When it comes to proper organization and storage of data, partitions are considered to be a reliable solution. They not only help to increase the system performance but also help us to recover data in case of a major system crash. Like suppose, your OS and some application programs don’t work properly, then in that case also you may have your data safe in the other partitions created on that drive. But as we know, a computer data is prone to corruption, so even a partition may get lost. And partition recovery is one thing that has come up with handy solution not only for the computer users worldwide but also for the system architects and designers.

Some error messages may flash on your screen when a partition data is lost or damaged:

“Disk read error has occurred.”
OR
“Windows could not start because the following file is missing or corrupt.
Windows root\system32\hal.dll.”
OR
“The disk in drive is not formatted. Do you want to format it now?”

Causes:
You install an extra instance of Windows XP on a system, which has Windows Vista and Windows XP in dual-boot configuration.
Some missing system files and a bad boot record.
You try to convert a FAT partition to a NTFS partition.
You try formatting unallocated disk space while removing the newly generated partitions and merging the disk space to previously created partitions.

Resolution:
Use the Bootsect.exe for restoring Windows Vista Master Boot Record (MBR) and boot code, which transfers control to Windows Boot Manager (WBM) program.This helps to recover partition data in case of a dual boot configuration.
Repair boot record using fixmbr command from Microsoft Windows XP Recovery Console if the primary boot record of Windows XP is damaged.

If any of these methods are not able to recover windows partition data, then in that case, you need  to rely on a more sophisticated windows partition recovery software to recover back your invaluable data. A partition recovery software is one that employs effective scanning algorithms to recover lost, deleted, or formatted partitions helping you access your data again.

Stellar Phoenix Windows Data Recovery Software is one assured tool that recovers deleted files from both FAT and NTFS file sysyems. It can support more than two hundred file types and is compatible with  Windows 7, Vista, Server 2003, XP and 2000.