This quick step guide describes how to unhide recovery partition on your hard drive. It was tested on a Windows Vista machine with a Basic disk.
DiskPart command line syntax and parameters can be found on Microsoft documentation page.
Unhide Recovery Partition
- Start Disk Management (diskmgmt.msc) on your computer and take a closer look at your hard disk. Note the disk number and the partitions.
- Start DiskPart and select your disk: DISKPART> select disk 0
- List all partitions: DISKPART> list partition
- Now, select the hidden partition (see step 1) DISKPART> select partition 1
- Type DISKPART> detail partition and verify that it is hidden. Remember the Type value, this will be handy if something goes wrong.
- Set the type of the hidden partition to 07. Type DISKPART> set id = 07 override
- If everything goes ok, you will receive the following message “Diskpart successfully set the partition ID.“
- All done. Type Exit to close DiskPart.
- Check the Disk Management to see witch drive letter has been assigned to the recovery partition.
List of partition types:
- 07 = Windows NT NTFS
- 17 = Hidden
- 27 = OEM Recovery
Cheers!
– Marek.Z
Thankyou for great tips.
No problem 🙂
I’m glad it worked for you well.
Cheers!
Marek, My 750Gb drive erases the partition in error. Use the Clean / all command and my two partitions were deleted, please tell me what I can do or which command to use to recover the 2 parts, thanks for your answer. Greetings from Peru. Yerko
Hi Yerko,
I assume you have already run the clean command right? If so, you will probably need 3rd party tools to recover your data. I am afraid that the partition signature is lost and cannot be recovered.
Doesn’t work for me!
The partition I want to unhide is *unknown*. When I typed “list partition” I saw 2 partitions (Partition 1, partition 0). The one I want to unhide is the partition 0 but is type is unknown.
I need help please!
Hi Kenly,
Find that partition letter and run with chkdsk.
Didn’t lose any data
Thanks for this easy solution !
Can I set id=07 for GPT HDD ?
hi..
i was unhiding oem recovery partition so i entered id 07 instead if id 27 in dispart.
so now the window wont start it says press ctrl+alt+delete to restart always.
what shou i do?
Hi,
First, I’m sorry for late response and quite unfortunate you made that typo when unhiding the OEM partition. You can solve this issue with Bootrec.exe tool located on the Windows DVD. For detailed instructions please read the Microsoft KB927392 article.
Cheers!
Marek.Z
No, it works only with MBR. For GPT there are different values.
Very nice post, bro! May be next time you will discover topic deeper?
Hi there,
Sure, if I’ll run into it again, I will definitely update this post 🙂
Cheers!
Enter in windows search box ( this opens command prompt).
Type:
Next:
Then <select disk (?+disk letter with gpt partition?)
Type:
Type: <select partition (+?recovery partition #)
Type:
Type:
You now have access to the WINRE files and folders from the hidden windows recovery partition from your original OEM installation in file explorer.
NICE! You should train those IDIOTIC Sony support reps. They know nothing. They told me there is no way to do this without wiping my entire hard drive clean. They are morons.
unfortunatly i deleted my recovery hdd how to recover this partion i don’t know what ar4 the things inside it??
Hi,
Well, this how to is about hiding the OEM partition. When you delete a partition on your HDD, it’s gone. There are however tools that can recover it for you. Check the Active Partition Recovery toolkit (http://www.partition-recovery.com/).
Hope this will help.
Cheers!
GREAT THANKS!!! Very helpful for dummies like me…
Hey i am following all these steps you told, but it is showing a message in the end ” The specified type is not in correct format”
Plz help me out.
thank u in advance
Hi,
Are you using this on a GPT disk? Check this URL.
http://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/mdt/thread/6f4842da-b992-43e6-bffe-f9c5dc4577a2
I am not getting any solution buddy. And yes i am using this command on a GPT disk..
Hm… too bad… I don’t have a system to test it for you. I suggest you post a question on the Microsoft Technet forum.
You should set Partition type GUID to the correct value. Possible values are here:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GUID_Partition_Table#Partition_type_GUIDs.
For example:
set id=EBD0A0A2-B9E5-4433-87C0-68B6B72699C7
This will unhide your partition.
“List of partition types:
07 = Windows NT NTFS, 17 = Hidden, 27 = OEM Recovery”
can you please tell me the GPT equivalents.
Hi,
The GPT partition types numbers should be the same, at least it was back then in Windows VIsta.
Cheers!
YES, THIS! I can’t find this information anywhere.
My OEMBP partition isn’t showing up in “My PC” still. I’m trying to unhide it so I can delete it. I formatted my drive to get everything off it but the partition still remains, and it still hidden even after changing it to “07”.
What should I do?
Hi Katie,
What Windows version are you using? This blog is based on Windows Vista.
You can also try the Microsoft Forums (http://social.technet.microsoft.com/)
Cheers!
in diskmgmt.msc
right click
select delete volume
it will not let you delete volume C, BTW
i have resized my d drive and after that the recovery partition is not accessible and now i can’t re instal windows from it .
is there is any tool can help my to get it work again.
Yes, you can use DISKPART.
Hope this helps.
Cheers!
Hi ,
I have merged the D drive with other drive and created a new partition(E) using third party tool. Now i want to recover my windows to an initial state,but OneKey Recovery System (Recovery partition) is not working in my Lenovo laptop. Please help me.
