Hacking Gparted Live CD just erased my whole compy

[TheJorsh]

Hi everyone,
I'm writing this from my dad's computer right now.
I was trying to use the Gparted Live CD thing to add a partition to my external hard drive so I could use the USB loaders,
but somehow I ended up doing something wrong (even though I had printed out instructions before I started)
And now my (well, the family's. I don't actually have my own yet.) computer isn't working.
It starts, but it's stuck in the DOS like mode thing and it won't start up Windows XP like usual.
Since it said that when you use Gparted it erases everything on the drive, I guess it pretty much erased everything on the computer.
I know there's a way to restore it all but I don't know how to.
Can anyone tell me how to restore/fix it all?
I'm freaking out right now.
My dad's probably gonna be home soon and he'll be really mad and I don't know what to do.
I'd also like to know what exactly I did wrong so I can fix it later and be able to use the USB loader but this is more important right now.
Someone please help me!

 

[Dantarion]

It looks like you destroyed the partition table on your external drive and formatted it.

You could recover the data, but it would require putting the drive in another PC and running software like GetDataBack on it

 

[Teh H4rRy]

You wanted to create a partition, selected the wrong drive, repartitioned the windows disk. Yup did you do a format and partition? or partition and move?

Unless you're external hard drive and computer hard drive are the same size i cannot think how you confused the two

Oh and tell your dad sorry

 

[Technik]

They really need to make WBFS managers idiot proof so that you cant format C:

 

[TheJorsh]

Unless you're external hard drive and computer hard drive are the same size i cannot think how you confused the two

Actually, they are.
So does this mean I'm pretty much screwed?

 

[SifJar]

Well, if you formatted your C: drive, then yes pretty much.

 

[Arm the Homeless]

They really need to make WBFS managers idiot proof so that you cant format C:

We're talking about GParted here. Which is Linux. So you mean /dev/sda1.

And GParted won't magically erase anything. It has warning screens any time you format/delete/resize a partition.

Linux drive names:
/dev/sda1 = First partition (1) on first hard drive (sda).
/dev/sdb3 = Third partition (3) on second hard drive (sdb).

Windows drive names:
C: = A partition
J: = Another partition

Linux is much more descriptive on drive names.

 

[jesterscourt]

Basically you are hosed. A brilliant reminder to everyone:

1. Back up regularly using an external hard drive and/or offsite backup
2. Don't do anything on a computer if you are a noob. Even if you think you know what you are doing, take the precaution of step 1 so that at worst, you'd just have to re-install your OS and backup your data.

 

[Arm the Homeless]

Oh, and it wouldn't be in DOS mode.
Really, command line is NOT DOS.

Basically, your hard drive is (probably) wiped completely of data. So there is no Windows (or DOS) on that computer.

And also, don't blame GParted because (as I mentioned before) it has warning screens before you do ANYTHING. The problem lies inbetween the keyboard and chair.

 

[Elritha]

I hope you didn't have any important data on that drive.

If you did, you could do as Dantarion mentioned and run a recovery program on it. Just don't write anything to the drive, or format it further if you want to recover any data.

Good luck whatever you do decide to do.

 

[casper_uk]

When ever you partition or format a drive etc it doesn't actually delete any data, it just tells the pc that the blocks on the hd can be written to. I would suggest from your description that you have deleted or corrupted the partition table on the hard drive that contains windows.

I would suggest trying out some free software such as http://www.cgsecurity.org/wiki/TestDisk and attempting to repair the partition table. Make sure you don't save or write ANY files to the hard drive you are trying to recover from though. There is a guide on the above website, you will need to be able to get into dos using a boot disk etc. There are plenty of boot disks out there to download for free, a usb stick would be ideal, put the testdisk files and boot disk files on a usb stick and make your computer boot from usb and then follow the instructions on the website. Another root would possibly be using a bootable linux o/s that runs from a cd and doesn't install any files to the hard drive. I use slax when i have problems as it allows you to get into an o/s that supports usb pens by just inserting the cd!

