There are three different ways to perform a partition repair on a computer system and each method is highly effective if the proper steps are taken. Most users would probably find that the easiest way to repair a corrupted or missing partition would be to purchase a software program that can detect files automatically. Others may find it easier to transfer the hard drive to another computer system to copy the damaged files. Some situations may also allow for an automatic backup program to retrieve the data automatically. The main thing to remember is to not use the computer system at all until one of the methods is successfully performed.
It is a common myth that deleting a partition on a computer system actually erases the data that is stored there. All of the information is still on the drive after a critical error. The computer simply does not recognize it as usable data.
The same can be said when files are deleted from the recycle bin or other locations; it is still physically present but the computer marks it as being no longer important. Until something else is saved in that location, the deleted partition or file will be safe for later retrieval. This is why a system restore should be attempted immediately when partition repair is needed. It helps ensure that critical files are not accidentally written over.
The problem is that the user has little control over where his computer saves a file within a partition, and completing almost any task could cause the file to be unintentionally deleted forever. If partition repair is still necessary after the system restore, the best thing to do would be to shut down the computer completely and leave it turned off until a method of retrieval is decided on. Both of the methods below are simple to use, but they require the use of a second computer system or hard drive.
Perhaps the easiest method would be to purchase a partition repair program that will attempt to fix the problem automatically. As long as the application has somewhere to save the data it recovers, it will work successfully over 75% of the time. To implement this method, the computer user should insert the disk containing the partition repair software and allow it to run. It will then search the entire hard drive and copy any of the files found to a separate location. From that point, as long as the data backed up successfully, the original partition can be repaired or deleted.
A similar method would be to remove the hard drive and install it in another computer system as a slave. The data could then be read by the second hard drive regardless of whether or not the information was deleted. When using this method, the user should copy all of the pertinent information from the damaged drive to the healthy one and then attempt a partition repair. In either case, as long as the lost data is saved, then the system should be able to be fully restored.