Should i need to change the TYPE value of this partition ??
Below is the status of recovery partition:
Partition 3
TYPE: 12
Hidden: Yes
Active:No
Offset in Bytes: 4896713601512
There is no volume associated with this partiton.
sorry rahul,im not a computer tech,and the only commands i know are ,07=win NT NTFS,17=hidden and 27=OEM.
Im running xp and vista,and apparently ,according to marek microsoft use new codes ,and dont give them or the meaning too easily.
sorry.
Hi john,
Thank you for the quick response.
Can you tell me who can help me on this issue ?
Would appreciate your help.
Hi rahul,
im an electronics technician,im as lost with this stuff as any one else,i had to ask the same questions,except my systems are older and more well known,just keep going round the forums ,dont act on the info to quick,wait until the information begins to become similar,so that the eroneous stuff can be discounted ,remember the internet is FULL of experts,when the same repair proceedure crops up,that will most likely be the answer.
thanks. my dad gave me a 160GB hard drive which I use for torrent files, and there was a 20GB lenovo partition that had a whole whackload of exe files with random names, i’m currently in the process of formatting the partition to expand my torrent partition or my data partition. the files were from 2007!
Those files were recovery/system files in case windows fails/reinstall
Dear Marek
I Lost My 2 Partition,s From Diskpart Using clean command Plz Tell How To Recover These Partition,s With My Important Data……..PLz Help
Hi,
If you deleted your partition, there is no way you can get it back imo.
Sorry.
Cheers!
Will this work for asus laptop with windows 8?
Yes, I think so. Windows 8 comes with DISKPART so you should be able to do it. Just remember to run DISKPART as an administrator.
Cheers!
Just what I was looking for to the point step by step instructions. Was able to recover my recovery partition and move to new drive. Not sure why I was not able to clone the drive but your article worked for me and now I have what I had before the problems started thanks.
Hi Marek,
after cloning from a 256GB SSD to the next bigger SSD and some partitioning to make it adopt the new size windows won’t boot.
From a PE I can see that my drive C is marked “hidden”. I tried to run ‘set id=07 override’ but the console just throws me: “The specified type is not in the correct format. For more information on the command type: ‘HELP SET'”
The SSD has GPT/GUID Layout and the Machine boot’s Linux&[M|H]ac(k)OS just fine in UEFI mode. It’s only Windows that refuses to boot!
Can you give an hint?
Fixed it using linux from USB, changed the type rebooted and after windows applied some fixes it works like a charm…
Hi Mirco,
Sorry for late response. Glad you fixed it and thanks for sharing of course 🙂
Cheers!
Hey marek. I’m trying to upgrade a DELL laptop by replacing the 500GB HDD with a 120GB SSD. I’ve cloned over partitions from a PBD recovery image in EaseUs Todo created from the HDD; though in DISKPART the partitions are listed as Extended, Logical and Primary whereas the HDD had OEM, Recovery, etc; one of the partitions itself being a recovery image (~12GB large).
My plan was to clone the OEM and recovery partitions to the SSD, use the remaining space on the SSD as the primary… reboot then execute recovery from the SSD… however when I attempt to boot into the Windows Boot Manager.
I’m trying to figure out what the best way to proceed is.
Do I…
A) delete all the partitions on the SSD, launch diskpart in WinPE and create the partitions before attempting to restore to them? I don’t think this will work because the hidden partitions on the HDD would be flagged read-only?
B) is there a way to set the ID’s using DISKPART and information from technet:
EFI system partition: c12a7328-f81f-11d2-ba4b-00a0c93ec93b
Microsoft Reserved partition: e3c9e316-0b5c-4db8-817d-f92df00215ae
Recovery partition: de94bba4-06d1-4d40-a16a-bfd50179d6ac
Hi,
Basically, do you need the data on the old partition? If not, I would clear the SSD and install Windows on it. The setup will create the partitions automatically.
Hope this helps.
Marek, I’m using Diskpart version 5.1.3565 on Windows XP 32-bit w/ SP3. This version of the tool doesn’t have a set command. It details my partition as “Type: 17, Hidden: Yes” but “There is no volume associated with this partition.” – Do you know what options I might have to unhide this partition? Open-source? Or an updated diskpart that can work on WinXP?
Hi Jose,
I would go with the updated version of diskpart.
Hope this helps.
I am trying to unhide my reserve partition in Windows 8. I am going to move it to my C: because updates are not able to install because of lack of space (so im told). I was informed if i was not going to use Bitlocker i would not need a reserve and could thus move the files to my C:, Boot files and all. I am having trouble unhiding it as i have said. I get this information:
Partition 3
Type: e3c9e316-0b5c-4db8-817d-f92df00215ae
Hidden: Yes
Required: No
Attrib: 0X8000000000000000
Offset in Bytes: 420478976
DISKPART> SET ID=7
The specified type is not in the correct format.
I would either like to resize the partition or just move the files and delete it so my updates can install, As now they are saying “Cannot make changes, Undoing changes” When updating. I have tried SEVERAL third party partitioning tools and NONE have allowed me the option to resize the partition in question. Any and all help would be GREATLY appreciated.
