reformatted - lost everything?
Hi
trying to fix the unmountable boot volume issue, it seems that it installed xp again, rather than do the upgrade it told me it was doing (or that I thought it was doing). I now have xp running but all my programs and info seems to be gone. Now I know it is in that contraption somewhere! and that I just don't know how to retrieve it. My photos, emails, docs (especially those for the upcoming wedding! OMG) are especially important to me. Is there any chance of getting any of that info back?
I was reading about something called File Scavenger from Quetek? (www.quetek.com) does anyone know anything about this? Will something like this work for me?
Your help is greatly appreciated!
Patt
trying to fix the unmountable boot volume issue, it seems that it installed xp again, rather than do the upgrade it told me it was doing (or that I thought it was doing). I now have xp running but all my programs and info seems to be gone. Now I know it is in that contraption somewhere! and that I just don't know how to retrieve it. My photos, emails, docs (especially those for the upcoming wedding! OMG) are especially important to me. Is there any chance of getting any of that info back?
I was reading about something called File Scavenger from Quetek? (www.quetek.com) does anyone know anything about this? Will something like this work for me?
Your help is greatly appreciated!
Patt
0
Comments
Patt, Sorry to see this happen.
When you said "it installed XP again..." You mean that the backup copy of your OEM computer software performed an automatic install? Upgrade? Did you attempt to install an upgrade of XP over what? XP Home version to XP Pro version?
You mentioned looking for an "unmountable boot volume" meaning you were installing the 'upgrade' version of XP onto a volume that the software did not have access to?
These questions will help us determine what else is going on. Please tell us your step by step and with what you atempted to do. I know this may sound like too much work but will help us help you.
My computer completely crashed. I told it to clean itself, clean temp files etc and it asked me if I wanted to clean up programs that I seldom use and I said 'sure, go for it.' Wrong answer apparently. It must have cleaned something windows needed because it crashed and would not start windows again. It said 'unmountable boot volume.' I followed all the instructions I could to get it to boot with the floppy disks, told it to repair and it seemed to be doing something, it whirred and then came up with "ntldr missing" as opposed to "unmountable boot volume." I went through the disks again and put the cd in when it asked and it said something about 'if you've had the computer for a while you can do a quick install, sort of upgrade and repair things but keep all your files and favorites and that' and I thought that was perfect. Pointed and clicked and voila ... I have a desktop devoid of anything recognizalbe! I have no programs. No docs, no nothing. It is xp pro and I had xp pro on there.
I hope this information will help. I don't have much computer language and I apologize when it seems like we are talking two different languages (we are!). I'm not much beyond the 'thingy' and the 'whatchamacallit' or the 'whoseawhat.'
But my life's work is on that computer! I would dearly love it back! :bawling:
performed an automatic install? Upgrade? Did you attempt to install an upgrade of XP over what? XP Home version to XP Pro version?
You mentioned looking for an "unmountable boot volume" meaning you were installing the 'upgrade' version of XP onto a volume that the software did not have access to?
These questions will help us determine what else is going on. Please tell us your step by step and with what you atempted to do. I know this may sound like too much work but will help us help you.
What does it say when you right click on your hard drive and select 'properties'? How much disk space is being used? If it's close to what amount of space was being used before, the files should be in there somewhere.
All my important files (episodes of my webshow, "Online Video" at www.loudmouthtim.com) are copied to BOTH of my hard drives and are also burned to CDs for backup.
Sorry to see your dilemma. First, OEM means Original Equipment Manufacturer in otherwords referring to 'Dell', 'HP', 'Compaq' etc. Next you said clean itself meaning within Windows? prior to boot up? I will assume you are in Windows when you made this choice. If so, do you remember what program you executed to "clean itself"? But after reviewing your other post I can see you must have loaded XP over your other install. Correct? http://www.short-media.com/forum/showthread.php?t=37246
As previously posted on your issue:
1. If you tried to install XP over your previous installation, you will not have the programs but your data may still be intact. The files will not have any reference programs to connect to and 'file-to-program' recognition will make all of your data look unusual. ie. .pdf=Adobe reader, .doc=Word, etc.
2. If you ran any recovery options from the XP installation CD, you will retain your programs and all of your data, granted that you chose to "repair" and not reinstall. Some repair options are under the command console (well into the advanced computer geek like knowledge base); or going as far as to repair Windows installation after the CD makes an attempt to find any installations of Windows. The CD will repair/replace the original systems files for the Windows installation ONLY but does not change any installed programs already in place. This repair method may cause a few problems for some programs but usually not many.
3. If you ran the XP cd and you performed a fresh install you are toast. All of your data has been written over and "marked" for overwrite by the new installation of XP. >Don't panic just yet!
4. There are numerous third party recovery programs that are fantastic for recovering data on missing ntldr/unmounted drives or you can save the hard drive and ship it to a thrid party recovery company that will make a bit-by-bit recovery image and attempt to rewrite your files (gasp!)
I would like to know more about what options you chose to do from the above list.
4. There are numerous third party recovery programs that are fantastic for recovering data on missing ntldr/unmounted drives or you can save the hard drive and ship it to a thrid party recovery company that will make a bit-by-bit recovery image and attempt to rewrite your files (gasp!)
I would like to know more about what options you chose to do from the above list."
I thought you would all like to know the outcome. I still don't have thing up and running as I would like BUT ... I had tried to do a repair but XP did a reinstall. It seemed that everything was gone. I talked to a couple 'geeks' who assured me that everything was gone. I was determined however. I got a program called: recovermyfiles (www.recovermyfiles.com) and ran it over the weekend. I put it on a memory stick and ran it from there to recover files to the stick so as not to use the disc the files were on; it recovered 28,000 files! Now granted, a lot are useless but I DID find my email address books, my photos, hundreds of word and publisher files and most seem to be intact. A few of the photos are damaged but considering that I was looking at everything gone, a few 1/2 photos is not a problem! It is taking me a while to go through all the files and make sure I have everything I want. When I have that completed, I will run another scan and see if I can find any of the emails.
For all of you out there who think everything is gone, there is hope. However, once you realize that you have reformatted or lost the files somehow, do not run the machine until you can try to recover as much as you can. This program will also work for lost files, not just for a reformat problem like I had.
Now, back to tech. I HIGHLY recommend that you implement a backup system. Here's what I recommend:
1. Go to CompUSA (or online) and purchase two things: a) an external hard drive enclosure -- recommend an enclosure that will connect to your computer via Firewire and USB 2.0 (at least USB 2.0), and b) a hard drive with a large capacity, with room to 'grow' for all your important data
2. Install the hard drive in the enclosure; connect to your computer. If you need help formatting the hard drive, check in here with us. It's easy with WinXP.
3. Routinely, copy your important data to the external hard drive. Better yet, run a 'backup' software to completely 'image' your computer's hard drive. Turn off the external hard drive and remove it's connecting cable when not in use. To improve your security posture, store the hard drive at a location away from your home. So, even a burglary, or natural disaster won't take your data away!
If you look for hard drive specials, you could get a large capacity hard drive and good enclosure for a total of $100 or less. That is very cheap insurance for valuable data. I cringe every time I see someone with important stuff on their computer without any backup plan. It's simply a disaster waiting to happen.
Thanks for your tip of the recovery software you used. Good that it worked for you.
160 Gigabyte hard drive , $39.99 after mail-in rebate.