Stellar Phoenix Windows Data Recovery

In most cases, a Windows user divides his/her hard drive in more than one partitions. Each partition – whether primary or extended – is allocated certain important entries, which are saved in a 64 byte data structure known as ‘partition table’. The entries saved in the table can be corrupted due to various reasons like improper system shutdown while partitioning process, fatal virus attack, and operating system damage. In such cases, the partitions become unmountable and the data saved in them becomes inaccessible.

To overcome such partition table damage situations and access the hard drive data, the user needs to format the hard drive, re-partition it, and then restore the data from an updated backup. However, if in case of no or incomplete backup, the user needs to search for an effective third-party Partition Recovery Software to recover all the partitions.

Consider a real-time scenario to explain the above situation. Suppose you have three partitions (C,D,and E) in your Windows XP based system.  You decide to merge two partitions (C and D). To do so, you use a third-party utility. However, when the utility is performing the merging operation, the application crashes. The crash could have occurred due any of the following reasons:

•    Bug(s) in the third-party application.

•    Operating system malfunction.

Now, when you try to boot your system, it does not boot. Additionally, the data saved in all the partitions becomes inaccessible.

Grounds of the Issue:

Corruption in Partition Table entries. The entries remain in partially changed state due incomplete merging process.

How to Resolve:

Format the hard drive and recreate all the hard drive partitions. After re-creating the partitions, restore the data from an updated backup. Although the resolution is easy and simple, it fails to resolve when you have not maintained any valid backup. In such situations, you will need to opt for a commercial Partition Recovery utility. Such Partition Recovery tools use advanced data recovery algorithms to recover and restore all the lost data post formatting of the hard drive. These tools are easily understandable and allow even a non-technical user to perform recovery.

Stellar Phoenix Windows Data Recovery is one of the most commonly used Partition Recovery Software. Compatible with NTFS, NTFS5, FAT12, FAT16, FAT32, and VFAT file systems, the tool is available in two varied forms – complete and trial. The tool does not harms the original data saved on the hard drive partitions.

Data/information saved in Windows-based hard drive partitions becomes inaccessible when the system becomes unbootable. Some factors responsible for unbootability of your system are system file corruption, file system damage, MBR corruption, MFT damage, and more. In most cases of unbootable system, the user encounters an error message. In order to surmount this boot error message, the user needs to reinstall Windows operating system, recreate all the partitions, and restore the data from a valid backup.

However, the problem in the above resolution arises when the user has not maintained any backup. In such situations, the user can recover all the partitions and their data from an effective third-party Partition Recovery Software.

For detailed analyses of the above situation, consider any of the above error message:

“Windows File Protection

Files that are required for Windows to run properly have been replaced by unrecognized versions. To maintain system stability, Windows must restore the original versions of these files. The network location from which these files should be copied, \\server\share, is not available. Contact your system administrator or insert product CD-ROM now.”

Or

“Windows File Protection

Files that are required for Windows to run properly have been replaced by unrecognized versions. To maintain system stability, Windows must restore the original versions of these files. Insert your product CD-ROM now.”

These error messages appear when you boot your system. After either of the above error messages pops-up, data stored in all the hard drive partitions becomes inaccessible.

Cause:

The root cause for the occurrence of the above error messages is corruption of system files.

Resolution:

To resolve the above error messages and to boot your system, you will need to follow the below steps:

1.    Run sfc / scannow tool to repair corrupt system files.

2.    In case the tool fails to repair corrupt system files, then you will need to reinstall Windows and restore data from an adequate backup.

3.    In case no backup is available, use a commercial Partition Recovery Software. A Partition Recovery utility employs intensive recovery procedures that recoup all formatted partitions and data within them.

Stellar Phoenix Windows Data Recovery recovers all formatted partitions and restores them at user-specified location. Compatible with NTFS, NTFS5, FAT12, FAT16, FAT32, and VFAT file systems, the Partition Recovery tool serves as a self-explicable tool. Designed for Windows 7, Vista, XP, 2003, and 2000, the tool is completely non-destructive in nature.

