Accidentally lost partition
Posted: 30 Oct 2025, 02:27
Hi all,
On my Windows 7 laptop, I have two HDD installed, the first is my boot disk with the windows and the second is a disk mainly for storing files.
Few weeks ago, I used Windows disk manager to try to create a new partition on my second drive in order to install Linux and have a dual boot system.
In the process of doing this, I deleted the two existing partitions on my second drive.
I ran Testdisk but although I could see both partitions when I search, the second partition (which is dynamic) shows as not recoverable.
Any idea of what can I do to try to recover this?
I used Photorec and retrieved the stored files but most of them have lost their filename so it's impossible to understand what is what and there is no folder structure anymore so it's really hard to find any files amongst thousands. Also, I noticed that most if not all, of my photos seem to have been recovered with no issues but a lot of my recovered PDF files are showing as corrupted and can't be opened anymore.
I stopped using the drive since the partition was lost so it's very unlikely files were overwritten.
Any idea/suggestion of how I can recover the lost partitions to make my life a lot easier?
On my Windows 7 laptop, I have two HDD installed, the first is my boot disk with the windows and the second is a disk mainly for storing files.
Few weeks ago, I used Windows disk manager to try to create a new partition on my second drive in order to install Linux and have a dual boot system.
In the process of doing this, I deleted the two existing partitions on my second drive.
I ran Testdisk but although I could see both partitions when I search, the second partition (which is dynamic) shows as not recoverable.
Any idea of what can I do to try to recover this?
I used Photorec and retrieved the stored files but most of them have lost their filename so it's impossible to understand what is what and there is no folder structure anymore so it's really hard to find any files amongst thousands. Also, I noticed that most if not all, of my photos seem to have been recovered with no issues but a lot of my recovered PDF files are showing as corrupted and can't be opened anymore.
I stopped using the drive since the partition was lost so it's very unlikely files were overwritten.
Any idea/suggestion of how I can recover the lost partitions to make my life a lot easier?