Welcome to Active@ Partition Recovery !


WHICH SOFTWARE TO USE ?


If you are not sure which software to use - for DOS or for Windows, 
here some important tips are:

1. If System Partition is deleted (where the operating system is installed, 
   C: in most cases), i.e. machine is not bootable, your choices are:

	- Prepare bootable floppy/USB or CD-ROM, boot in DOS mode from the bootable 
	  floppy/USB or CD-ROM and use Active@ Partition Recovery for DOS to recover 
	  the system partition.

	- Attach damaged Hard Disk Drive to another machine bootable in Windows and 
	  having Active@ Partition Recovery for Windows installed, boot in Windows 
	  and recover the system partition.

	- Prepare and use Bootable Windows PE CD-ROM, boot from CD and use Active@ 
	  Partition Recovery for Windows. You will be able to recover the system 
	  partition from the familiar Windows environment. Bootable Windows PE CD-ROM
	  is supplied with Enterprise version only.


2. If Non-System partition is deleted (for example D: or E: disk, or drive located 
   on USB drive or Memory Card), i.e. you can safely boot your machine in Windows, 
   your choices are:
	
	- Boot in Windows, install and run Active@ Partition Recovery for Windows, 
	  then scan unallocated space to detect and recover non-system partitions.

	- If for some reason you cannot detect partition or Windows does not allow to 
	  recover detected partition properly, prepare bootable floppy or CD-ROM, 
	  boot from it and try Active@ Partition Recovery for DOS to recover partition.

3. If partition has been recovered, however Windows still cannot recognize it, it means
   that the file system itself is severely damaged you can try at least to save (copy) 
   your files and folders located on the damaged partition to the safe place:
	
	- Use Active@ File Recovery utility to recover your files and folders from the 
	  damaged partition to the safe location. You can download this utility
	  from the web site ( http://www.file-recovery.net/download.htm ) separately, 
	  as well as it is included in Enterprise version of Active@ Partition Recovery.



HOW TO PREPARE AND USE CD-ROM THAT BOOTS in DOS?


PR.ISO located in the installation folder is an ISO image for a bootable CD-ROM 
containing FreeDOS and Active@ Partition Recovery for DOS.

To prepare the bootable CD-ROM and run Active@ Partition Recovery for DOS:

- Insert blank CD-ROM into CD-ROM drive of the computer
- Use any CD/DVD burning software to burn a PR.ISO image
- Check that the CD-ROM has boot priority over HDD in BIOS settings
- Re-boot the machine

The computer will boot in DOS mode and the Active@ Partition Recovery menu is 
launched at startup.



TROUBLESHOOTING:

1. I recovered the deleted partition, however Windows is unable to access it. 
   Message [Drive X: is inaccessible. Do you want to format it?] appears. 
   What does it mean and what should I do?

   Reason:
	It means that underlaying file system is damaged on the partition being restored.
	In spite the fact that partition recovery software corrected MBR, Partition Table 
	and Boot Sectors - something else within file system is damaged (or overwritten) 
	on the recovered drive, for example - MFT records on NTFS, Root or FAT areas on FAT. 
	As long as disk integrity test is not passed, Windows displays such a message.

	It could happen in case if you've recovered not a proper partition or in case if
	file system is actually damaged.

   Actions:
	1. Verify that partition you are trying to recover is an original one and actually
	  contains your data. If several partitions has been detected - make sure that you 
	  have selected the proper one. If you realized that you've recovered not a proper 
	  one - delete it in [Computer Management] panel and try the recovery process once 
	  again. To delete unproperly recovered partition (if the only one partition exists 
	  on the disk) you can also execute [Clear Partition Table] command form Tools menu. 
	  You can also use SuperScan method to scan the whole disk's surface and detect all 
	  possible partition information. Then to filter out the garbage and look for the 
	  proper partition in the list. If something else that looks like a valid data is 
	  found - delete unproperly recovered partition and try to recover the valid one.
	2. In case if you 100% sure that you've recovered your partition and Windows
	  is still unable to access it, the only option to save your data is to copy files
	  and folders from the damaged partition to the another safe location. You can upgrade
	  to and use Active@ File Recovery software ((http://www.file-recovery.net/download.htm) 
	  to do it as well as any third party Active@ Partition Recovery Enterprise also 
	  contains Active@ File Recovery utility in its package. Before proceeding to the step 3, 
	  we strongly recommend you either to recover particular files and folders using 
	  any file recovery software, Create Disk Image for the disk being recovered (to be 
	  able to recover files and folders later on from the raw disk image).
	3. As a last chance is to execute [Check Disk] Windows command hoping that Windows 
	  could repair damaged file system structures. Open [Windows Explorer], go to 
	  [Disk Properties], switch to Tools tab, and execute [Check Now...] command. 
	  We strongly recommend you to recover particular files and folders first, or create 
	  backup image for the disk being checked (to be able to recover files and folders 
	  from the image later on) before [Check Disk] starts. It often happens that 
	  [Check Disk] fixes file system structures, however part or all the user's data 
	  (files and folders) are lost. Recovered disk might look like just formatted.