An error message while mounting a Windows based hard drive partition can occur due to improper BIOS (Basic Input Output System) settings, drive overlay issues, improper configuration of the hard drive, and MBR (Master Boot Record) corruption. When a partition becomes unmountable due to any of the above reasons, the data saved in that hard drive partition becomes inaccessible. To overcome the error message caused due to any of the above reasons, a Windows user needs to format the partition and restore the data from an updated backup. However, the main problem occurs when the backup file also gets corrupted due to logical crash. To overcome such situations and to access the data saved in formatted hard drive partition, the user needs to search for an efficient third-party Partition Recovery Software.

To illustrate the above scenario, consider a real-time case where you have a multi-boot system with Windows XP and Vista. Every thing in the system was working fine, till you received the below error message to boot Windows Vista based partition:

“Invalid Drive Specification”

The same error message appears every time you boot Windows Vista. After the above error message appears, the data saved in the Windows Vista based partition becomes inaccessible.

Cause:

The above error message is mainly caused due to MBR corruption.

Resolution:

To get over from the above error message and access the Windows Vista partition data, you will need to follow the below steps:

1.    Use FIXMBR command to fix corruption in MBR. The command writes MBR to the system partition. The command does not necessarily repairs MBR in all cases of corruption.

2.    In case the command fails to repair MBR, then you will need to format the Windows Vista based partition and restore the data from an updated backup.

But, in case of no or incomplete backup, you are not left with any alternative, but to choose a commercial Partition Recovery application to recover the formatted partition data. Such Partition Recovery tools allow comprehensive recovery of every file post formatting. These recovery utilities are built with wizard-style user interface that makes them easily understandable.

Stellar Phoenix Windows Data Recovery is a safe Partition Recovery Software that recovers lost, missing, deleted, and formatted hard drive partitions having NTFS, NTFS5, FAT12, FAT16, FAT32, and VFAT file systems. With to-the-point documentation, the tool can also be used by non-technical user. It supports Windows 7, Vista, XP, 2003, and 2000.

Microsoft Windows Vista is a popular version of Windows operating system, developed and marketed by Microsoft Corporation. Windows Vista is available in various versions, to be used on desktops, laptops, media center PCs, and tablet PCs. It provides various advantages over its predecessor Microsoft Windows XP.

The operating system includes advanced security features and rich graphical user interface. However, in some situations, Vista may malfunction and start working unexpectedly. In such cases, you may need to reinstall Windows Vista to fix the problem. However, reinstalling Vista accidentally on wrong partition may cause partition loss and serious data loss situations. At this point, you need to have an effective and advanced Partition Recovery Software to recover lost or damaged partitions.

You may reinstall Microsoft Windows Vista, when:

•    You wish to replace the current operating system, which is either damaged or cannot fulfill your requirements.

•    You wish to install Microsoft Windows Vista on separate hard drive partition to configure your system as dual-boot.

•    You wish to restore default settings of Microsoft Windows.

•    You are using the Windows Vista boot disk to fix some startup or boot problems with Vista and accidentally selected to Reinstall.

Accidental reinstalling of Windows Vista may cause serious problems, if you do not have complete backup of your valuable data on the partition.

Windows Vista reinstallation may format the hard drive partition, which ultimately removes all the existing data from the partition and cause severe partition loss situations.

You should not panic in such cases as the partitions and stored data are not permanently deleted from your hard drive, even after formatting. The data and partitions remain intact on the drive, until they are being overwritten by other data.

When a partition is deleted, only the partition table entry of particular partition is removed. The partition remains physically intact and can be recovered in most of the cases. If you have a backup, then you can restore all the data to newly created partition of Windows Vista. If you do not have an updated backup, use Windows Partition Recovery tools to extract lost partitions and data they contain.

The Partition Recovery applications employ advanced scanning mechanisms to methodically scan entire hard drive and extract lost partitions from it. With non-destructive behavior and interactive graphical user interface, the Partition Recovery Software are safe and easy to use.

Stellar Phoenix Windows Data Recovery software recovers lost, missing, or deleted Windows partition in all partition loss scenarios. It supports recovery of NTFS5, NTFS, FAT32, VFAT, FAT16, and FAT12 file system partitions. The software is usable with Microsoft Windows 7, Vista, 2003, XP, and 2000.

