Restoring a formatted harddrive - Suggestions?

[HS-Trixxxia]

I bought myself an early birthday present - a dvd burner to backup all important files. After installation - it wasn't recognizing it and problems for the past few days since windows decided it wasn't going to cooperate with me. Anyhow - both harddrives were corrupted & formatting was the only way to get back use of the computer.

Are there any restore utilities that you can suggest?

Thanks!

[Donny]

Not if you formatted. You're SOL. Erasing is different than formatting. Formating wipes it clean. Bye Bye data!

[NoCarrier]

The only place on earth where you could actually do that is with an agency like the FBI.

They do have the equipment for it. They can recover some data from formatted hard drives, burned hard drives, smashed hard drives..

Other than that, yes, you are fucked.

[HS-Trixxxia]

Originally posted by NoCarrier
The only place on earth where you could actually do that is with an agency like the FBI.

They do have the equipment for it. They can recover some data from formatted hard drives, burned hard drives, smashed hard drives..

Other than that, yes, you are fucked.

Actually, I'm looking at some software - reading some forums, seems that it's not all that 'impossible' - gonna check it out.

Anyone ever tried this:
PC Inspector ?

[Lane]

Once its formatted, you cant simply recover it with software.

[mardigras]

If there's something terribly important non-replacable on it you can pay some bucks to have it recovered if you aren't writing stuff to the drive now.


Best preventative measure next time is look before you tiptoe

[HS-Trixxxia]

Originally posted by mardigras
If there's something terribly important non-replacable on it you can pay some bucks to have it recovered if you aren't writing stuff to the drive now.


Best preventative measure next time is look before you tiptoe

Actually it's windows that decided the hard drive was no longer NTFS and decided it was RAW - where I couldn't do anything to switch it back without formatting. Trust me, it wasn't a fingernail hitting the wrong key

[Arty]

If it was a "quick format" you may try to recover with one of the following programs as "quick format" not overwrites all sectors on disk.

http://www.runtime.org/gdb.htm
http://www.ontrack.com/easyrecoverylite/


But if it was a full format, say bye bye...

[pornguy]

You have nothing to lose by trying that software.

You may have already lost the info, so that could not hurt much more.


And in fact, I would consider a new pc...

If that happened once, it could happen again...

[enjetek]

formatting only marks sectors as 'empty'. low level formatting on the other hand actually makes the sectors on a disk 0, which means it has no data. that is why after formatting, data can still be pulled off of it. you will end up paying big bucks most likely if you really need the data.

[HS-Trixxxia]

Actually, I tried one of the programs early this morning and it seems to find the files. I'm trying this PC Inspector now. Seems easier to work than that other program & yes, it was a quick format. (at least I hope it was)

BTW, the PC Inspector one at least has a comprehensive explanation of what happened/happens when you've formatted.

The sweetest thing is that it's free & the writer/owner has the same type of recovery tools for many more drives than most other programs I've been looking at. Keeping fingers crossed that it'll bring back my files

[Vitasoy]

Originally posted by NoCarrier
The only place on earth where you could actually do that is with an agency like the FBI.

They do have the equipment for it. They can recover some data from formatted hard drives, burned hard drives, smashed hard drives..

Other than that, yes, you are fucked.

Not true, this place can get it done.

http://www.drivesavers.com/fame.html

[Fabuleux]

Get Lost&Found from PowerQuest.
Formatting does not overwrite your data

[Ash@phpFX]

most of this thread is full of bullshit, formatting doesnt wip your data

i used to use a program called recover98, it was slow, but it worked priliantly, it lets you save deleted files and files off formateed drives. really good

[KRL]

Most people think formatting wipes your drive completely clean. This is not true unless you are using one of the ultra powerful data deletion programs designed to totally eliminate every trace of data on a hard drive.

There are programs out there that can still read the data. Your directories will most likely be a bit fucked up, but individual files have a good chance of recovery.

