Windows XP, one of the most popular operating system, comes in Home edition and Professional edition. Users have the option to choose the edition they want. But, laptops come preloaded with the Windows edition which the computer manufacturers choose to install. However, users can always install another edition of Windows. But what if all the data that had been stored on your hard drive gets lost when you change the edition of your favorite Windows operating system. Well, you will have to opt for Windows Data Recovery using the most updated backup. But if the backup is unavailable, don't worry, you can use partition recovery software.

Consider you buy a new laptop that came pre-installed with Windows XP Home Edition. After a few months, you find it necessary to upgrade the operating system with the retail version of Windows XP professional. After successful upgrade, when you start working on your system, you find that the Start Menu shortcuts are unavailable. What's more, all the files in the Shared Documents folder are missing. Further, the default program templates and setting stored in the Default and All users folder too are not there. And you wonder, what could possibly be wrong?...

Amongst the various versions of Windows, the most used ones are Windows XP and Windows Vista. Despite the fact that Vista was a successor to XP, there are a number of differences that exist between the two. Owing to this, at times, users face a lot of problem. And, in worst situations, they even end up losing their vital data. In such situations, they have no option but to opt for Windows data recovery.

Consider, you have a Windows Vista installed computer, and you use it to partition your hard disk drive. You install XP on another partition. The Setup shows with the text-mode part that the process has successfully been completed. But, on trying to restart the computer, it cannot be done successfully to enter the graphical mode of the setup process, and you find yourself stuck with the following message: 'Error loading operating system'

On trying to use sysprep image of XP professional, you'll find that the system will restart incessantly...

I have always relied on a Windows operating system. And like me, there are many other people who completely rely on Windows for all their personal and professional work. But after repeated usage, including creating of new file, addition of data to a file, or deletion of file or information may lead to fragmentation of data, which slows the computer system at hand. Running defragmentation programs becomes need of the hour, but sometimes leads to unexpected data loss situations. If such a situation is encountered, then the user has little option but to opt for Windows data recovery using updated backups. However, if backups are unavailable, then the user has to opt for partition recovery software.

Does this mean that a user should not run defragmentation on the system? Or, are there some situations that do not allow defragmentation to be carried out properly? And, what should be done by a user, if he/she is facing data loss after the defragmentation of the disk! Let use analyze the same in this article!...

When a Windows Vista system is started, first of all, it loads the BIOS (Basic Input/Output System) of the system. In this, the MBR (Master Boot Record) in the storage media is loaded that is followed by other procedures. However, all these procedures are entirely different from the ones followed in the earlier versions of Windows Vista. Due to this, when you make your system a dual boot system certain complications are bound to occur, which make your system inaccessible. Such situations demand for the use of a third-party Windows partition recovery software to recover Windows partition.

Taking a real-life example consideration in which you have installed Windows XP in a system that already has Windows Vista to make it a dual-boot system. However, when you start the system you are unable to boot the Windows Vista system, which contains all the valuable data.

Cause:...

Are you willing to convert your FAT32 file system to the NTFS file system? Then you should create complete backup of your significant data before proceeding. If you convert file system during Sysprep cloning process and partition that is being converted does not have null (blank) label, conversion may not complete successfully. Depending upon the conversion method, either an error occurs that disappears before it can be read or you do not encounter any error. The partition becomes inaccessible after unsuccessful conversion and you face partition loss. In order to recover inaccessible or lost partitions in such cases, you have to recover partition using appropriate tools.

If you are using the Sysprep method in conjunction with an altered Sysprep.inf file and add the below line to section, the conversion can not complete successfully:

“[UNATTEND] FileSystem=ConvertNTFS”...

Disk formatting or hard drive formatting is a process of initializing the hard drive to prepare it for storing data. It sets up a new and empty file system on your hard drive that helps the operating system to store, organize, and manipulate data on the disk. You can setup multiple file systems while formatting the disk. In Microsoft Windows operating system based computer, you can form the disk during Setup or by using Fdisk utility. Formatting can also be done for a hard drive that is currently in use for storing data. This process is usually called reformatting, which removes all the disk partitions and stored data, leading to critical partition loss situations. This problem requires partition recovery software to be fixed, if there is no valid backup in place.

The disk formatting is broadly categorized in the following two categories:

Low-level Formatting- This type of formatting is generally done on older hard drives. It is pretty slow and time-consuming process. The process checks all the sectors of hard drive and verify them...

In the Windows NT and later systems, the HAL (Hardware Abstraction Layer) file acts as the layer between the various software drivers that communicate with the hardware components. In addition, this file is needed when the system is to be booted. However, when this file gets corrupt the system does not boot. In such cases, you should try to rebuild its partition using restorative methods. If any of the methods is unable to fix the problem, then the best way to address the situation is by using a third-party partition recovery software to recover partition and start the system.

Let's take an instance where you are unable to start your Windows XP Service Pack 2 system. An error message is displayed in this situation, which is similar to the following message:

“Windows could not start because the following file is missing or corrupt. Windows root\system32\hal.dll. Please re-install a copy of the above file.”

Cause:...

Disk partitioning is referred as the term that is used to divide the hard disk into several (at least two) logically separated storage spaces, called partitions. These partitions are useful in many aspects such as creating separate space for user files and program files, keeping frequently used data close to each other, having a separate area for virtual memory swapping/paging, etc. However, at times there may be some problems with the partitions, which at times even disable the computer from starting. Such problems usually arise due to various reasons that are discussed later in this article. In such scenarios, you should use appropriate corrective measures to rectify the problem. However, if you are unable to solve the problem then you should use a third-party partition recovery software to recover partition.

There could be the following reasons because of which the Windows partitions could be lost or get corrupted:...