Since the release of Windows 7, Microsoft has received many reports on data loss problems. Though the operating system has been designed with the fixes of most of the earlier existing problems, there are still some issues, which are unfixed and unresolved and can corrupt or delete your partition(s). Thus, a Windows 7 user needs to run a timely backup scheme to prevent any Windows Partition Recovery needs.

One realistic problem has been discussed further that truly depicts the existence of data loss in Windows 7. Suppose you as a Windows 7 user leave your system in hibernation mode. But after you return, you find the computer is still on and is hung on the BIOS screen. This is because Windows 7 computer looks for the boot partition but is unable to do so because of missing boot entry. Further, when you use Windows 7 install disc, it doesn’t work either and is unable to detect the partition.

In such cases, the user also reports that the partition gets renamed to ‘System Reserved’, but with no data. This is actually the Windows 7 created partition, which is created at the time of installation and is not the real partition that you lost.

Solution

For troubleshooting the problems discussed above, you need to perform Windows 7 startup repair by using Windows 7 install disc or system repair disc. The steps are as as follows:

•    Insert the Windows 7 install disc or system repair disc and boot your computer

•    Press any key when prompted to do so

•    Choose setup language and other settings

•    Click ‘Repair Your Computer’ option

•    Select the Windows installation you want to repair

•    Select the ‘Startup Repair’ option

•    Click ‘Finish’ to start Windows 7

Performing the above steps should resolve the Windows startup problems. You can try running commands like ‘fixmbr’ to solve the partition issues.

In worst cases, the above solutions might not work, compelling you to recreate the disk partitions and restore lost data from a previous backup. In case no proper data backup is available, the last resort is to use a Partition Recovery Software and retrieve all the lost data. Windows Partition Recovery software use high-end algorithms to extract lost partitions, irrespective of the cause of loss.

Stellar Phoenix Windows Data Recovery is a comprehensive application designed to recover lost, deleted, corrupted, or reformatted partitions. Compatible with Windows 7, Vista, XP, 2003, and 2000, this Partition Recovery Software is equipped with several advanced options along with an interactive user-interface.

MBR (Master Boot Record) is the first sector of a partitioned data storage device like hard disk. This structure holds the primary partition table and thus is important for the system to work properly. If MBR gets corrupted in any way, chances are that you may find your hard disk partitions inaccessible or unreadable. Windows cannot access the disk partitions without a valid partition table. In severe situations, you might need to recreate the corrupted partitions from scratch and apply several techniques (like reclaiming data from backup) to Recover Windows Partition data.

Following is one real-time problem that has caused Windows partitions to become inaccessible. Let’s say you run Windows 7 computer and attempt to download an application from a website. Contrary to your expectations, the download unexpectedly hangs and system freezes. You cannot open the ‘Task Manager, and consequently, have to hard shutdown the computer.

After the above set of events, when you try to boot your computer, it takes more time than expected time. Later you observe that one or more of your data partitions are undetectable under Windows 7. Additionally, you might also experience some error messages suggesting to run ‘Startup Recovery’ during subsequent reboots.

Cause

One possible reasons for the above issue to take place is MBR corruption.

Methods to Solve

Before implementing the further suggested solutions, try resolving this issue by choosing ‘Last Known Good Configuration’ option. If this doesn’t solve your problem, follow the below steps:

•    Insert the Windows 7 install CD and boot your computer

•    Access it command prompt and execute fixmbr command

•    Check if the issue still persists. If yes, perform clean Windows reinstall. In worst cases, you might need to repartition and reformat all the hard disk partitions

After reformatting the disk partitions, you need to restore the deleted data from a data backup. In case, no suitable data backup is available, the only solution is to use a Partition Recovery Software that can scan the disk to retrieve lost data. These tools are competent to Recover Windows Partition data that is corrupted, or has been reformatted or deleted.

Stellar Phoenix Windows Data Recovery is one of the commonly used utilities that can recover lost Windows partitions using safe scanning. This Windows Partition Recovery tool is compatible with Windows 7, Vista, XP, 2003, and 2000, and incorporates advanced features like, RAW file recovery, disk cloning, disk imaging, and others.

