operating system is likely to lose partitions.
• System reinstallation: in many cases, users mistakenly choose to clean hard drive instead of the original system partition when reinstalling operating system, which results in the loss of all partitions..
• Power outages: a sudden power surge or failure occurs when the disk is being read or written, partitions on the disk may get corrupted or lost.
• Disk reformatting or repartitioning: format / reformat hard drive will remove all existing partitions and data on the disk. Thus, you should make sure all files have been backed up when reformatting or repartitioning hard disk.
• Virus attack: there are many types of virus created for specific purposes, and some can hack computer and delete partitions.
• Bad sectors: bad sectors on the disk may lead to partition corruption or even partition missing, for they prevent operating system from recognize drives and data properly. It there are too many bad sectors, the disk may not be able to show up in system.

Lost partition recovery software

DiskGenius is advanced partition recovery software, and it is capable of dealing with all kinds of partition data loss issues, such as recover deleted or lost partition, recover RAW partition, recover formatted partition , retrieve lost data from lost volume or unallocated space, etc. This partition recovery software works on all sorts of storage devices such as hard drive, external hard disk, USB flash drive, memory card, virtual disk, RAID, etc. The lost partition recovery process is very easy and effective, and you can restore an entire partition together with its files. Once the lost partition is restored, you can view and access it in Windows. DiskGenius includes following main features:

• Restore lost or deleted partition back to working status and fix damaged partition table.
• Support to recover files from formatted, damaged or corrupted partition.
• File recovery is provided to gets back deleted or lost files and folders.
• It can create sector level image for disk, partition or sector segments, bypassing bad sectors.
• You can preview files during or after scanning so that you can make sure whether the recovery is correct.
• User-friendly interface with efficient functions, enabling novice users to recover files or partitions with ease.
• Supports FAT16, FAT32, exFAT, NTFS, Ext2, Ext3 and Ext4 file system in Windows.
• Provide complete features for disk partition management, data backup and disk utilities.

Guide 1: How to recover lost / deleted partition in Windows 10/8/7?

In this example, we are going to recover lost partitions from a 320GB disk whose partitions have been deleted. Once lost partitions are restored successfully, partitions will return to the working state when they were not deleted. Install and launch DiskGenius from computer and you can start the recovery process.

Step 1 Select the disk that needs to recover partitions and click Tools -> Search Lost Partitions (Partition Recovery).

You can also click Partition Recovery button from toolbar after selecting the disk. This opens the Search for Lost Partitions window.

Step 2 Select searching range and click Start button to let the software search for lost partitions.

If you are specialized user, you can custom cylinder range for the scanning, which makes partition searching more effective. If you are not very familiar the background knowledge of disk partitions, you can just follow the default settings.

Step 3 Reserve or Ignore partition during scanning.

During scanning, you should Reserve partitions you want to restore and Ignore wrong partitions. You can preview files to make sure if it is the one you want to restore. Choose Reserve or Ignore for each partition until scanning completes. DiskGenius may find out more partitions than you want to restore, for some partitions found here are not correct. For example, some partition might be unformatted, contain no data, with incorrect file system or size, etc. Partitions you choose Reserve are saved to memory only without writing to the disk or partition table, thus it is safe to Reserve any partition here. If you reserve wrong partition or click ignore by mistake, you can stop the scanning and restart a scanning from the step 1.

Click OK when scanning finishes.

Step 4 Save partition table: Click Disk -> Save Partition Table.

This step saves recovered partitions to partition table and partitions you reserved in step 3 will be restored. Then you can view and access them in File Explorer.

Select partition table type between MBR and GUID and click OK.

Guide 2: Video tutorial on lost partition recovery — recover deleted or lost ext4 & NTFS partitions

Guide 3: How to restore lost partition when Windows won’t boot?

At some point, your computer may not be able to boot to Windows 10/8/7/Vista/XP due to reasons like system issue, disk failure, virus and so on. More seriously, partitions on your computer are missing. Have you ever experienced such issue and tried to find a way to restore lost data and partition from non-booting computer? Actually, it is really not very complicated to recover data or partition from dead computer. Here we’d like to recommend using DiskGenius to restore lost or deleted partitions when PC cannot boot with the help of a bootable disk.

Step 1 Create a bootable disk for DiskGenius WinPE edition.

Insert a USB flash drive to computer and launch DiskGenius and click Tools -> Create WinPE bootable USB drive of DiskGenius.

Select the USB flash drive from dropdown list and click OK button to create bootable disk.

Step 2 Boot computer from the bootable USB disk.

Connect the bootable disk to the computer that won’t boot and change boot sequence in BIOS. Press the specified key when computer is booting and you can enter BIOS. Then set computer to boot from the USB flash drive (bootable disk). Save changes and exit.

Step 3 Recover lost partitions using DiskGenius.

Once your PC boots from the bootable disk, DiskGenius will be launched automatically. Then select the disk where lost partitions were stored and click Partition Recovery button from toolbar.

Click Start button to let DiskGenius search for lost partitions. Then reserve partitions you want to restore and ignore incorrect volumes.

When all lost partitions are found by the software, click Disk -> Save Partition Table to complete partition recovery.

