[TheWalrus]

Which meaningful details I completely failed to provide, pretty please?

If you don't want to find an explanation (I am not even asking anyone to do so anyway) why do you bother posting here?

You know, you are kind of ridiculing me here for not being exactly precise with describing stuff, but you didn't even pay attention to what I wrote in the first place. I might had not said 10 (20, 500, 2323)GB were owerwritten, but I specifically mentioned different (wrong) disk was used for the installation.




Anyway, when a mod comes around, this could be locked down because nothing meaningful could be added to the subject. Thanks.

[bphlpt]

Try not to be too offended. Most of those types of statements from jaclaz are usually meant to either get you thinking of what important details you might have forgotten, or as an example to other readers of the type of questions and info that are required to get the best answer the quickest. It might help if you were to provide the exact statements in your unattended that have anything to do with partitioning, formatting and installing the OS so that we can get a even better idea where to go from here, if anywhere. Also I think jaclaz mentioned being curious which OS exactly was installed - Win7 x64 we assume? What all have you tried to recover the data off the disc? I think you said you were not able to find anything, right? Are you using the newly installed OS on the disc, or did you go ahead and install onto the "right" disc and you're using that?

Cheers and Regards

[TheWalrus]

Allright, I am fairly short-tempered and I just didn't like his tone, it reminded me too much of lots of people on the internets who like to outsmart others and make them look like idiots. That doesn't necessarily make it true though, does it...




90% of the disk was filled with 5-20GB movie files of which I could not find a single trace. There was also some music there, but I could find traces of those files, although reported sizes were only in kB.

Yes system is Win7 x64 as stated in my "profile".

What actually happened was wrong disk was chosen by the setup, OS installed on it, but after that the correct one was used for boot (at least in the very final stage). Basically after I booted into Windows and realized what happened, nothing was written onto it (by me at least, not sure how much does OS write in the background, but probably very little if anything)

I use (and been using for years) File Scavenger for recovery purposes, long scan, both ran on the partitions and disk as a whole.

            <DiskConfiguration>
                <Disk wcm:action="add">
                    <DiskID>0</DiskID>
                    <WillWipeDisk>true</WillWipeDisk>
                    <CreatePartitions>
                        <CreatePartition wcm:action="add">
                            <Order>1</Order>
                            <Type>Primary</Type>
                            <Size>100</Size>
                        </CreatePartition>
                        <CreatePartition wcm:action="add">
                            <Order>2</Order>
                            <Type>Primary</Type>
                            <Size>51200</Size>
                        </CreatePartition>
                        <CreatePartition wcm:action="add">
                            <Order>3</Order>
                            <Type>Primary</Type>
                            <Extend>true</Extend>
                        </CreatePartition>
                    </CreatePartitions>
                    <ModifyPartitions>
                        <ModifyPartition wcm:action="add">
                            <Order>1</Order>
                            <PartitionID>1</PartitionID>
                            <Active>true</Active>
                            <Format>NTFS</Format>
                            <Label>Boot</Label>
                        </ModifyPartition>
                        <ModifyPartition wcm:action="add">
                            <Order>2</Order>
                            <PartitionID>2</PartitionID>
                            <Format>NTFS</Format>
                            <Letter>C</Letter>
                            <Label>SYSTEM</Label>
                        </ModifyPartition>
                        <ModifyPartition wcm:action="add">
                            <Order>3</Order>
                            <PartitionID>3</PartitionID>
                            <Format>NTFS</Format>
                            <Letter>F</Letter>
                            <Label>PROGRAMY</Label>
                        </ModifyPartition>
                    </ModifyPartitions>
                </Disk>
            </DiskConfiguration>
            <ImageInstall>
                <OSImage>
                    <InstallFrom>
                        <MetaData wcm:action="add">
                            <Key>/IMAGE/INDEX</Key>
                            <Value>1</Value>
                        </MetaData>
                    </InstallFrom>
                    <InstallTo>
                        <DiskID>0</DiskID>
                        <PartitionID>2</PartitionID>
                    </InstallTo>
                </OSImage>
            </ImageInstall>

[myselfidem]

You mean wrong Disk or wrong PartitionID ?

[jaclaz]

I'll try to expand.
I know that you know what you did and what happened, but you failed to describe it with enough accuracy/details, and/or provided conflicting reports.

Initially you talked of having wiped the disk. (the disk is "the whole thing" from sector LBA 0 up to the last sector accessible on the media).
Then you talked of re-partitioning (and implicitly formatting the new partition(s)) and "installing".

Then of having lost 1TB of data. (which possibly means that the drive was actually a 1 Tb in size one and was filled "up to the brim").
Still you did not provide EXACT details on how it was partitioned before and after the accident.

If you actually wiped the disk, NOTHING can be recovered. <- each and every sector of the disk is filled with zeroes
If you actually repartitioned the disk and formatted each partition/volume without the /q switch under the (presumed) Windows7 OS, NOTHING can be recovered. <- each and every sector of each partition/volume is filled with zeroes (the ones that are not are filled with the filesystem structure data)

Then you talked of having written 10 Gb (which obviously only overwrites 10 Gb or a little more than that).