Hi Joshua,
I did not have a chance to test this post on Windows 8 but if you just want to clean up the space to install the Windows updates have a look at the disk cleanup feature “Windows Update Cleanup” as described in this article:
http://www.techrepublic.com/blog/windows-and-office/regain-hard-disk-space-by-using-windows-update-cleanup-in-windows-7-and-8x/
Also, have a look at the Windows cleanup tools like CCleaner.
Hope this helps.
Cheers!
dear sir i am making recovery partiton but its not make and i try too much but i dont know why u can help me sir plzzz
Hi,
Are you trying to create a recovery partition? This blog post is about removing one…
dear sir i am forward the cmd line which is i am traying to making the partiton but its not create by mee i dnt know why u can help me sir plz
diskpart:
select disk 0:
clean:
create partiton primary size=16000
format fs-ntfs quick label=recovery
set id-27
assign letter-r
create partition primary size-300
active
format fs-ntfs quick label-system
assign letter-s
create partition primary
format fs-ntfs quick label-windows
assign letter-c
exit
Hi,
What windows version are you using? Is the DiskPart syntax correct? There may be some changes in other Windows versions. This blog was written for the Windows Vista OS. Unfortunately I am not able to test it on other system at the moment so I suggest you try the Microsoft community forum (http://social.technet.microsoft.com/)
Hope this helps.
How to convert type e3c9e316-0b5c-4db8-817d-f92df00215ae to de94bba4-06d1-4d40-a1a6-bfd50179d6ac
while doing command set id=de94bba4-06d1-4d40-a1a6-bfd50179d6ac
i am getting error
“Virtual Disk Service error:
This operation is not supported on MSR partitions.”
Please help i accidently done it , i want to revert back
Hi i badly needed your help…
I was going to format and part my flashdrive but accidentaly chosen drive d.. what should i do?
Can i still recover my files from drive d?
Help me please
Hi Ron,
Did you already committed the changes? If so, you’ll need a data recovery software to get your data back.
Hope this help.
Hi Ron,
Can you help me? i try to reinstall windows 8 but there is no partition on windows setup.
and when I’m using diskpart then list disk, it said “There are no fixed disks to show”
I have no idea how to fix it T-T
Thanks,
This worked, I now have a much needed free 25gig fat32 partition that I can now use for Acronis Image files.
One stupid question though, how can i get it hidden again and have it work with the boot key? I saved all the files on a thumb drive just in case i ever give away the computer, the person can restore it again with the OEM’s F9 key.
I think you can hid it again with 17 when you set the ID on the disk.
Cheers!
Thanks Marek, you been a great help;
So I would repeat the process with…
set id = 17 override
I googled (re-hide OEM partition) and someone said set it to 12.
but anyway, I will give 17 a try. Thanks again
Yes, that’s what I assumed. But check the Windows ID’s depending on your OS version. They may changed it.
Good luck!
Cheers!
Yes 17 works on windows 10…
set id = 7 override un-hides it
set id = 17 override hides it again
Thanks Marek!
Awesome! Thanks for sharing Mark 🙂
Hi Marek, I know this technique 07-unhide/17-hide works on Lagecy/MBR disk. What about GPT disk (which accounts for 80% of modern computers now)? Thanks, Josh
Hello, I have a question: Is there anyway to recreate an OEM partition? I have 8.01GB of unallocated space because I accidently deleted the OEM partition using diskpart. That partition was dedicated to Intel Rapid Start techonology an I would like to have it back so I can configure it again and make it work. I’m on GPT format
Hi,
If you haven’t commit any changes, you should set the flag 27 back on the partition. Otherwise reinstall I think…
Cheers!
i am having a windows 8.1 single language x64 os on my lenovo notebook. I have 1 TB of harddisk and having 426GB for c and 458 for F (where i have all my data ). Now a Month ago i installed ubuntu on my laptop but i didn’t create a new partition so new drive is created over there on my disk 0 . Now my f drive is not getting opened in windows whereas over linux its running . On windows it is asking me to format disk. It is a OEM partition . Now what should i do.
If you want to keep the Unbuntu on your laptop, you should leave the partitions as is. If you want to savely remove Ubuntu from your system, I suggest you do a google search on how to do it.
Good luck!
Hi Marek,
I have an external drive that is showing a 200MB EFI Hidden Partition and a 300GB FAT32 Partiton in Disk Manager in Windows. I cannot assign drive letters to either of these partitions, the options are greyed out.
If I go into DISKPART it only shows me the 200MB EFI Partition, but I need to be able to see the second partition of 300GB again as it has a lot of important files on it. Is there any way to make this second partition visible again to be able to assign a drive letter to it and access the information on it?
Thank you for all this info. I had long been looking for a way to unhide the recovery partition on a VAIO laptop.
I degraded my windows 10 to windows7 and came to know that my healthy recovery partition,oem,efi were gone after installing windows 10 in preinstalled windows 7,though i lost them i can see their sizes available free in disk management naming,basic disk(oem,efi,healthy recovery)of sizes 260mb,260mb,15.53gb,so how to restore them with data given default by manfacturer it can help me in restoring orginal factory settings if my os crashed without need of carrying recovery media dvds with me.
Reply mee soon as possible
I think that the only way to restore the original disk layout as you describe is by using the original Windows 7 DVD that was shipped with your machine. Reinstall Windows 7 from the original media and it should recreate the partitions.
Good luck!
Cheers!