Microsoft periodically launches updates and new service packs of its products to improve them. The updates can directly be installed on your existing operating system. After installing updates, you can take advantages of the enhanced features of Windows operating system. However, in some situations, the installation process cannot complete successfully and the system remains in partially updated state.

At this point, your Windows hard drive partitions become inaccessible and you come across severe partition loss situations. In order to work around this behavior of Microsoft Windows operating system, you must go for Partition Recovery Software, if the backup is unavailable.

In a practical scenario, when you install updates of Microsoft Windows XP on dynamic disk, you might come across the below error message:

“Windows XP cannot recognize the partition you selected.

Setup cannot install Windows XP on this partition. However, you can go back to the previous screen, delete the partition. and then select the resulting unpartitioned space.

Setup will then create a new partition on which you can install Windows XP.”

After the above error message, installation process stops halfway and your Windows computer becomes unbootable/inaccessible. At this point of time, you are required to identify the actual cause of this behavior and then fix it through Partition Recovery.

Grounds of the problem

You may face this problem due to any of the below reasons:

•    The hard drive of your Windows computer is unrecognizable.

•    The Windows hard drive appears to be corrupted.

•    The structure of the Windows hard drive is damaged.

•    Hard drive file system is either damaged or not supported by the service pack that you are installing.

Resolution

In order to sort out this problem, follow the underwritten steps:

•    Use ChkDsk utility to check the integrity and consistency of your Windows hard drive.

•    Format the affected hard drive, reinstall Windows operating system, and restore data from the most recent backup.

In case if the backup is not available, severe data loss occurs as hard drive formatting removes all the data from the disk. In such cases, Windows Partition Recovery software becomes need of hour.

The applications use high-end scanning techniques to methodically scan whole hard drive and extract all lost, missing, and inaccessible partitions from it. They Recover Partition in a quick, safe, easy, and absolute way.

Stellar Phoenix Windows Data Recovery software recovers lost Windows partitions in all partition loss scenarios, including file system corruption and hard drive formatting. The software is compatible with Microsoft Windows 7, Vista, 2003, XP, and 2000. It supports recovery of NTFS5, NTFS, FAT32, VFAT, FAT16, and FAT12 file system partitions.

A Master Boot Record (MBR) or partition sector is the 512 byte boot sector that is the first sector of a partitioned data storage device such as a hard disk. The MBR plays an important role in disk partitioning, system bootstrapping, and disk identity. It is the main program that is used for bootstrapping the operating system after BIOS executes the machine code instructions.

The MBR is not located in the partition, but in the Main Boot Record area in front of the first partition. Sometimes, the first sector of the partition gets corrupted because of various reasons such as virus infections, power surges, damaged operating system, abrupt system shutdown, etc. In such situations, the system gets corrupted and fails to boot. In such cases, you should look for a third-party partition recovery software to recover the partition from its corrupt state.

Consider a scenario wherein your system fails to boot when you switch it on. A black screen is displayed and an error message is displayed, that is:

“Operating system not found.” OR

“Missing operating system.”

Cause:

There could be various reasons for such behavior such as:

•    The basic input/output system (BIOS) does not detect the hard disk.

•    The hard disk is damaged.

•    Sector 0 of the physical hard disk drive has an incorrect or malformed master boot record (MBR).

•    An incompatible partition is marked as Active.

•    A partition that contains MBR is no longer active.

Resolution:

For the first cause, you can configure the BIOS settings and ensure that the BIOS lists and recognizes the hard disk. For the rest, you are advised to use a third-party partition recovery software that will enable you to recover lost data and rescue lost partition. These tools are read-only in nature and, hence, do not overwrite the data while scanning the damaged part.

Stellar Phoenix Windows Data Recovery software is an efficient tool that is used to recover lost or formatted partitions. It is a highly interactive tool that does not require prior technical knowledge to perform advanced recovery options. It also provides a Boot CD to recover data from the PCs that fail to boot. It can recover lost/formatted data from various file systems such as FAT16, FAT32, VFAT, NTFS and NTFS5. It is compatible with Windows 7, Vista, 2003 Server, XP, 2002. What’s more, it also provides you RAW recovery, disk cloning and imaging, resume recovery and even email recovery options.