IF the "format" command in your unattended setup behaves like the "full format" you have lost EVERYTHING.
IF as I suspect, it does instead a "quick" one, there may be chances.

To completely wipe (or "format full") a 1 Tb hard disk takes A LOT of time (hours), if it took you minutes to do the install it is not possible that you have wiped the whole 1 Tb.

NON FRAGMENTED files that have NOT been overwritten may still be recoverable.
It is UNcommon that very large files like the one you described are non-fragmented, though .

File Scavenger is an exceptionally good tool , but it is not the only one and not necessarily the "right" one to attempt recovering those files.

As an example, if I had that accident happen to me I would try defraser:
http://sourceforge.n...jects/defraser/
http://computer-fore...llocated-space/

jaclaz

[TheWalrus]

myself, it used wrong disk, but partitioning went as it should.

jac, I defragmented the disk just couple days before. So in theory you are absolutely right. But reality check had different opinion

At least I have lots of free space on the data disk now, lol.

[jaclaz]

TheWalrus, on 01 October 2012 - 03:37 AM, said:

myself, it used wrong disk, but partitioning went as it should.

Which again tells nothing.

I won' t insist on asking exact details since you are evidently not in the right mood to provide them, after all it's you that have lost the files and posted here for help, literally:

Quote

Data recovery - do I have any chance?

On the record it is now noted how I did try to provide some help .

Too bad I lost my time, admittedly not very precious, but still....

Spoiler

jaclaz

[bphlpt]

jaclaz, on 01 October 2012 - 03:53 AM, said:

TheWalrus, on 01 October 2012 - 03:37 AM, said:

myself, it used wrong disk, but partitioning went as it should.

Which again tells nothing.

It might help to occasionally describe the specific info you would like to get, rather than just point out the general failures of info you didn't get. Some people learn better from examples rather than trying to guess what you are looking for. Just sayin'...

Cheers and Regards

This post has been edited by bphlpt: 01 October 2012 - 06:33 AM

[Kelsenellenelvian]

SO.. In other words repeat post #25 ALL over AGAIN?

[bphlpt]

jaclaz, on 01 October 2012 - 02:00 AM, said:

I'll try to expand.
I know that you know what you did and what happened, but you failed to describe it with enough accuracy/details, and/or provided conflicting reports.

Initially you talked of having wiped the disk. (the disk is "the whole thing" from sector LBA 0 up to the last sector accessible on the media).
Then you talked of re-partitioning (and implicitly formatting the new partition(s)) and "installing".

Then of having lost 1TB of data. (which possibly means that the drive was actually a 1 Tb in size one and was filled "up to the brim").
Still you did not provide EXACT details on how it was partitioned before and after the accident.

If you actually wiped the disk, NOTHING can be recovered. <- each and every sector of the disk is filled with zeroes
If you actually repartitioned the disk and formatted each partition/volume without the /q switch under the (presumed) Windows7 OS, NOTHING can be recovered. <- each and every sector of each partition/volume is filled with zeroes (the ones that are not are filled with the filesystem structure data)

Then you talked of having written 10 Gb (which obviously only overwrites 10 Gb or a little more than that).

IF the "format" command in your unattended setup behaves like the "full format" you have lost EVERYTHING.
IF as I suspect, it does instead a "quick" one, there may be chances.

To completely wipe (or "format full") a 1 Tb hard disk takes A LOT of time (hours), if it took you minutes to do the install it is not possible that you have wiped the whole 1 Tb.

NON FRAGMENTED files that have NOT been overwritten may still be recoverable.
It is UNcommon that very large files like the one you described are non-fragmented, though .

File Scavenger is an exceptionally good tool , but it is not the only one and not necessarily the "right" one to attempt recovering those files.

As an example, if I had that accident happen to me I would try defraser:
http://sourceforge.n...jects/defraser/
http://computer-fore...llocated-space/

jaclaz

The only point that I got out of that post that the OP had not addressed in his previous post to this (#23) was the implied question of the exact size of the disk and how it had been previously partitioned prior to the mishap. Did I miss something?

I agree with jaclaz that even though the unattended file specifies that "<WillWipeDisk>true</WillWipeDisk>", and I didn't see a /q option specified for any of the partition format statements, if the OP was able to find any info at all during his recovery efforts, then there must not have been a "wipe" executed and the format must have been a quick one:

Quote

[...] as I suspect, it does instead a "quick" one, [...]

So there might be a small chance to recover more of the OP's data.

Cheers and Regards

This post has been edited by bphlpt: 01 October 2012 - 06:58 AM

[jaclaz]

bphlpt, on 01 October 2012 - 06:30 AM, said:

It might help to occasionally describe the specific info you would like to get, rather than just point out the general failures of info you didn't get. Some people learn better from examples rather than trying to guess what you are looking for. Just sayin'...

It might help with people that ask for help and actually want to have it, it doesn't for those that don't.