There are also labs you can send it to also that charge about $1000 and up to recover data.

[loverboy]

obviously, not all of you have tried to recover data from a formateed HD. it took me days to search for a capable software which can perform the job and hope this works out also for you... one of the best recovery software out there

R-Studio is a family of powerful and cost-effective undelete and data recovery software. Empowered by the new unique data recovery technologies, it is the most comprehensive data recovery solution for recovery files from FAT12/16/32, NTFS, NTFS5 (created or updated by Windows 2000/XP/2003) and Ext2FS (LINUX file system) partitions. It functions on local and network disks, even if such partitions are formatted, damaged or deleted. Flexible parameter settings give you absolute control over data recovery.

http://www.data-recovery-software.net/

[HS-Trixxxia]

Lost & Found - I searched & came up with symantec but you can't buy it for some reason. The PC Inspector, I can see the files, but get an error that I can't get rid of. Going to try Recover98 which is now File Recovery Professional - see what that does

[KRosh]

Originally posted by asher
most of this thread is full of bullshit, formatting doesnt wip your data

i used to use a program called recover98, it was slow, but it worked priliantly, it lets you save deleted files and files off formateed drives. really good

ummmm .. You are not correct. I will be happy to get you up to speed on all the info.

If you Quick format as people have mentioned here .. you can still recover data. Becasue the FAT (File allocation Table) is not set to 0

If you do a full Format then the drive is set to 0...You are Fucked.


Using the data recovery software is going to help you recover your data if you have not Full Formatted !

[Fenris]

Originally posted by KRosh
ummmm .. You are not correct. I will be happy to get you up to speed on all the info.

If you Quick format as people have mentioned here .. you can still recover data. Becasue the FAT (File allocation Table) is not set to 0

If you do a full Format then the drive is set to 0...You are Fucked.


Using the data recovery software is going to help you recover your data if you have not Full Formatted !

Plain and simple wrong - because the copy of the Fat is still on the drive and you can restore the data with a software like Restorer2000.

Only a wipe software really deletes the data.

[karlm]

You can get data of a formated drive maybe not all of it but most.

Cant remember the software i used off by hand.

let me think

[zanycash Pete]

Originally posted by Trixxxia


I bought myself an early birthday present - a dvd burner to backup all important files. After installation - it wasn't recognizing it and problems for the past few days since windows decided it wasn't going to cooperate with me. Anyhow - both harddrives were corrupted & formatting was the only way to get back use of the computer.

Are there any restore utilities that you can suggest?

Thanks!

In the same sentance you have format and restore, these are very contradictory terms since a formatted drive cannot be restored!

[HS-Trixxxia]

Originally posted by zanycash Pete
In the same sentance you have format and restore, these are very contradictory terms since a formatted drive cannot be restored!

Well, according to most people posting on here - & from all the programs that I've been finding online, it seems that format, does not totally remove all files from the harddrive in such a way that they cannot be restored. Kind of like a demolished home (where everything is sitting in bricks) cannot be restored - you may have some items missing and it doesn't look as good as it was once before, but you can get functionality or manage to get the items you really need.

[HS-Trixxxia]

Ok - FYI for the future -

1) always back up your hard disks
2) if this should ever happen to you - don't waste time trying to figure it out - there are products that will restore your files - a little disorganized/some it won't/others it won't recognize - but there is software to help you get back some of, if not all the important ones.
3) it's long and tedious, but it seems to be working

The one I used is File Recovery & I'm glad I'm starting to recognize the files that are now being saved on the C: drive :-)

Thanks for your help guys

[Basic_man]

Originally posted by DonovanPhillips
Not if you formatted. You're SOL. Erasing is different than formatting. Formating wipes it clean. Bye Bye data!

OWN3D ! :D

[HS-Trixxxia]

Originally posted by Basic_man
OWN3D ! :D

Actually I think alot of people were under that impression *including big IT forums* - so OWNED doesn't really apply here. Just look at how many people responded that it was impossible - it's a myth that most hard drive manufacturers would like you to believe.