Hi, I accidentally merged my external hard drive partition with recovery partition now all my drive is showing as recovery… It’s showing only in disk management my hard drive does not appear in THIS PC… I tried the above method but set Id did not work… It’s says the specific format is not right… I’m using windows 10… Pls help …also the duke system is displayed as RAW when running detailed partition…
Too pool!
Lets do:
Run->cmd
type: diskpart
type: list disk
type: select disk 0 (or your number disk)
type: list partition
type: select partition [n] – with [n] is your partition which you want assign
type: assign
OK. Lets see you disk on your computer!
if you want to hide that disk you have assign. type:remove letter=[n]
have fun!
Thanks for sharing! 🙂
Cheers!
Hi Vinh, the purpose of assigning a letter to a hidden partition so that it will appear in Windows Explorer to manipulation. Yes, this method works in Legacy/MBR disk like in my old Windows 7 ThinkPad T410. I can unhide the recovery partition to make some changes in the files there. But on my ThinkPad T460p with Windows 8.1 in GPT mode, I can still unhide my recovery partition (12.8GB used) using this method, but when I click on this unhidden recovery partition, it’s empty, I don’t see nothing there!!! So this unhide/hide method is meaningless here. Do you happen to know how to open this unhidden recovery partition? Thanks, Josh
Hi Marek,
I unhid my recovery partition and the drive path changed(hidden E: to D:). Now im having issues starting my system because it keeps showing the blue recovery screen and error 0xc00000f. I had to enable legacy support to boot my system but i fear other issues may arise again as regards recovery/booting. I would like to return the drive back to its original state, hidden as it was to avoid this error. Any assistance would be greatly appreciated, please note that the drive is still there, its is now showing under my Computer, not deleted.
Akemeann.
Hi,
If you can still access your drive, you should reverse the drive to OEM by setting the 027 flag as described in the procedure. If you still can not boot your machine, I suggest the repair option when you boot from Windows DVD.
Hope this helps.
Cheers!
I have a question, in my pc SONY there is a partition OEM, its to reset to factory settings, but lately my hard disk is breaking down (650Gb), so I bought a new hard disk (1Tb), I tried to copy this partition to other disk, but seems imposible, I tried to clone disk, but the OEM partition get into NTFS, so I cant figure out how to solve this. there is a way to transform OEM to NTFS in order to copy these files, and later to the new disk transform NTFS to OEM, Or there is another way to my issue. Hope this helps. Greetings.
I have tried all those step, but at the last step after I type: set id =07 override, it then shows me “the specified type is not in the correct format ”
Pls help me
Hi,
Your problem seems similar to the following:
https://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/6f4842da-b992-43e6-bffe-f9c5dc4577a2/diskpart-set-id-command-not-working?forum=mdt
Have a look at this post.
Hope this helps.
Cheers!
Hi,
I have a 32GB SanDisk Ultra Micro SD Card. It suddenly stopped working in my phone (Motorola Moto G). It told me to reinsert the micro SD card, I dod so and it just says that the card isn’t inserted. I’ve reinserted it several times and turned my phone on/off on multiple occasions in hope that it will register the micro SD card. When I first got the micro SD card it was formatted to my phone so I could put more apps on the micro SD card.
I’ve been looking for 4 hours straight on hour to fix it.
Tried to format it just be right-clicking it. No luck.
I also tried to use cmd and disk management to create a new primary partition (as instructed to do so by various websites online. However I just get the error message;
“Virtual Disk Service error: The operation is not supported on a non-empty removable disk”
I then looked at details for each partition. As I have two partitions for my micro SD card which are listed as follows;
Partition ### Type Size Offset
———————- —————– ———— ———–
Partition 1 Unknown 16 MB 1024 KB
Partition 0 Unknown 28 GB 17 MB
Details of each partition;
Partition 1
Type: 19a710a2-b3ca-11e4-b026-10604b889dcf
Hidden: Yes
Required: No
Attrib: 0000000000000000
Offset in Bytes: 1048576
There is no volume associated with this partition
Partition 0
Type: 193d1ea4-b3ca-11e4-b075-10604b889dcf
Hidden: Yes
Required: No
Attrib 0000000000000000
Offset in Bytes: 17825792
There is no volume associated with this partition
Ive tried deleting both partitions, it says they’re delete on cmd but do not delete (attempted this on disk manager too). It also says my disk is unusable.
I also tried chkdsc and it says the format is RAW which is why I’m trying to format it
It wouldn’t let me set id=07, but would set id=D3BFE2DE-3DAF-11DF-BA40-E3A556D89593 (from the link you posted previously) however it seems there’s no change at all
I’m not a computer expert, but it’s now looking like my micro SD card is corrupted and I cant do anything about it, I’ve already accepted that I’ve lost everything on the SD card, however I have my photos/videos automatically backed up so I’m not bothered about restoring the micro SD card, I just want it to work in my phone again
Please help me ASAP, I don’t really want to buy another SD card if I’m honest
Thanks
Hi,
Sorry but this blog is not mentioned for partitioning/formatting SD cards. I suggest you contact your phone manufacturer.
Hht.
The hdd is still there but i did the process that u told me and the partition still being hidden every time i start the windows. Is my hard disk broken?
I would like to clarify some points before i do anything ,other than check my HDD with easeus data recovery tool(free version),to make sure all data is still intact.
