Re-installation of Windows XP May Cause Data Loss

You might lose your critical data, which is stored in primary drive, after you repair or reinstall Microsoft Windows operating system. This problem occurs as you need to format the primary partition of your hard drive, when you reinstall Microsoft Windows operating system. In such cases, you need to restore data from the most recent backup to prevent grave situations. However, if the backup is not updated, Windows Recovery is required to extract lost data.

You may come across this behavior after you carry out any of the below actions of your computer, which has Microsoft Windows XP operating system pre-installed by an OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer):

• You reinstall the operating system in same directory using Upgrade (Recommended) option after running Winnt32.exe, or using Install Windows XP option on “Welcome to Microsoft Windows XP” screen. It is also called in-place installation or in-place upgrade.
• You reinstall Windows XP by formatting the primary partition, which contains your applications, data, operating system, and program settings.
• You repair the installation of Windows XP by booting your system from Windows XP boot CD, pressing Enter key to set up Microsoft Windows XP, and pressing R key to repair selected installation.

Cause

This problem may occur due to either of the following reasons:

• The Undo_guimode.txt file is there in “System32” folder of Windows hard drive. This file is created by a wizard, which runs when you boot your system that has pre-installed Microsoft Windows XP operating system.
• Formatting the primary partition of your hard drive removes all of its contents. It removes MFT (Master File Table) or FAT (File Allocation Table) entries, which are required by the operating system to locate and access files.

Resolution

Try out the following things to fix the issue:

• Install latest service pack of Microsoft Windows XP.
• Restore data from backup.

However, if you do not have a backup or its not updated, windows data recovery is required.

You can recover lost, missing, and inaccessible Windows data successfully using Windows Data Recovery Software. They work in all cases of data loss and retrieve data using powerful scanning algorithms. The Windows Partition Recovery tools let you perform recovery on your own as they have simple graphical user interface. The integrity of your data is preserved by these software due to their read-only and non-destructive conduct.