[Michele R.]

DriveWorks.

If you can't find a copy let me know which OS you're using and I'll upload it.

It will recover all of your data.

[Arty]

Originally posted by Trixxxia

The one I used is File Recovery & I'm glad I'm starting to recognize the files that are now being saved on the C: drive :-)

Thanks for your help guys

Nice

[HS-Trixxxia]

Originally posted by Michele R.
DriveWorks.

If you can't find a copy let me know which OS you're using and I'll upload it.

It will recover all of your data.

Michele R. - Does it restore folders the exact same way? My problem is that it's a hard drive with 130GB of files in it - the program I used, restored the directories & only some files in the directory - the other files, although I can see them, they aren't in the correct directory. If you have a copy - I'd like to see what it does & how it does it. The only one I found online you must have it shipped to you. I don't/can't wait another 1-2 weeks to get this done. Let me know & thanks for your help. ICQ is 9.3.0.8.6.5.8.6 - The only reason I'm insisting on restoring is to not disturb the content providers *they've already been helpful enough* - May as well plug them while I have a chance BTW - CLUB-XSTREAM.com ROCKS!! + The other photographers & producers that I don't want them wasting their time.

Arty - thanks.....just hoping the restoring of the directories go into the right place

[HS-Trixxxia]

Bump for Michele

[pussyluver]

Originally posted by KRL
Most people think formatting wipes your drive completely clean. This is not true unless you are using one of the ultra powerful data deletion programs designed to totally eliminate every trace of data on a hard drive.

There are programs out there that can still read the data. Your directories will most likely be a bit fucked up, but individual files have a good chance of recovery.

There are also labs you can send it to also that charge about $1000 and up to recover data.

As expected KRL has it right. Those labs he talks about are expensive, so what's your data worth? $1K is the starting price as I recall,

The point is with effort you can recover most of your data depending on what type of format and if you have done anything to the drive that would affect the directory and file access tables in addition to the data itself.

Point is, you're in for a software rebuild. Drop a new harddrive in for that and make your data recovery a seperate project.

I have used a number of recovery programs. They work for the most part and there is typically something to clean up or fix. Restoring a whole working PC is a wet dream at this point I suspect. Best hope is if you did zero to that hard drive after the format and that was a quick format.

[Ash@phpFX]

ok ill try to explain how this stuff works a little better for all you people who thinks formatting deletes the files.

(this is a simplified version)

the hard disk is like a book, with 2 sections, a table of contents, and the actual information. when you delete a file, or format, it removes the entry from the 'table of contents' so when you look for it, you cant find it, but the data is still in the book somewhere.
The only time that the data is actually removed is when another file is written over the same space on the hard drive, or an eraser program is used.

The recovery programs, like recover98 that i suggested, read the hard drive and see what files are on there, this usually takes many hours, depending on the hard drive size, because it cant just look at the table of contents, it has to read through each page of the book to see what it is.

i hope this has explained it a bit to some of you that dont understand how the hard drives work

[baddog]

sounds like a great Miss GFY competition . . . . is also the reason I have never installed my DVD burner

[Mishi]

Originally posted by asher
ok ill try to explain how this stuff works a little better for all you people who thinks formatting deletes the files.

(this is a simplified version)

the hard disk is like a book, with 2 sections, a table of contents, and the actual information. when you delete a file, or format, it removes the entry from the 'table of contents' so when you look for it, you cant find it, but the data is still in the book somewhere.
The only time that the data is actually removed is when another file is written over the same space on the hard drive, or an eraser program is used.

The recovery programs, like recover98 that i suggested, read the hard drive and see what files are on there, this usually takes many hours, depending on the hard drive size, because it cant just look at the table of contents, it has to read through each page of the book to see what it is.

i hope this has explained it a bit to some of you that dont understand how the hard drives work

What an elegant explanation. You should be an author on the "...For Dummies" series. ;)

[HS-Trixxxia]

asher to you GREAT way of explaining it! PC Inspector kept giving me errors so I moved over to the next one & it seems to be working (I can see most files) Thanks for your help, suggestion and elaborate explanation.