If i use the disk management/diskpart command line “DISKPART> set id = 07 override” , the 07 code will change my HDD back to a “normal” readable drive,with the data,movies etc intact?.
I read above/below of a mistake ,where 07 is typed instead of 27.
My goal is to access the drive again with no deleting of the drive,there are in fact two needing sorted ,as i found out vista can change the drive to EISA ,after a factory reset.
The drives affected are NOT boot drives they do NOT contain or should not contain hidden areas/partitions,just extra storage as internal HDDs.
Most posts are for boot HDDs,and i feel i should make this clear,they are 1.5TB and 2TB in size,and at the moment i have easeus data recovery searching through them,which i am doing to make sure the drive/s are still intact.
I will be fumbling in the dark on this,and need to clarify all measures first before i attempt this.
I have back up dvds,two sets one from the time i purchased my pc and a set done after this happened,also a backup driver dvd made,it’s acer aspire vista 32bit Home Premium,sp1.
Also i downloaded sp2 and it seems slower now,it’s a quad core proccessor,with a nvidia video card,it’s not a world beater ,but it was quite quick,and some games are exibiting some lag now and then,should i do another reset and leave it as sp1,my worry on this is maybe the sp2 download needs other updates,and as microsoft are’nt supporting vista now,i may have gone too far ahead of the updates it has,to then install sp2.
Failing this i could possibly get a new sp2 vista disc on ebay with ALL rellevant updates,but then i’d have to install all the hardware drivers.
OR upgrade to a newer opperating system that can run the programs vista can run,if possible.
cheers
Hi,
I’e changed the formatting of the partitions part so there should be no confusion now.
In your case, I think I would go for a new OS. This procedure should also work on the newer Windows OS’s but I haven’t tested it yet. Also, MS won’t give you the partition set ID’s as they are reserved for OEMs.
hth
Cheers!
hi,
i looked around and cant see any questions in “how to” section ,so i;ll ask and if you dont mind point me to or give the answer.
As you stated i should upgrade the OS of my pc,this is the way im thinking too,but,there are a few things i need to sort out.
1/ i want a dual boot system.
2/i want to upgrade my graphics card to a GEforce GTX650 ,the Geforce GTX 650 supports xp vista and win7 so this will be the limit as the rest of the system is a bit older now,i have it here in the box,also an asus BW-16D1HT blue-ray writer,plus i have a 780W G7 power extreme power supply to add in.
3/ i want to have the OS’s both on SSD of the best quality,even on HDDs then copy the OS’s over in time,the SSDs should be very long lasting,should i use server types or comsumer.
4/ if i can keep both video card fitted i will,otherwise i will need to instal the new graphics card drivers for both systems,how will this affect my backup partition,and new back up discs will need to be made,will my partition be up dated or be as when it left the factory.
5/here are the specs as it sits-
acer aspire M5201,
vista home premium 32bit ,sp1(i up graded to sp2,but it factory resets to sp1,i would like to have sp2 on the recovery discs etc).
AMD phenom 9550 quad core 2.20GHz
8.00GB ram.
Nvidia Geforce 9500 GS graphics card
I dont know yet what win7 ram limit is compared to the ram installed so far,i would like to have win7 pro ,with the xp virtual system for older software i have,
i wonder if win 8 or 10 can be added as a bootable OS,if the system can opperate it,if not i may get a new machine as well,but this one is too good to junk,as i use the vista,and still use the dell duo optiplex xp sp3 alot for design programs ,which cost more than any of my pcs,put together.
So im sure you can see the sort of thing i want to aim for,dual boot with dual SSDs for each OS,and graphics,power and blue ray upgrade with recovery partitions and recovery discs,plus the old system ,but as the now sp2 OS in vista.
Im sure each has been covered,and it would be clear i will need to source new win7+virtual drive+virtual xpdiscs,no down loads if i can help it.
sorry for such a long question,as it is multi pointed ,but to the accumulated end result of one pc.
Thanks.
Hi,
This is a bit difficult to answer for me since I am not a hardware expert 🙂
However, dual boot Windows system is a bit unusual. I mostly worked with Linux/Windows based dual boot systems but that was a long time ago. Anyway, if you create 2 separate partitions on your new disk, you should be able to install every OS separately. Just make sure that you select the correct partition during the installation and remember to install the older OS first.
Hope this helps
Cheers!
thanks for the help here,after the factory reset the visti pc is way too slow,im reading on the net it can be the cpu over heating,which the pcs performance checker says is ok ,or the HDD is needing a renew,i understand that youre not a hardware tech,but can i clone my OS AND recovery partition to a new SSD,i have recovery dvds made,two sets,and a driver backup dvd,im getting too many mixed results from other forums,acronis can clone,i know that ,but i dont know if it can clone recovery partitions.
At this point,seeing as i have unhid a EISA locked HDD ,and the recovery partition is hidden to stop any damage ,could the recovery be unhid to clone then rehidden ,just a thought ,seeing as it’s all data,and thats what computers move and copy.
I thought this may be more pertinent as it’s a software question,if i can do this ,then i may do two and up grade one of them to win7,8 or 10,i would have liked the win7 ultimate as it had a xp add on,but ive missed the boat on that one as MS no longer give up dates for win7(i think).
many thanks.
jh.
