Beware Windows XP Install with Multiple Hard Drives - recommendations for data recovery?

Just thought I'd share this horror story with you (hey, it's almost Halloween too) so hopefully you don't make the same mistake.

First of all, I know - backup backup backup.

I use an 80GB HDD for my boot drive, program installs, and day-to-day files. I have a 500GB HDD for all my backup, media, and other files. Well, I moved most of the guts from my one PC to another, created a blank partition for my new OS install, and proceeded with a fresh install of Windows XP.

Both my 80GB and 500GB were hooked up.

At the time of install where it asked where I wanted it installed, I chose my 15GB partition on my 80GB HDD and told it to format it NTFS (quick). I absolutely know I selected that blank partition, but instead it started to format my 500GB HDD!!!!

I hit ESC ten million times, that did nothing, I didn't want to power down either and risk complete HDD failure.

Well, needless to say my 500GB HDD is now "corrupt".

I don't know if it's because the HDD was so big, WinXP install was confused, or what.

I'm using a free program called "TestDisk" to see if I can recreate it, otherwise does anyone else know what software works well with recovery data - preferably with a simple interface? I don't mind spending a few bucks, but don't want to spend money on the wrong product if this "TestDisk" software doesn't prove very useful...

I've had few issues with WinXP installs over the years, as I've installed it dozens of times. But lesson learned. Only connect the hard drive that you want the OS on when installing Windows.

 

R-studio is one program I've used when nothing else worked. The Demo is free, why not try it?

 

Thanks, I did find that one. Will try the free one first, and if it doesn't succeed I'll run with R-studio. It's one of those things that you hate to spend $50 because you hopefully won't use it more than once or twice, but I guess it's better than losing all that data.