Question : Problem: Mistakenly Deleted Partition - Large Drive - Rebuild Partition for data - Specific Instructions

My specific scenario is this:  

I have two HDs, i had copied all my important files off of my boot/OS drive onto a new one so that i could reformat and reinstall XP on my bootable one.  like an idiot, in the windows XP setup program, i deleted the wrong partition mistakenly - i deleted the partition on the drive with all the important data.  that drive only had one partition on it, and nothing has been done to it since, so i hope all my data is still intact.

now, im not looking for a list of data recovery programs!  ive already tried tons of them and nothing seems to specifically address my situation... at least that i understand - norton disk doctor came the closest, recognizing that there was a drive missing a partition, but after a long search it said it couldnt find a "dos partition" and that was it, nothing for rebuilding.

i want step by step instructions or a specific link to step by step instructions specifically on drives with a deleted partition and rebuilding or bringing back the partition.  if thats impossible, i want specific instructions or a link to methods for recovering data from a drive with a deleted partition.

Answer : Problem: Mistakenly Deleted Partition - Large Drive - Rebuild Partition for data - Specific Instructions

I used to work with NT Workstations.  I used a program called Ranish to remove and create partitions.  Please note these were 8GB partitions and not 300GB!  Removing the partition actually only edits file allocation table (FAT) - your data is still on the HDD.  The problem is that the OS cannot access it without knowing how and where the sectors to read are located.  I have successfully deleted and restored NTFS partitions without losing data.  But beware:  the new partition must be EXACTLY the same as the original . . . one misstep and nothing can be read.  Many times we leave a buffer of about 7MB at the end of the drive where we have set up a single partition.  The recreated partition would then have to have this buffer as well . . . otherwise nothing will work.  If no buffer (extra space) as left on the original, however, the recreated partition must not have any either.

The SAFEST was has already mentioned by Rindi:  get you data off first, before trying to set up new partitions.  With that statement I agree 100%.  You have a couple of alternatives:

a) buy another 300GB HDD, set it as master, install XP, hang the old 300GB HDD back as slave, and attempt to restore.

b) if the data is valuable/important enough, you may want to consider a reliable data recovery firm and let them recover your data for you.

c) if the 300GB drive wasn't completely full, try restoring "pieces at a time" onto the 100GB HDD.  If space allows, change the size of the first partition on the 100GB HDD to allow for (maybe) a 50GB second partition.  Important:  format this second partition with FAT32, otherwise you'll still get the "no DOS partition" error.

You stated that the "wrong" partition was deleted.  How?  Was it also reformatted?  If also reformatted, option (b) may be your only chance, especially if it was previously formatted FAT32 and then was reformatted NTFS.

Last chance (and only as an extreme measure):  reset your partitions on the 300GB HDD to the original size - but NOT in the Windows level!  You'll have to use a DOS based program similar to Ranish that only edits the file allocation table.  DO NOT FORMAT.  No promises, but if you are extremely lucky you will have immediate access to your files.  If not, the data is STILL there and you can try something else.

Lots of luck.

Rick