Data recovery

[fitsum]

I tried to install Mandrake linux on a hard disk that already has three windows fat32 partitions. I wanted to use one of the partitions for linux so I cleared all it's data and tried to partition it in to three linux partitions i.e Boot, Root, and Swap. But after creating two more partitions, the setup program refuses to create anymore partitions. Anyways, after trying 2 or 3 times, I gave up. But when I returned to windows, one of the partitions is marked as 'free space'. I tried to view my data using partition magic and it showed me but I could not make windows see it. Can anyone tell me how I can get my data back? Or what software to use?
Thanx

 

[Big B]

I've found Partition Magic to be more of a hassle than a help, as it seems to format things funny. If there's nothing important on that partition, have Windows create and format a new partition. If not, there's still a chance of a file recovery program working. You might PM Anti-Trend about a Linux-based alternative to Partition Magic that might be able to help. If not, you're looking at a data recovery service, and these generally cost big $$$, but that's only if they can recover the data. Still, I hope it wasn't anything important...