I lost my hard disk drive(new volume I and new volume J).Can I get my lost drives ?
hi ,got the hidden drive partitions back to normal,so a big thank you for the help.
I think the OS needs upgrading too,better yet a dual boot system,as my acer aspire M5201 is a bit higher end than my dell duo optiplex,i also have some new hard ware for the acer,as this question was for the disk manager ,i’ll post the questions for my upgrade on another post.
Hey, just reinstalled Windows 7 and then it inadvertently changed my storage hard drive into a 300GB recovery partition. Your guide helped me get that partition back along with all it’s data so thank you very much!
Protip: Disconnect every hard drive except the drive you’re installing Windows 7 on to avoid things like this.
hi ,
i cloned my HDD in vista home premium 32bit to a new 2TB HDD,then performed a factory reset ,allowed it to update to sp2,installed the programs i want to have on it,making sure it is as clean a set up as possible.
I bought a samsung EVO850 500GB SSD,i did not format the drive and tried to clone it using macrium,which would not boot,surprise surprise,so i unhid the oem partition and formated the SSD,cloned the disk,in my computer a 15GB visible OEM p[artition is there,in disk management it is not there,the 15GB OEM recovery partition is code 27 IESA hidden,only two partitions are there,in diskpart only two partitions are in disk “0”,no other drives are connected.
So if a “drive D” is viewable in “my computer” and is a 15GB recovery partition,i also have a hidden partition for recovery along with “DRIVE C” as my OS partition.
It booted up as it is the SSD which is allowing me to be here to type this message,15GB is ghosted somewhere,and i cant find it ,other than in “my computer”.
I would have thought the drive would have wiped all data when i properly formated it,also making the EISA recovery “07” visible.
Have you any idea what may be going on,i dont mind if i have to re-clone the SSD from the HDD again,as long as it gets my 15GB of SSD back.
Pease can you help,or guide me to some helpfull information regarding this ,as i had no problem cloning the HDD,also seeing as these SSDs are so much more expensive GB for GB.
Thanks.
Difficult to say, did you created a BASIC disk? Because the procedure in my blog only works on basic disks.
hi marek,i have done more research and apparently SSDs dont have trim support on vista,so i will have to replace the SSD with a wd black HDD for some decent drive performance,and use the SSD in a win 7,8 or 10 pc.
The HDDs i cloned all worked perfectly,i also have a 3TB HDD which i cant use until i get a new OS pc,damn it.
This said ,ive learned some stuff,im may clone two vista HDDs and up-grade one of them to win 7,8,10,as opposed to a complete install disk….sneaky.
I have a dell duo core pc running xp,so i can clone that too,might name it dolly.
cheers.
Hi, my system reserved partition had corrupted and is can’t start up .I had tried bootrec,rebuildbcd,fixmbr Like these commands.I can’t get the better result.I am im need of your help to recover my PC…
Waiting for your reply…
As far as i am aware ,if the recovery partition is corrupted and you do not have recovery dvds or OS on a usb stick etc,then you may need to obtain a new OS cd,if however the the system boots ,but wont reset to factory via the recovery partition ,clone the HDD or SSD to another drive so at least the OS can be saved if the original drive fails completely through damage etc.
Hi Marek,
I lost my data drive after choosing basic repair of windows 7 through the Samsung recovery 5 option. Once it completed, the D: partition disappeared and under disk management showed up as a recovery partition of 300GB. I successfully followed the steps above and once I opened Disk Management, it didn’t have a name attached to it (as in D:) it also showed as Raw instead of ntfs. I restarted the laptop and then D: appeared but when I try to access it, it says I need to format the disc before I can use it because the volume does not contain a recognised file system. Does this mean all my importantant data and photos are gone forever? Is there a way to convert it back to ntfs without loosing my data?
Cheers,
Mark
Hi Mark,
It is too late I am afraid. When you started the recovery process of your Windows 7, the tool probably wiped your HDD and created a new partition layout overwriting saved data. You could try some data recovery tools but I am afraid that they won’t do much. Overwritten data is gone forever.
– Marek.Z
Hi Marek,
Much appreciate you getting back to me.
Good news! After many hours of googling and reading, I managed to recover the partition using partition wizard thankfully! Once it did the scan, the missing partition came up and I allowed it to overwrite the recovery partition that windows had created.
Previous full system recovery using the Samsung Recovery 5 program never affected the data partition so I have no idea why the repair option did.
I’m just grateful I have all my pictures, videos, files, etc back! 🙂
Cheers,
Mark
Oh man, you are lucky! 🙂
Glad you got your files back!
Cheers!
Trying to open a partition on external hard drive, it shows j:\ is not accessible the volume does not contain a recognized file system.
Plz help
Quick tip for anyone who has an older, perhaps XP-era laptop, if the partition doesn’t show up using 07: try using 0b for the ID (FAT32); sometimes they are formatted in this way instead of NTFS. (-:
How do you find my recovery partition files in Windows 8 laptop? I want to reset my computer so I can upgrade to 10. Currently, I cannot upgrade to 10 because of “missing files” and everytime I create a “recovery disk” it doesn’t work. What should I do?
If you have a recovery partition, it should be visible in your disk management console.
Cheers!
i use vista and xp,in vista the recovery discs do not replace the recovery partition,at least on my pc.
