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4 Ways to Recover NTFS Partition without Losing Data

Updated on Monday, January 29, 2024

iBoysoft author Jessica Shee

Written by

Jessica Shee

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How to Recover NTFS Partition without Losing Data

Summary: This article from iBoysoft mainly talks about how to recover deleted or lost NTFS partitions without data loss. The methods for NTFS partition recovery include using TestDisk, iBoysoft Data Recovery for Windows, DiskPart, CHKDSK, and data recovery service.

How to recover NTFS partition without losing data

"I lost the D-partition in My Computer. I went to Disk Management and found it available as free space. So I tried to make it NTFS, but I had to format the drive and I don't want to, since it will erase my data. Does anyone know how I can restore my partition without losing my data?" -- from superuser.com

You save a lot of important information from your career, education, and social life on a computer and portable devices as everything becomes digital. If you don't have the most recent data backup, for Windows users, losing an entire NTFS partition or all of the NTFS partitions on a drive might cause significant data loss.

This article will introduce 4 ways for NTFS partition recovery and tell you how to recover an NTFS partition without losing data.

Table of Contents:

Can data be recovered from a deleted or lost NTFS partition?

Yes, lost data from a deleted or lost NTFS partition can be recovered through whole NTFS partition restoration or reliable data recovery software. However, the success rate of data recovery varies depending on how long ago the partition was lost and how the drive has been used afterward. If have overwritten your partition with new data, the chance of successful data recovery from a deleted NTFS partition will be very slim.

You should quit using the drive containing the lost NTFS partition and perform recovery as soon as you realize your NTFS partition disappears. Various methods prove to be quite effective in recovering lost NTFS partitions. Follow them one by one to recover your NTFS partition without data loss.

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#1 Restoring NTFS partition with TestDisk

TestDisk is a free and open-source partition recovery tool that proves to be powerful in recovering lost partitions n Windows and making non-booting disks bootable. TestDisk primarily can fix deleted or damaged NTFS or FAT partition tables to recover missing partitions.

Given its command-line interface, TestDisk is challenging to use for novices, but if you adhere to our guidelines you should have no problems.

 1.  Download the latest version of TestDisk software and exact the contents of the zipped files on your Windows computer. The TestDisk software works well for all versions of Windows operating systems.

Download testdisk

2.  Open the testdisk_win. If Windows warns you about potential risks, simply click More info then Run anyway.

Open TestDisk

3.  Use the up and down arrow keys to highlight Create and press Enter key.

Create log

4.  Use the up and down arrow keys to highlight the drive that the lost partition was located on and press Enter key to Proceed.

Select drive

5.  Choose your partition table type and press Enter. TestDisk usually automatically selects the partition table type for you and gives you a hint about what partition table type you have.

Select partition table type

6. Highlight Analyse and press Enter.

Start analyse process

7.  Select Quick Search and press Enter to initiate searching for missing partitions.

Quick search drive

8.  Depending on what Quick Search finds, do one of the following:

If the Quick Search finds your lost NTFS partition, select the particular lost NTFS partition and press Enter. Then navigate to the Write option and press Enter to select.

discovered lost NTFS partition

Write lost partition

If the Quick Search doesn't find your lost NTFS partition, select Deeper Search and press Enter.

9.  Press the Y key to confirm when asked "write partition table, confirm?"

Confirm write command

10.  Restart your computer when you see a prompt. The changes will take effect after a reboot and you will find the restored NTFS partition. 

TestDisk is also capable of undeleting files from the FAT, NTFS, and EXT2 file system. If it fails to find the disappeared NTFS partition, you can use it to recover files on Windows.

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#2 Recovering NTFS partition by Repairing a damaged partition

Overwhelmed by TeskDisk's command-line interface? Another way to recover NTFS partition without losing data is to use a dedicated user-friendly application - iBoysoft Data Recovery for Windows.

