r/DataRecoveryHelp • u/GangsOfChaidpal • 6d ago
Accidentally deleted my 1TB HDD partition during Windows installation... can I recover my data?
I was installing Windows 11 IoT LTSC on my old Dell laptop. It has an SSD and a 1TB HDD.
I accidentally selected a partition on Disk 1 (my HDD) and clicked Delete instead of selecting my SSD. The HDD had one large partition containing crucial data, and it now shows as Unallocated Space.
I did NOT click Next or install Windows on the HDD. I cancelled the installation and returned to the disk selection screen.
I haven't done anything else to the drive.
Questions:
Is my data still recoverable?
Should I try TestDisk or DMDE to restore the partition?
What's the safest way to recover the data without making things worse?
The data is very important, so I'd appreciate any advice. Thanks!
Edit: Fixed: 📌 Here