2. I got [Partition overlaps with other partition(s)] error message while recovering. 
   What does it mean and what can I do?
   
   Reason:
	It means that disk's space for the partition you are trying to recover is occupied 
	by another existing parition(s).
	It also means that you either trying to recover not a proper partition, or, if 
	you 100% sure that it is your lost partition - existing partition located 
	underneath is invalid (for example, you deleted original partition and re-created 
	a new one instead).
   
   Actions:
	1. Verify that partition you are trying to recover is an original one and actually
	  contains your data. If so, proceed to the step 2.
	2. Verify that existing partition(s) that overlaps with the one you are trying to 
	  recover is invalid. If so, you need to delete existing invalid partition(s) 
	  using either [Computer Management] panel, or execute [Clear Partition Table]
	  command form Tools menu to delete ALL existing partitions on the disk being recovered.
	3. Find and try to recover your original partition once again


For more troubleshooting issues see Active@ Partition Recovery for Windows Help.


FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS:


How can I write ISO files to CD or DVD? 

Many products are posted as ISO-9660 image files. An ISO-9660 image file is 
an exact representation of a CD or DVD, including the content and the 
logical format. The most common use of an image file is to write it to 
a blank CD-R or DVD-R, resulting in an identical copy of the original disc 
including file name and volume label information. ISO image files may also be 
opened and their contents copied to a local folder, much like ZIP files. ISO 
files may also be virtually mounted and accessed as a device. These three 
methods of using ISO images are described below. 

Writing ISO files to CD-R Most CD-R writing software includes a feature to 
create a CD from an image file. Below are instructions for some popular 
applications:

1. ISO Recorder Power Toy (Freeware)

ISO Recorder is a Windows XP freeware utility that uses native Windows XP 
functions to write images to a CD. You can download this utility from the 
author’s Web page. When the program is installed, it is automatically 
associated with the ISO file extension in Windows Explorer. 
For more information about this utility, visit the author’s Web page at 
	http://isorecorder.alexfeinman.com/isorecorder.htm 

Steps to create a CD if you have installed ISO Recorder Power Toy: 

- Download the ISO CD image to a folder on your computer. 
- Insert a blank CD in your CD-RW drive. 
- Start Windows Explorer. 
- Locate the ISO file, right-click the file name, and then click Copy image 
  to CD to open the ISO Recorder Wizard. 
- Follow the steps in the wizard to write the image to the CD. 

Another alternate method: 

- You can also right-click your CD-R drive and choose Copy Image to CD. 
- In the new window browse to the ISO file and click Next. 

2. Nero - Burning ROM (Ahead Software) 

You can use Nero Burning ROM to record a CD from an ISO file. For more 
information about this program, visit the Ahead Software Web site at: 
	http://www.ahead.de 

Steps to create a CD if you have installed Nero - Burning ROM: 

- Download the ISO CD image to a folder on your computer. 
- Insert a blank CD in your CD-RW drive. 
- Start Nero Burning. 
- Follow the wizard steps to select Data CD creation. 
- When the wizard closes, click Burn Image on the File menu. 
- In the Open dialog box, select the ISO file, and then click Open. 
- In the wizard, click Burn to write the image to the CD. 


3. EasyCD Creator (Roxio) 

You can use EasyCD Creator to create a CD from an ISO file. When the 
program is installed, it is automatically associated with the ISO file 
extension in Windows Explorer. For more information about this program,
visit the Roxio Web site at: http://www.roxio.com 

Steps to create a CD if you have installed EasyCD Creator: 

- Download the ISO CD image to a folder on your computer. 
- Insert a blank CD in your CD-RW drive. 
- Start Windows Explorer. 
- Locate the ISO file, right-click the file name, and then click Open 
  to start EasyCD. 
- In the Write Method section of the CD Creation Setup dialog box, 
  click Disk at Once for optimum recording performance. 
- Click OK to write the image to the CD. 



Good Luck!


Additional product info is on ours web sites:

	www.partition-recovery.com

