4 Effective Methods: How to Recover Hard Disk Partition Data

Can I recover data from partitioned hard drive?

“I am a photographer and I have a hard disk partition that is designated to store all my photos, but I accidentally deleted the volume and all the photos are gone! It now shows Unallocated. This drives me crazy. Please help me to recover data from a deleted partition if it is possible.”

Fortunately, the answer is Yes! With the right methods, you are able to recover partition as well as data in the partition no matter whether they were lost, formatted, or corrupted.

Common causes of lost/deleted partitions

Before learning how to recover hard disk partition data, let’s learn the common causes of lost/deleted partitions.

• Accidental deletion. You may accidentally delete a partition that you need or clean an entire volume when you only wanted to clean a single partition.
• Data corruption. A virus or faulty disk operations can damage the partition table, resulting in the loss of a partition.
• Power outages. A sudden power outage can cause a partition table error, making a partition inaccessible.
• Bad sectors. The operating system may be unable to recognize your partition due to bad sectors on the disk.
• Label loss. Loss of the volume label, drive letter, or partition name can also cause partition loss.
• Virus infection. Partitions can be easily deleted once the hard drive has been infected with a virus.

How to recover hard disk partition data with software [2 options]

In this section, you’ll learn two options on how to recover data from lost partition hard disk with software.

Option 1. Recover data from partition with MyRecover

If you have accidentally deleted the data from hard disk partition, the most effective way is to recover them using a data recovery tool.

MyRecover is a powerful data recovery program that works with a variety of Windows versions. It helps users retrieve data from the partition whenever it gets deleted/lost/corrupted/formatted on a hard disk, SSD, flash drive, etc. Besides, it has a concise and intuitive graphic user interface, making it easy to operate even for a green hand. 

Step 1. Download, install and launch MyRecover on your computer.  

Step 2. Hover the mouse over the partition saved deleted files before, and click Scan to scan.

Step 3. Then the scanning process will start automatically. You don’t need to wait for the process to complete if you find the data you want to recover.

Step 4. Choose the data that you want to recover. Click Recover xx files and choose a destination path to save the restored data.

Option 2. Recover hard disk partition with AOMEI Partition Assistant

If you have lost or deleted the whole partition, another method for you to get back the partition, as well as the data in it, is to use partition recovery software, AOMEI Partition Assistant. Let’s see how to recover data from the lost partition hard disk.

Step 1. Download, install and run AOMEI Partition Assistant.

Step 2. Click on Partition Recovery Wizard on the left panel and select the disk you want to restore. Click on Next.

Step 3. Select a search mode. It is recommended that you select Fast Search the first time because it saves time. Then, click on Next.

Step 4. AOMEI Partition Assistant will show you the list of all lost or deleted partitions. You can select the one you want to recover. And then, click on Proceed.

Step 5. When the partition recovery process is completed, you will be informed by the Congratulations window. Click Finish.

Step 6. Then go to Windows File Explorer to check whether the deleted or lost partitions and data were recovered.

How to recover hard disk partition data with CMD [2 options]

You can also recover hard disk partition data with CMD. But note that, these two methods are technically demanding for most users as they have command lines involved.

Option 1. Assign a drive letter to the lost partition via Command Prompt

A missing partition can result from the loss of a drive letter or volume label. If your partition data has been lost due to a missing partition, CMD can assist you in reassigning a letter to it so that the missing partition is visible.

Step 1. Run Command Prompt as administrator.

Step 2. Input "diskpart” in the interface and then press Enter.

Step 3. Input "list disk" to view all the disks on your computer.

Step 4. Input “select disk X” to select the drive which contains the lost partition. “X” refers to the number of the drive on your PC.

Step 5. Then input “list volume” to see all the existing volumes on the drive.

Step 6. Locate the volume which doesn’t have a volume letter, input “select volume Y”. Please replace the “Y” with the real number of the volume.

Step 7. Then input “assign letter = Z”. Use a letter different from all the letters of the existing volumes.

Option 2. Recover data from partition via Windows File Recovery

Another option on how to recover data from formatted hard disk partition with CMD is to use Windows File Recovery, a command-line utility of Microsoft.

Before starting, there are two things you need to know:

• The tool is only compatible with Windows 10 versions 2004 and up.
• The results of Windows File Recovery are unpredictable. Some of your data might not be recoverable.

Preparation work before using Windows File Recovery:

To use this tool, check out your File System first. Go to This PC > right-click on the drive that contains the data you want to restore before > click Properties.

In addition, you need to use recovery mode and switches to get back your files. To decide which mode to use, refer to this table.

File system	Scenarios	Mode
NTFS	Deleted recently	Regular
NTFS	Deleted for a while	Extensive
NTFS	Formatted disk	Extensive
NTFS	Corrupted disk	Extensive
FAT and exFAT	Any	Extensive

Switches are used to filter the scanning range, thus can save the scanning time.

Switches	Meaning	Supported mode(s)
/n	Filter the scan range: scans for a specific file with its file name/path/type, etc.	All
/y:	Recover specific extension groups.	Signature
/k	Recovers system files.	NTFSSegment
/u	Recovers undeleted files, for example, from the Recycle Bin.	NTFSSegment

Step 1. Download and install Window File Recovery on your computer from Microsoft Store and then open it.

Step 2. Open Powershell or Command Prompt (run as administrator). In the Command Prompt, enter commands in the following command format:

winfr source-drive: destination-drive: [/mode] [/switches]

For example, if you need to recover deleted pdf files from F: drive (the external hard drive) to D: drive, then the command will be like:

winfr F: D: /regular /n *.pdf

Tips: Using Windows File Recovery appears to be quite difficult for those without command-line experience. As a result, WinfrGUI was created to assist users in resolving the problem. With a graphical user interface, users can experience all the functions from Windows File Recovery easily.

Bonus tip: Make a partition backup with AOMEI Backupper

To prevent partition or partition data loss, the best way is to make a habit of creating disk partition backups. Professional backup freeware AOMEI Backupper allows you to back up an entire partition's data in just a few simple steps. It also supports file backup, system backup, and disk backup.

Step 1. Download, install and launch AOMEI Backupper for Windows on your computer. 

Step 2. Under the Backup tab, select the Partition Backup option.

Step 3. You can set a Task Name to help you distinguish backups from each other. Click Add Partition or Volume to choose the partition you want to back up. You can also choose a location to save your backup. After, click Start Backup.

Step 4. Click Start Backup to carry out partition backup and wait until the operation is complete. Click Finish to exit the interface.

Conclusion

To sum up, this post mainly offers you four options on how to recover hard disk partition data. But these four options are used under different circumstances.

MyRecover can recover partition data in almost any situation, no matter whether the data in the partition has been deleted/formatted or the whole partition has been lost/deleted/corrupted. While AOMEI Partition Recovery Wizard can only help you to retrieve the whole partition lost or deleted.

Command “diskpart” is only used to retrieve partition data when your whole partition is missing due to drive letter/volume label loss. While Windows File Recovery can be used to recover data from a formatted hard disk partition.

You are also recommended to use AOMEI Backupper to back up your partitions to avoid data loss in the future.