MBR (Master Boot Record) is the first sector on your Windows Wbased hard drive, including Windows XP based hard drive. The 512-byte boot sector consists of one active/bootable partition, primary partition table, disk media, and bootstrapping operating systems. Corruption in MBR can occur due to many reasons like, improper system shutdown, virus infection, operating system malfunction, and more.

In such situations, the bootable partition also becomes corrupt, resulting in unbootability of Windows-based hard drive partition. This further results in inaccessibility of data saved in Windows XP-based hard drive. An ideal way to get past MBR corruption error message is to run FIXMBR repair command. However, if the above command is unable to repair the corrupted MBR and hard drive partition remains unbootable, then you will need to search for a commercial Partition Recovery Software to recover the data.

The above scenario can be explained with the help of the below error message:

“Invalid or damaged bootable Partition”

This error message appears at startup of Windows XP based hard partition. After the above error message flashes, data saved in the hard drive partition becomes inaccessible. Additionally, the same error message appears every time you try to boot Windows XP.

Cause:

The above error message appears due to corruption/damage of MBR.

Resolution:

Below are some guidelines that enable you to overcome the above error message and to access the data saved in Windows XP based partition:

1.    Repair the MBR using the underneath command:

FIXMBR device name

Note: The above command has the risk of damaging partition tables.

2.    If the above command fails, then run another repair command:

FIXBOOT drive

3.    If both the above commands fall short in resolving the above error message then you will need to reinstall Windows XP operating system. Once the re-installation is complete, all the previously saved files and folders become inaccessible. To access those files, restore them from an up-to-date backup. However, in case no backup is available, use advanced Partition Recovery Software.

Such Partition Recovery tools scan the formatted hard drive partition by incorporating high-end scanning procedures and recoup all lost files and folders. These tools recover complete partitions and the entire data stored within them.

Stellar Phoenix Windows Data Recovery is a powerful Partition Recovery tool that is used to recover all formatted, deleted, and lost Windows 7, Vista, XP, 2003, and 2000 based partitions. The recovered partitions can be stored at your specified location. It is compatible with NTFS, NTFS5, FAT12, FAT16, FAT32, and VFAT file systems.

Sometimes, when you try to boot Windows XP computer system, it displays an empty, black screen. The black screen flashes even before you could see Windows XP logo and after the Power-On Self Test is complete. After the blank screen appears, the system stops booting, making the hard drive data inaccessible. To overcome black screen and to access the data, a Windows user needs to identify its exact cause. However, if the user is unable to determine the reason and still wants to read the data stored in the hard drive, then s/he needs to restore the data from an updated backup. But in case of deficient or corrupted backup, the user is left with no option, but to search for an effective third-party Partition Recovery Software.

To thoroughly explain the above scenario, consider you try to boot your Windows XP system and encounter a black screen. The same screen appears every time you attempt to boot your system.

Cause:

The two main causes for the occurrence of black screen are:

•    There is a CD, DVD, or a floppy in the CD, DVD, or floppy drive at the time of starting your system.

•    The second reason could be corruption in Master Boot Record (MBR), Partition table(s), boot sector, and NTLDR file. Corruption in either of these components breaks the boot sequence, resulting in black screen.

Resolution:

To resolve the above error message and to access the hard drive data, follow the below guidelines:

Remove the CD, DVD, or floppy from CD, DVD, or floppy drive, and then boot your system.

In case of corruption:

•    Run FIXMBR command in ‘Windows XP Recovery Console’, to repair corrupt MBR.

•    Run FIXBOOT command in ‘Windows XP Recovery Console’, to repair boot partition.

•    Re-install Windows XP operating system and restore the data from an updated backup, in case of partition table corruption. However, in case no backup of hard drive partitions is available, then you will need to opt for an advanced Partition Recovery utility. A Partition Recovery utility employs intensive recovery procedures to recover all lost partitions and data within them.

Stellar Phoenix Windows Data Recovery is a powerful Partition Recovery Software to recover all lost, deleted, and formatted hard drive partitions. It recovers FAT12, FAT16, FAT32, VFAT, NTFS and NTFS5 file system partitions. The user-friendly software can be installed on Windows 7, Vista, XP, 2003, and 2000.