Missing partition on M1530

This is what I did on my Dell XPS M1530:

- Deleted all partitions except for the tiny (118mb) FAT Dell partition
- Added 5 partitions
1) C:\Windows Vista(NTFS)
2) D:\Empty(NTFS)
3) Ubuntu(ext3)
4) Ubuntu(swap)
5) F:\Data (NTFS)

So far so good. I had a dual boot: Vista installed first, Ubuntu second, and used GRUB (linux) as bootloader. Today I've decided to install Windows XP on partition 2: D:\Empty(NTFS).

First thing I did was change HD settings in the BIOS from ATA to AHCI and disable flash module to let XP recognise my HD. After XP was installed the problems started.

In Windows XP, I cannot see my F:\Data partition anymore! The Vista partition(C:\) although is just fine and visible. Also my bootloader was gone so I could only start XP. Using VistaBootPro I changed bootloader to boot Vista and at the following bootup I changed BIOS settings back to default and booted into Vista.

Same problem there! My F:\ was not visible. Disk management present the following status:

This was also the same under WinXP. Using an ubuntu live CD I also couldn't reach the F:\ drive. (said it was unallocated space). Luckely I was able to recover data from it using GetDataBack recovery program. But I really would not like to lose that partition. So does anybody know how to attach it back onto the OS so that it's visible and usable? The partition is there, with files and folders on it, i just can't reach it anymore!

Thanks

 

The only tool I know that can do this is Acronis Disk Director - it has a "merge partitions" function. Partition Magic might do this too but I'm not sure, I haven't used it for a few versions.

Greg.

 

Might this have something to do with the fact that you can only have 4 primary partitions on 1 disk ?

 

You blew the partition away somehow. Don't reallocate that partition...you run the risk of overwriting your data that was in there.

If there is important data...get a recovery utility. Spinright/Spinrite, Recover My Files, etc...those may help you.