How to Recover Data from Lost Partitions

Partition lost is not as common as data loss. It could happen for various reasons: HDD failure, corrupted partition table and so on. Sometimes we know a partition is lost because we accidentally pressed the wrong key and deleted it. 

When a partition is lost, all data saved in it will become inaccessible. If there’s no important data in the missing partition, we can easily solve the problem by creating a new partition or repartitioning the hard drive. However, it is often not the case. Most of the time, the lost partition contains a lot of valuable data and the loss of them would bring us enormous troubles. Before we make any attempt to restore the partition, there are several things we should pay attention to.

1.Do not rush to reinstall Windows. NTFS is featured with Encrypting File System (EFS), which will provide filesystem-level encryption. By reinstalling the Windows system, you may lose the key necessary to decrypt data, therefore unable to access data even they are recovered.

2.Backup your current partitions before restoration. You should not attempt to restore partitions arbitrarily if you didn't find a suitable solution. Before you try various methods for partition recovery, backup your current partitions, even in erroneous status, to counter any possible second damage to the deleted partition.

3. Please stop performing any operations to hard drive immediately when you discover partition loss. Anything you do after that is very risky and may lead to further losses. Even operating the PC may lead to the original data saved in the recovery partition being overwritten and become useless to recover.

How to Recovery From Lost Partitions

Solution 1. Create a New Recovery Partition

You need to start with a Windows ISO, either burned to DVD or saved to your HDD. Or you can download your Windows ISO directly from Microsoft, which will require your product key to install.

Look for the Sources folder, where you’ll find install.esd. This is the recovery partition, basically, but in its current state it is useless. To make it work for you, you have to first move it from the ISO or DVD to a location on your hard disk. 

Next, you need to convert it from install.esd to install.wim via some converters like WimConverter tool, and then copy the install.wim file to a new folder on your C:\ drive, labeled C:\Win81-Recovery. 

The next stage is to register the file so that Windows knows it is there and can create a recovery drive. Right-click the Windows Start screen button and select Command Prompt on the desktop. Enter the following line in the command line:

REAGENTC /SetOSImage /Path C:\Win81-Recovery\INSTALL.WIM /Index 1

This will register the INSTALL.WIM file as your PC’s recovery image. Type REAGENTC /Info. and then Exit to exit the command line.


Solution 2. Turn to professional Data Recovery software 

Hdata Recovery Software is a powerful data recovery tool that you can use to recover files. It is designed with a special module aiming to recover files from lost or deleted partition. After you successfully salvaged your files, you can build a new partition and store files again!