Tips on lost partition recovery

When you realize partition loss issue, you should consider following aspects, for any improper operation may cause damage to lost data and affect recovery result.

• Try not to save data to the disk in case of data overwrite.
• Do not create new partitions even though hard drive currently contains only unallocated space.
• Do not try the action of disk formatting or partitioning. Formatting may remove and damage lost data, making it difficult to restore lost volumes.
• Do not try any methods that haven’t been proven to be useful, such as manual recovery. Recovering partitions in this way may cause further issues like registry problem.
• Since partition table plays important role in lost partition recovery, you should protect it against damage or changes.
• Do not try repairing bad sectors even though your hard disk contains bad sectors, for repairing action causes damage to lost data.

Conclusion

In this page, we mainly talk about how to recover lost partition from hard drive in Windows 10/8/7, and now you stand a good change of successful partition recovery if you follow this guide step by step precisely. If you are troubled by partition loss issue, try DiskGenius to get back lost partitions and restore them to working state easily. Should you have any questions regarding using DiskGenius, welcome to contact our support team.

DiskGenius — Easily recover deleted or lost FAT32, NTFS, exFAT, EXT4, EXT3, EXT2 partitions in Windows.

Partition loss problems on Windows 10? Solve it!

Here you will find out:

• possibility of recovering lost partition on Windows 10

• 2 methods for restoration

• how DiskInternals software can help you

Are you ready? Let’s read!

To keep Windows on top, Microsoft keeps upgrading its products. The most recent major upgrade is Windows 10. The Windows 10 system is safe and secure Nonetheless, it is prone to corruption, damage, or reformatting. Even so, everyone needs a guide to recover lost partitions in Windows 10 in case something goes wrong.

For instance, your laptop falls down and when you resume, it does not show the partition. Or when you upgrade your system, if you don’t have proper help or knowledge, it can also lead to partition loss.

Is a deleted partition recoverable?

Many users may wonder if it is possible to recover a lost partition in Windows 10. When a partition gets deleted, the system removes its information from the partition table. The ability to recognize the partition depends on the partition table and boot sector. But there is good news! Recovery of lost partitions in Windows 10 is possible and, moreover, it is simple.

The table handles information about the parameters of the partition. If the partition table loses information, the system will lose the corresponding partition. The result is that you cannot see the volume in File Explorer or Disk Management. The disk space becomes unallocated without wiping, which means it is possible to restore the partition table. If you use professional recovery software, you’ll be able to find the missing partition with its files and restore it all.. What can you do to recover a lost partition in Windows 10?

Manual 1: recover deleted partition using cmd

To recover a lost partition, we can undo the Diskpart clean command. But this method does not work on all partition loss issues. It’s only helpful if partition lost due to volume letter incompatibility.

If this method to restore deleted partitions doesn’t work, go to Manual 2 to recover lost partitions on Windows 10.

Note: if you are not familiar with Diskpart commands, do not try it. Some commands such as «clean» delete all partitions and data on the selected disk.

1. Open Disk Management to find the lost partition.

You can access Disk Management by right-clicking the Start menu and click Disk Management. If a partition is deleted, the disk space is unallocated. Remember the partition size.

2. Open Command Prompt as administrator, type Diskpart in the window and press the Enter key.

3. Type command list disk and press the Enter key so that you can see all storage devices on the computer.

4. Type command select disk z and press Enter. Replace z with the number of the hard drive that needs recovery of the lost partition.

5. Type assign letter=G and press Enter (G is a drive letter chosen randomly).

6. Close Command Prompt when you see «Diskpart successfully assigned the drive letter or mount point».

Manual 2: restore deleted or lost partitions with Partition Recovery software

DiskInternals’ Partition Recovery™ tool is advanced software for all users.

This program will be a magic wand to make the whole situation go away. DiskInternals’ Partition Recovery™ is a wizard, requiring no special skills.

Step-By-Step-Guide to Recover Lost or Deleted Partitions

1. 1. Launch the executable file you downloaded. When an installation is done, you can start the restoration of your data.

1. 2. Proceed to file recovery by clicking the Next button on the Welcome page.

1. 3. Select the disk to scan.

1. 4. Click the Next button.

1. 5. Choose your file system for recovery and click the Next button.

Wait till the Wizard scans the disk and finds lost files. It can take some time, depending on the size of the disk. At the end, you will get the possibility to preview restored files.

How to increase your chances of a successful lost partition recovery?

To increase the chance of a successful recovery, follow these basic principles:

• Stop saving data to the hard drive once you realize a partition or data has been lost; otherwise, it will be impossible to restore the lost partition.

• Do not try any manual methods unless their security and efficiency are proven.

• Do not make any change to the current partition table.

• Do not create a new partition. Creating a new partition on disk area taken by a lost partition on Windows 10 will increase the difficulty of recovery.

• Select an easy-to-use and effective partition recovery tool to solve the problem. Make sure the lost partition recovery software you use is powerful enough to deal with the partition recovery issue.

Use the DiskInternals data recovery service to restore your information easily and quickly. This data recovery software is reliable and convenient.