Hard disk misoperation faults include mistaken partitioning, mistaken formatting, and accidental file deletion, among others. The repair of such faults depends on the situation. If it is merely a case of mistakenly operated files, and the storage area within the hard drive has not yet been overwritten, then the possibility of restoring the files is quite high. Users can use software such as EasyRecovery or FinalData to restore them. Of course, restoration also requires certain methods. Here, we will focus on introducing the issues of mistaken partitioning and mistaken formatting of hard drives, while providing several solutions for users' reference.
1. If no other partition operations have been performed after mistakenly deleting a partition, following the method below usually allows for the recovery of the original data. First, execute the Fdisk partition program and recreate the deleted partition. Be sure to keep the size and position consistent with the original partition; secondly, restart the system into MS-DOS mode and execute "format x:/u/q" (X: represents the extended partition that was mistakenly deleted). At this point, the system will display a warning: "This is a large hard drive. If formatted, all data will be lost." Select "YES." Then the system will inform you that the partition cannot undergo quick formatting and ask if you want to perform "complete formatting." Answer "NO," Hefei Data Recovery. The key step here is to add the parameter "/Q" (quick format), which results in a "fake format." If everything goes smoothly, you should be able to access the data in the partition.
The partition restored using this method may become inaccessible again after another reboot of the system. Although data can still be recovered using the above method, we recommend backing up all data from the restored partition and then performing a full formatting process.
2. Use the hard disk master boot record repair program FIXMBR 1.02a (mainly targeting FAT16). The principle of FIXMAR is to search the entire disk to determine the hard disk partitions and restructure the master boot sector. The software only modifies the master boot sector records and does not perform write operations on other sectors, so it is very safe. It is a DOS application program that fully adheres to the operation standards of DOS programs. If you run FixMBR/? you will get help information for FixMBR. The format of the FixMBR command is as follows:
FixMBR[DriveNo][/A][/d][/p][/z][/h]
Where:
- DriveNo: Hard disk scope 0-3, default is all drives. (Refers to the hard disk number, 0 represents the first hard disk)
- /a: Active DOS partition. (Activate basic DOS partition)
- /p: Display partition. (Display the structure of the DOS partition)
- /d: Display MBR. (Display the content of the master boot record)
- /z: Zero MBR. (Fill the master boot record with zero)
- /h: This message. (This help information)
By default, it will check the MBR structure, and if it is abnormal, it will prompt whether to repair. After answering "Y," it will search for partitions. If a partition is found, it will prompt whether to modify the MBR. After answering "Y," the repair will be completed. If the system crashes at this point, disable the anti-virus function in the BIOS and try again. By default, it will search all existing hard drives and complete the above operations. If the result is incorrect, you can clear the results with the /Z parameter and restart to return to the original state.
3. During the DOS era, there was an excellent tool called UnFormat, which could recover disks clearly formatted by the Format command. If the user mistakenly formatted a partition using the Format command under DOS, you might try using this command.
The UnFormat command can only recover local hard drives and cannot recover network drives. In addition to the aforementioned anti-formatting function, it can also repair and rebuild damaged partition tables on hard drives.
Original article from Hefei Data Recovery Center: http://www.cndr.cn/wenda/11912.html