 

[pepxl]

simple answer is kids shoudnt play with grownup toys

 

[zidane_genome]

so, when did wiping a hard drive on a computer have to deal with backup loaders? this is the wrong section...

 

[Arm the Homeless]

so, when did wiping a hard drive on a computer have to deal with backup loaders? this is the wrong section...

He said that this was to make another partition on a external HD.
Yeah, wrong forum.

 

[r9delta]

Gparted Live CD just erased my whole compy, someone please help

No I'm pretty sure you erased your "whole compy". This is why children need not mess with things that they do not understand.

 

[ArchangelX]

I lol'd

Have fun with your beating.

 

[Pippin666]

So funny, I hope it happens to more ppl, then less noobs in here !!

 

[raulpica]

Ok, here's what to do, if you want to recover ALL the data on the hard drive.

Bear in mind that this isn't a easy process, and can be quite difficult. If you get some help you might be able to pull it thru.

Be aware that after this you shouldn't haven't touched anything on the drive, something like a XP reinstall would destroy a lot of data and render the recovery more difficult.

1) Remove the HD from your PC.
2) Plug it in another (working) PC.
3) Get a software called "GetDataBack" from Runtime Software. Select the appropriate version for your HD (if it was formatted in FAT, get the FAT version, if it was formatted in NTFS get the NTFS version. I'd probably go on the NTFS version, since it has XP on it, and it's probably quite recent) - Also, don't ask for it here. Use Google, or buy it.
4) Install it on the PC you have plugged your HD in. DO NOT INSTALL IT on the HD you're trying to recovery.
5) Run it, and select "use default settings", select the drive you need to recover from the "Physical Drives" list. There's no need to select a partition, just select the entire drive.
6) Let it do its magic. It'll firstly do Phase 1, where it'll find "traces" of old partitions. Select the ones with the green dot. It should be only one, usually. Press Next again, and you'll be in the File Recovery part.
7) I advise you to save your current progresses. Press "File" and select "Save Recovery". That will make you avoid doing Phase 1 and 2 all over again.
8) Start saving dirs and files. Select one, and press "COPY". Then save them over to the PCs HD or a USB drive. The important thing is that you don't save them DIRECTLY on the HD you're trying to recover files from.

After you have saved everything, you can plug the HD back in the PC it comes from and format it directly using the XP install CD.

Good luck.

 

[jono@home]

Hi everyone,
I'm writing this from my dad's computer right now.
I was trying to use the Gparted Live CD thing to add a partition to my external hard drive so I could use the USB loaders,
but somehow I ended up doing something wrong (even though I had printed out instructions before I started)
And now my (well, the family's. I don't actually have my own yet.) computer isn't working.
It starts, but it's stuck in the DOS like mode thing and it won't start up Windows XP like usual.
Since it said that when you use Gparted it erases everything on the drive, I guess it pretty much erased everything on the computer.
I know there's a way to restore it all but I don't know how to.
Can anyone tell me how to restore/fix it all?
I'm freaking out right now.
My dad's probably gonna be home soon and he'll be really mad and I don't know what to do.
I'd also like to know what exactly I did wrong so I can fix it later and be able to use the USB loader but this is more important right now.
Someone please help me!

is it saying NTLDR is missing on boot...

if so computer is booting from non bootable source.. so is likely you have formatted your hard disk.. use recovery software as already mentioned to recover data from it...
however if it isn't.. you could be in luck.. !!!

boot up with a windows xp prof setup cd.. (retail)

when loaded up, press R for recovery console..

Press 1 then enter to logon onto windows... input admin password (if any), then type CHKDSK C: /p.

Allow process to complete, then reboot..

this can repair many disk problems and can solve many windows boot up problems..

 

[pinesal]

Did you get grounded? I want to know how you Dad reacted.

You can definitely fix the computer but most likely all the personal data is gone.

And don't feel too bad. I'm sure most of us have accidentally erased the wrong partition at one time or another. I know I have.