Problem Description

Partitions refer to the portions of the hard disk that have their own logical file structure. Re-partitioning means deleting and resizing the current partitions on the disk. Since re-partitioning almost always involves deleting the current partitions, all previously held data in the partition is lost. This is usually done to re-align the space and data on the hard disk, but may also be the result of plain human error, the end result being that data in the old partition is inaccessible. Phoenix Novells advanced software engine can recover data from re-partitioned volumes.

Technical Aspect of the Problem

Repartitioning involves restructuring the hard disk to divide it into areas having their own logical file system. This is often done to accommodate multiple Operating Systems on one disk, but is also done to reorganize data on the disk or reorganize disk space. Partitioning is usually done in the MS-DOS mode (which is a mandatory partition in a Netware based disk) using the fdisk.exe and the format.com utilities. Creating partitions/re-partitions is a simple 2 step process of defining the partitions, and then formatting the defined partitions. Since repartitioning also involves the formatting of volumes, data recovery from such volumes need advanced software

Technical Aspect of the Solution

Phoenix Novell is a Windows based application and can only be installed on a Windows based hard disk. Therefore, the failed Novell based disk needs to be attached as a secondary disk to a Windows based disk with Phoenix installed in it. After the damaged disk is attached, Phoenix needs to be run from the working disk.

The software scans the selected volume of the damaged secondary disk to search for lost or missing partitions and displays the list. It scans either the Volume Table only (if the linking mode is set to FAT1 or FAT2), or the drive itself (if the linking mode is set to Contiguous), looking for lost/missing partitions. Since this is an extensive search, the process may take some time to complete, after which the results are displayed in a tree structure and any number of files may be selected for recovery.

Working of Phoenix Novell

The damaged server disk needs to be connected as a secondary to a working Windows based disk with Phoenix Novell installed in it. The software is then run to start the recovery process.

Clicking Drive -> Select Netware Partition will issue a notice about this process being a lengthy one, after which the volume to be scanned is selected. The software then starts scanning either the FAT table or the volume itself (as per the linking mode), then analyses the data structures and file system attributes, and finally displays the list of found data.

Any number of files can be selected for recovery, and clicking Recover Selected will restore the selected files. Alternatively, clicking Recover Deleted will recover all the files listed in the displayed list of files. If the recovery is not satisfactory or if some of the files are recovered improperly, clicking Tools -> Change Linking Mode -> Contiguous Mode will change the linking mode to Contiguous which is a much more comprehensive scan of the volume, especially if the volume to be recovered has been formatted.