Partition Gone Bad

[fustrated]

I have my hard drive partitioned, but only one parttiion is available and I am getting error messages when I try to delete the other parition. Is there any cheap or free program that will remove the partition without destroying the data on the disk? HELP!

[afoctober2]

PcMech recently had news article on how to retrieve data from a bad partion. It should still be in news archives I looked through some but didn't find it. I probaly didn't look far enough. Hopefully somebody in the forums will have the link to that or something else.

[Doobie]

What OS are you using?

Is it the primary partition the one that is working correct and the information that you want to save is on your primary partition and not on another?

If you are using WindowsXP click on my pc with the right mouse button and select administrator and then select disk management and try deleting the partition from there.

As far as software the best software to deal with partitions is Partition Magic.

[fustrated]

I have win98 and the primary is labelled C, but the partition isn't accessible isn't labelled.

[Doobie]

So you cant get into your OS? or you have your OS installed on another partition?

If you can't get into your OS what error messege are you getting?

[fustrated]

Sorry, here's what I meant to say,

I can access my primary partition that is labeled C, but the other partition doesn't have a label and can't access it all.

[Doobie]

Ok so the data you want to save is on the Primary Partition and the other partition that data that is on there isnt important.

Ok this will what you can do.
You can make an bootdisk and use fdisk.
1. Delete logical partition
2. Now delete Extended partition
3. Create new extended partition
4. Create new logical partition
5. Start windows and format partition from within windows

or you can download Zero Fill from your harddrives website and use the disk to delete the logical partition and then create new logical partition

If you have data on the other partition that you want to save your only remedy would be to use partition magic so you will not lose data that is on that partition.

[GaryRouth]

You mentioned that you attempted to delete the missing partition and got an error message. Did you recently create the missing partition, or has it been there a long time? What tool did were you using when you tried to delete it [perhaps you were successful in deleting it after all. It isn't possible to access a deleted partition, except with a Data Recovery Tool]

Partition Magic is indeed the leading software for non-destructive creating and resizing of partitions, but it's not a Recovery tool. You use it before the fact rather than after.

Here's a link to some cnet downloads that deal with partitions: some are Recovery tools, some are partitioning tools like Partition Magic. Most of them have a "try before you buy" offer. So you can see if they help your situation before your wallet gets lighter.
http://download.com.com/3120-20-0.ht...search=+Go%21+


Best of luck
. . . Gary

[Doobie - not sure if fdisk can handle manipulating existing partitions without affecting the C partition. Never tried it that way. I'd make extensive backups of personal data first, either way]

[Doobie]

Keep in mind before you download the trial version of Partition Magic that the Trail version will not change anything. You can download it and use it but it will not make any changes to your paritition. So the Trial Version is pretty much useless.

[GaryRouth]

Doobie's observation about several of the partitioning programs is quite true - for many of them, you can't resize a partition without the full version. It does sound like you want to 1) keep the data on C safe 2) resize that partition or create another without destroying C in the process, and 3) save some of the data on the older partition [? if you DON'T want to save anything from the deleted partition, any non-destructive partitioning tool will do. IF you DO want ANY of the data on the deleted drive, you'll need a Recovery program]

Was the deleted partition Non-Dos? [NTFS or Linux?]
. . . Gary

[fustrated]

The partition was there long before, I tried FDISK to try deleting it. When I went to install win98, it gave me a message saying that there are NT files on the partition and they cannot be accessed if I went through with the installation. The one I can access is the primary partition, C, but the other partition has no drive letter and can't be accessed and has no files I need.

[GaryRouth]

Well - you could make backups of what you want to keep, wipe the whole thing off, & reinstall the whole works without having to buy anything. You'd use fdisk.

You can try Doobies procedure for deleting just the logical partition (the NTFS one that you can't access), but I don't use fdisk for such tasks [since I have Partition Magic] - so I can't advise about that one. There's a program called DelPart around that deletes partitions of all sorts, but you'd have to look up that one, too - I've only seen it recommended. I don't know if it would allow you to leave the C partition untouched/unharmed and let you create another partition where the deleted NTFS one used to be. If you want to resize the C partition to take up your entire drive, you'd need Partition Magic or similiar.

If you want two (or more) partitions, and can backup your sensitive data - why not try Doobie's procedure. If it doesn't work, just wipe the drive clean & start over.
. . . Gary

[p.s. if by any chance you are thinking of installing Linux on that unused partition, most Linux distros have a partitioning tool that will leave Win98 happy as a clam on the C partition and format the rest in a Linux file system, and setup a dual-boot manager too.]