The software has a Fix Drive feature that can restore your problematic partition to a workable state with all files untouched. This feature works perfectly when your NTFS partition is lost because the partition turns RAW.

How to recover NTFS partition by converting RAW to NTFS with iBoysoft Data Recovery

1.  Download and install iBoysoft Data Recovery for Windows software on your PC. This desktop application is compatible with Windows 11/10/8/7/Vista/XP.

2.  Open the software and select RAW Drive Recovery.

data recovery software

3.  Select the drive that has the lost NTFS partition and click Next. The problematic drive usually displays a red bar with an unknown file system.

fix damaged partition

4.  Click Fix Drive and wait until the fix process is done.

fix damaged drive

If the NTFS partition is repaired, it will be opened automatically. If your NTFS partition is beyond repair by this software, you can switch to Data Recovery mode to recover data from your NTFS partition. iBoysoft Data Recovery for Windows also supports recovering all types of files from deleted, damaged, or lost partitions.

#3 Recovering NTFS partition by manually assigning a partition label in DiskPart

Another reason why your NTFS partition is invisible could be that Windows failed to give it a partition label. Hence Windows can't locate the NTFS partition for accessing the data. You can attempt to fix the NTFS partition that isn't showing up in Windows by manually assigning it a letter.

Here is how to do it via DiskPart:

1.  Press the Windows key to open the search box and search for cmd.

2.  Right-click on the Command Prompt app and select the option Run as administrator.

3.  Type the diskpart command in the Command Prompt window and press Enter key to run.

Run cmd as a administrator

4.  Run the following command to list all detected hard disks. 
list disk

5.  Run the following command to select the disk that contained the deleted or lost NTFS partition. Replacing 1 with your disk number. 
select disk 1

6.  Type the following command to list all volumes and press Enter to run it. 
list volume

7.  Run the following command to select the volume that represents your missing NTFS partition without a label. Replace the volume number 3 of your own. 
select volume 3

8.  Run the following command to assign a new label (letter) to the lost NTFS partition. Replace the letter H with any letter available. 
assign letter=d

cmd assign letter

You can now exit the Command Prompt and check in Disk Management to see if the missing NTFS partition has been restored. 

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#4 Recovering NTFS partition by sending it to a data recovery service

If you haven't had much luck using the above methods to restore your lost NTFS partition, you can always rely on professional data recovery services to handle it.

Find local data recovery laboratories using a search engine, then get in touch with them by phone or mail to request a price. A competent data recovery service will be able to recreate a partition table for you without destroying any data and, if necessary, recover all lost data from the partitions that are not visible.

Common causes of Missing Partitions

After your NTFS partition has been restored and all of your valuable data has been recovered, it is time to lean back to learn why NTFS partitions are not showing up in Disk Management. Knowing the common reasons behind the issue, you will be able to avoid partition damage in the future.

1.  Human error. When you attempted to clear a particular partition, you inadvertently or incorrectly cleaned the entire disk.

2.  Corrupted partition table. The most likely causes of a corrupted partition table include viruses, sudden power outages, and bad sectors. Partitions may be lost as a result of the broken partition table.

3.  Repartition or merge partitions. All current partitions will be destroyed if you repartition a hard drive or merge partitions into a single larger partition.

Conclusion

If your NTFS partition is accidentally deleted or somehow lost, this article gives you ideas about how to recover NTFS partition without losing data. If you are comfortable with command-line operations, using the free tool TestDisk to restore NTFS partitions without data loss is very efficient.

If you believe it is too intimidating, it is advisable that you fix and recover an NTFS partition using iBoysoft Data Recovery for Windows.

FAQ about NTFS partition recovery

A

To fix a corrupted NTFS file system, you can use the Windows built-in error-checking utility.
1. Open File Explorer. Right-click the NTFS disk and click Properties.
2. Click Tools. Then click Check in the Error checking.
3. Click Scan drive in the pop-up.

A

You can use the TestDisk tool to fix and rewrite a partition table without losing data.