The problem with partition recovery software are technicians using them the wrong way. Here's why...

Most technicians use partition recovery software as a short cut. Technically minded people, who have accidentally deleted, lost, or have over-written a partition that has important files within it, want to recover data as quickly as possible. So, instead of using data recovery software which has a lengthy process, partition recovery software is chosen for the job. We think it will recover the partition quickly, let us reboot our computer, and then everything will function as it did before the problem occurred. I am here to tell you differently.

The best way

The safest method to recover data using any partition recovery software is, not to restart your computer at the end of the recovery process. Instead, slave the drive with the lost partition as a secondary drive behind another bootable drive (which means you need a second working drive that has an operating system installed, not just a secondary data drive). Finally, boot the new primary drive, and then copy all your files from the troubled drive to the functioning one. Now, you are back in business.

Why does this matter?

Why go through all this trouble when you can conveniently reboot the computer, after the partition recovery software asks you something like, 'Would you like to restart your computer now to complete the process?' If you automatically do this once the software repair or recovery process has been completed, and have directory or file corruption - which you or a FAT or NTFS partition recovery tool will not know at this time - there is a high probability that you will permanently damage the partition and the data, meaning it will probably never be recovered.

The point is this: If you are trying to replace data recovery software with partition recovery software, because you do not want to go through the required recovery process, think again. To recover your data safely with partition recovery software or data recovery tools, you need to focus on data safety first, and then hope the process will be quick and as painless as possible.

The recovery steps

Most partition recovery software accomplish what they are designed to do; that is, recover any number of partition tables on a hard disk drive, so that you can retrieve your files and the data within them, without going through the time-consuming task of recreating your data.

Partition recovery software scans the drive to take account for all data and where it lies; even deleted, corrupt, and over-written data or partitions are accounted for. Next, the algorithms determine if anything is out of place and where it should be reorganized to make the data or partitions functional again.

Then, the partition recovery software virtually corrects the problems and shows you the results (It has not actually repaired or recovered anything yet. It is showing you what the program thinks it can repair or recover). At last, if you like what you see, then you will actually command the partition recovery software to complete the process.

You do have another choice 

Do you see that the procedures involved with partition recovery software and data recovery software are basically the same? The simple difference is, one is designed to repair or recover partitions allowing access to files, while the other one just recovers the files outright. Whichever tool you decide to use is your choice, but if you value your data, take my advice by making sure you use partition recovery software correctly.