I then reset to factory by acer managemant,then copied the dard disc to a second hard disk using macrium reflect,this gives me a copy of everything ,vista ,files ,recovery partition,either HDD can be used,so if then i want to upgrade to win7 i can use a second system copy HDD without losing the old system,even have a dual boot pc.
As i don’t know your pc type or maker etc,this is the best advice i can give,though it is a good idea to make a copy of your HDD,especialy if it is a SSD,then you can keep the system far longer if one HDD/SSD fails,just unplug and replace with a drive off the shelf.
Hi, i have a recovery partition of around 20gb on hdd, wanted to reset my pc. so when i try to enter system recovery it fails showing error code. WHen i use HP recovery manager to reset it says unable to find the recovery media. I contacted the HP reps, and they say my os i corrupt along with my recovery partition. but i am able to explore the partition using minitool partition wiz. please help me how i can recover the partition and original os from it. HP reps suggest me to buy the windows media disks at chargeable price. please let me know if there is anyway i could get things working
Hi, what Windows version are you running?
Marek i followed your info to the letter to ‘activate hidden partition’
1st it said it was not hidden, but it actually is as it does not show up on computer. Then when i set id =7 override it said this:
diskpart has found an error incorrect function.
Now i have been trying to get this laptop back to original condition ‘it works beautifully too'[ 2009] but nothing i do can get me the hidden partition or recovery partition. Tried everything easeus, minitool ect but they all state volume only 465 GB But i know it is 500 GB tested this on testdisk and other programs, it didn’t work either only gave correct volume then i tried this solution where i out in all these numbers it failed too [sorry deleted the numbers before i saw this post]
you know these numbers like those of your laptop ID?
Anyway in the local parlance i believe i’m F****D! still computer runs beautifully, because i have learned so much trying to get this damned thing back to the OEM recovery Samsung. [just for the hell of it i might add as the computer is running smooth as hell. Also I reinstall religiously
But if you got any other cracking advice on how i can help, for instance even in cmd. i cannot find full volume there is always 29.9 GB missing as mentioned in testdisc….i really want to DBAN its ass…just for the hell of it.
so u got any bright ideas.
mine is this: I put it into a shop for re[pair when i knew little of computers! And i think he sealed of the recovery partition thats why i cant get at it….
Nila
Hi,
Well, difficult to say. Could be that it have been sealed of but I have no idea how. Since you are using Windows 7, you still have an original Windows 7 image? If so, backup your data and reinstall Windows. This will wipe out the disk of any partitions and will create a new partition layout.
Hope this helps.
Cheers!
you can’t be doing it properly,i had the same issues,either not showing a wanted partition or showing a partition that should be hidden ,you cannot seal off a partition to never be accessed again,computers don’t work like that,they can be frustrating ,but they only do as you ask,or don’t if you don’t ask properly,like using the enter key after a command.
good luck
Ps Marek I’m using windows 7..as to comment posted NILA SIZAN
Hi,
I am using sandisk 32GB memory card. From few days i am not using it and kept aside.
After some days i tried to connect to my mobile and PC it asked for format. But i got the error windows unable to format sd card. Tried with google help through disk Manager, diskpart, and few third party tools. But no success. Even i have removed the partitions and it is only showing 30MB as UN allocated memory. The sd card is getting detected by PC but not visible in My Computers. Can you please help.
Thanks in Advance..
Hi,
To be honest, I have no idea… maybe someone else reading this topic?
Hi Marek
I have my personal photos in one of local disk E ,after reinstalling windows -local disk E turn into OEM partition,so I can’t access that one ,
Pls tell me how to get those photos in that partition
Hi,
Do you mean local disk E as a logical partition or physical media? If you already reinstalled Windows and the setup repartitioned your system, the data is lost. You could try to recover it using a 3rd party recovery tool.
Hope this helps.
Hi Marek
Local disk E is a logical partition,I can see the memory of the disk in disk management as the OEM partition,so it mean that data inside the disk is safe right
Well, afaik, when you reinstall Windows, the hard disk is repartitioned and the data is overwritten. So, I don’t think that your old data is still there.
Hi Marek
How can use partition in internet connection i want divide to my 8 PC my 16mbs
Hi,
I’m sorry, I don’t understand your question.
HI MAREK
I am having a hard time assigning volume to recovery partition.
I’m using windows 10 home in lenovo flex 4.
i tried the steps written but it didn’t help.
it says the specified type is not in the correct format.
i wanted to post screen shots too but couldn’t find how to.
I have no idea if this procedure works on Win 10. I assume it should work but maybe you should ask for help at the Microsoft forum?
Hope this helps.
Hey Marek,
thanks for the article, however, in my Lenovo ideapad, i have that hidden drive that have the recovery windows with the default type of 12, i changed it to 07 and it showed up but am still unable to boot from it, as i was unable to do so before changing it. I even tried to copy all the files in that drive to a USB memory and boot from it with no luck.
will appreciate any help.
hi,
i recovered partition with EaseUS software.but everything that recovered is corrupted.videos are not playing & softwares are not running..plz tell me what am i supposed to do?