On hindsight, my original mistake was to presume that there was an interest in attempting recovering (if possible) some data, now re-reading the OP it is more clear to me how it was just a rant.

For future use, the standard litany (not so casually called "standard" and not so casually called "litany") is here for everyone:
http://homepage.ntlw...ard-litany.html

I guess everyone can adapt it to his/her specific situation well enough.

On the specific topic, this was IMHO a good hint:

Quote

To completely wipe (or "format full") a 1 Tb hard disk takes A LOT of time (hours), if it took you minutes to do the install it is not possible that you have wiped the whole 1 Tb.

that can be re-worded as:
How long did it take to wipe/format/install?
(simplified) If it took minutes, you have some chances if it took hours you have NONE. (of course proportioned to the size of the whatever - disk or partition/volume - that was wiped)

As a comparison, we have a report about wiping times:

http://reboot.pro/13..._75#entry119493

• 2.5" 250GB HDD took 82 mins to erase using HDDErase <- this is native ATA command, nothing can be faster than this, because there is no data going through the interface
  http://reboot.pro/13..._75#entry119521
  
• with DBAN the same 2.5" 250GB drive took 3.5hrs <- this is a software wipe, more or less a software wipe will have this kind of speed, i.e. max speed of data transfer

jaclaz

This post has been edited by jaclaz: 01 October 2012 - 07:58 AM

[Tripredacus]

TheWalrus, on 29 September 2012 - 01:18 PM, said:

I am extremely curious what the hell happened there. Disk 0 is always disk 0, isn't this kind of decided by BIOS?

Disk numbering in WinPE is determined on the speed it takes to enumerated the detected disks. I have done a ton of testing in the past using Spindle disks, SSDs and card readers. On certain systems, the numbering can change between a HDD and a card reader on multiple boots. Plus, how the devices are connected physically (board-level) seems to have an effect on disk numbering. Disks connected via the PCI or SATA bus typically enumerate faster than those connected via the USB bus. But this isn't always the case.

When it comes to installing an OS onto a system with a data disk, I always unplug that drive for instalation just because I don't trust Windows to install on the correct disk, whether or not I am using an answer file.

[myselfidem]

Have you configured your Disks as Disk0 = Master and Disk1 = Slave ,first ?

I think we can also improve the Autounattend.xml file, like this, adding more values:
(Using your example):

<DiskConfiguration>
                <WillShowUI>OnError</WillShowUI>
                <Disk wcm:action="add">
                    <DiskID>0</DiskID>
                    <WillWipeDisk>true</WillWipeDisk>
                    <CreatePartitions>
                        <CreatePartition wcm:action="add">
                            <Order>1</Order>
                            <Type>Primary</Type>
                            <Size>100</Size>
                        </CreatePartition>
                        <CreatePartition wcm:action="add">
                            <Order>2</Order>
                            <Size>51200</Size>
                            <Type>Primary</Type>
                        </CreatePartition>
                        <CreatePartition wcm:action="add">
                            <Order>3</Order>
                            <Type>Primary</Type>
                            <Extend>true</Extend>
                        </CreatePartition>
                    </CreatePartitions>
                    <ModifyPartitions>
                        <ModifyPartition wcm:action="add">
                            <Order>1</Order>
                            <PartitionID>1</PartitionID>
                            <Label>System</Label>
                            <Format>NTFS</Format>
                            <Active>true</Active>
                        </ModifyPartition>
                        <ModifyPartition wcm:action="add">
                            <Order>2</Order>
                            <PartitionID>2</PartitionID>
                            <Letter>C</Letter>
                            <Label>WINDOWS</Label>
                            <Format>NTFS</Format>
                        </ModifyPartition>
                        <ModifyPartition wcm:action="add">
                            <Order>3</Order> 
                            <Format>NTFS</Format> 
                            <PartitionID>3</PartitionID> 
                            <Label>PROGRAMY</Label> 
                            <Letter>D</Letter> 
                        </ModifyPartition> 
                    </ModifyPartitions>
                </Disk>
            </DiskConfiguration>
            <ImageInstall>
                <OSImage> 
                    <InstallFrom>
                        <MetaData wcm:action="add">
                            <Key>/IMAGE/INDEX</Key>
                            <Value>1</Value>
                        </MetaData>
                    </InstallFrom>
                    <InstallTo>
                        <DiskID>0</DiskID>
                        <PartitionID>2</PartitionID>
                    </InstallTo>
                    <WillShowUI>OnError</WillShowUI>
                    <InstallToAvailablePartition>false</InstallToAvailablePartition>
                </OSImage>
            </ImageInstall>

Check also the letters for CD\DVD drivers (usually E:\ and F:\) !

This post has been edited by myselfidem: 02 October 2012 - 02:21 AM

[TheWalrus]

Tripredacus, that's interesting. Looks like we have no control over this then.

myselfidem, now you got me. I thought master/slave was only relevant to ATA cables with two connectors. I just kind of plug the cables into the mb, starting with port 0.

Redoing the partition/drive letters is actually not a bad idea. I'd have change lots of things though, which apparently is why I simply put F on the new SSD partition back then.