A neighbor asked me to look at his Dell laptop b/c ts Win 7 Home Premium OS was acting like it was infected and wouldn’t update. He was not the original owner/buyer, but said a friend gave it to him. I first used ClamWin to scan his OS, that I installed on one of my thumbdrives, since the Win Defender and Microsoft Security Essentials were both corrupted and not updated as well. The scan revealed over 1000 infected files, which were quarantined, then I deleted by using Clam Sentinel. I also used SuperAntiSpyware, Malwarebytes, Spybot S&D, and everal othe adware/malware/spyware programs to delouse his OS.
But to no avail, b/c after rebooting, much of the malware had returned, even managing to infect my thumbdrive as well. So after learning that his laptop originally had Vista Business x64 installed, I downloaded that from MS using the laptop’s key, saved his personal files, and then used my Seagate HDD format disk that matched his 120 GB HDD to overwrite the entire drive with 0s, which took a couple hours to complete. Then reformatted with 4 equal primary 30 GB NTFS partions, then installed the ‘clean” Vista OS with and w/o permitting online updates. Both were CORRUPTED with malware, and with registry/essential Windows files permissions changedd. The OS also showed only 111.8 of the 120 GB HDD as accessible….which means….that the hidden Recovery partition is corrupted and in MS DOS formatting. Nothing that I have tried to use will remove it….GParted, Darik’s Boot and Nuke, Partition Magic, ect….
So there are other a few other things that I could try…like flashing the BIOS with an update, using Intel’s tools to update the motherboard/CPU, or physically removing the HDD, putting it into an external enclosure. and reformatting with my own laptop, but I am not going to pay for it, since all I have are a few old PATA enclosures for full-sized tower PCs. My neighbor seems to think that his 8+ year old Intel x64 dual core 2 GB memory Dell Vista Business Latitude 820 laptop, that was mediocre @ best when new, still has value…haha…I have already spent waay too much time on tryig to delouse it, although admittedly I do enjoy a challenge…
Hi Marek.
I have a toshiba USB drive 64 GB. This drive is right protected, the File system (Fs) is RAW. I am unable to format the drive or unable to remove right protect. Is there a way to recover the USB drive. I even did with DiskPart, the right protect was cleared and is come back again. Your help would be appreciated.
Hi,
I am not sure, never tried to recover a USB drive. You should be able to format it though, right?
hth
Cheers!
I accidentally deleted my Local disk D with Diskpart i can’t recover it plz help
It depends, did you closed diskpart and rebooted the machine? If so, I am afraid it is lost and you will need other 3rd party tools to recover it.
Hi, I have a Samsung series 5 ultrabook ~2012 with 240GB SSD. It has a 40GB recovery partition but I don’t know how much is being used. I want to reallocate any of its unused space. Has anyone used the DISKPART > COMPACT command to compact a rec partition? I don’t know if the partition will be usable/intact after COMPACT ing it.
Hi,
I haven’t used the COMPACT command but maybe this will help?
https://www.disk-partition.com/diskpart/shrink-volume-4125.html
Cheers!
Thanks Mate! worked like a charm! EazyPc!
This save’s my day. I have select wrong drive in diskpart and performed a clean as I return at my computer My drive D: was gone! and I panic cause all my backups was there and its very confidential all my work files are save at D:.. i Search for solution and I just Follow this instruction and I have retrieved my lost files.. Thank you very much Marek.
Glad this helped you out!
Cheers! 🙂
Hello:
I have a 1TB external hard drive (f:) as my backup. While i tried to upgrade my system, Windows 7, to 10 i made the mistake of making the bootable the f: drive (didnt know it was this way, i thought it was gonna download an exe). The PC crashed during the process, after that i look my HD was the bootable goles, but only with a 40gb partition the other capacity is not found. . So the questions are:
1.- is my data lost? Over 500 gb
2.- what can i do to recover my info.
Please, i’m in despair
If you have One solution, please be detailed.
Hi,
So, I’ll try to answer as best as I can here.
1. Difficult to say, what’s been formated and overwitten by the Windows installer is lost.
2. There might be some data still left on your 1TB drive and might be recoverable with a 3rd party recovery tool.
Disconnect the 1TB drive, install Windows, connect your 1TB drive and see what is in there. If it appears empty, google for “recover data from formatted hard drive”. There are a lot of free/paid options out there.
Hope this helps.
Lesson learned – always disconnect any external HDD’s when upgrading/installing new OS 😉
Cheers!
oUCH Lesson learned.
I tought i was downloading an executable, my mistake. Windows was creting a bootable disc for installation. It helps to asign a Character to drive for scanning with a 3rd recovery software. Some pictures only, not the other files as XLS, DOC, RAR or PDF
Thanks for the comment, support and tips. Best regards ansd success.
Can any one help me whenever i open create recovery it says we can’t create a recovery drive on this pc….please help me
This was helpful, I deleted the partition and then I was able to see it as last (unallocated) and then right click and format it.
I am having a simpler problem my info is hidden but when I do these steps it says that the specified type is not in the correct format. It is exFAT type partition status is healthy but my info is hidden? Any help?
Hii, My two drives data 550 GB automatically deleted. so tell me please how to recover my completely data.
Wow thanks mark z you safe my slot…
My disk d came back intact after I mistakenly perform a discount clean…
God bless you brother 🙏👍
i hid my 500 gb hdd and now its not even showing at diskpart. i tried formatting but it still does not show up. Its left with me just 297gb. How do i get the 500gb back. Its an HP ENVY X360 m6-aq103dx