Michele R. - from my searches, I seems that DriveWorks only works if you've backed up your files *or marked them* before the format.

baddog - actually the dvd burner is finally working. In retrospect, the actual problem arose due to cables either being defective or there was something funky & it would prevent the primary hard drive to fully boot & prevented my monitor from showing me anything. I installed another drive (figuring I'd back up my stuff on another hard drive) but the problems were still there - when I detached the dvd burner the screen came back to life, but somehow an old SCSI card or slot <not sure> that was still in the computer, caused the original hard drive to be recognized as a RAW file system (whatever that means) and everything became unrecoverable unless I formatted. Through forums and whatnot, I read that the SCSI card caused the harddrive to switch to raw but by that time - my problems were in full swing.

Anyhow.....5 days - 2 hours sleep daily & a fucking migraine that hasn't stopped. All of that plus my husband bitching ---- Not a good week

[baddog]

Originally posted by Trixxxia
All of that plus my husband bitching ---- Not a good week

replace the husband with a Dell

[HS-Trixxxia]

Originally posted by baddog
replace the husband with a Dell

hahahahha......never, he's the piece that completes my very complicated 1,000,000 piece puzzle.

[Naughty]

Easy does it:

EasyRecovery Professional

Worked wonders for me, good luck.

[SinisterStudios]

Hate to say this but your SOL, there is not real cheap way to restore a formatted hard drive

[DutchTeenCash]

anyone here who has encase ? thatll help (for those who dunno its a forensic recovery prg used by the fbi etc)

[project_naughty]

Yes. Build a time machine. Go back in time to before you had this trouble. Transfer all data to a new drive. Let the old one fail. Sorted.

[Paul]

Originally posted by KRL
Most people think formatting wipes your drive completely clean. This is not true unless you are using one of the ultra powerful data deletion programs designed to totally eliminate every trace of data on a hard drive.

There are programs out there that can still read the data. Your directories will most likely be a bit fucked up, but individual files have a good chance of recovery.

There are also labs you can send it to also that charge about $1000 and up to recover data.

I'm about to sell my current PC because Im about to upgrade to something much better. Will running a program like Evidence Eliminator prevent people from being able to recover files from my hard drive ? I'm very paranoid about this because I would hate someone to get my CC info or any of my passwords or usernames I user for my buisness

Btw this thread has been GREAT !!! Its been a fantastic resource

[macho]

Originally posted by project_naughty
Yes. Build a time machine. Go back in time to before you had this trouble. Transfer all data to a new drive. Let the old one fail. Sorted.

5 points!

[Paul]

Can anyone answer my question ? Thanks

[HS-Trixxxia]

Coatsy, if the thread can help someone else - heck it'll cover for the headaches. As for the reverse - I can tell you that I'm able to see my files - it's not putting them in the order I want but my files (most of them are there). The scary thing is I know alot of us donate our old computers - you think a format works - but any teenager with time & inclination can recover your files - I've been reading alot of these sites

There are a few products to totally wipe your hard drive - I just didn't bookmark them - here's a quick one - but I'm not sure if it only deletes your everyday files or if it will 'robustly' format your hard drive. The other thing is that the only way it will become unrecoverable is if they are replaced by other files.

Apparently, Evidence Eliminator can do it.
Here are a few others that I found:
http://www.iolo.com/ds/
http://www.east-tec.com/

I hope that helps :-)

[Paul]

Originally posted by Trixxxia
The scary thing is I know alot of us donate our old computers - you think a format works - but any teenager with time & inclination can recover your files - I've been reading alot of these sites

There was a television program on tv in the UK a few months back outlining that problem where thief's were buying old hard drives off ebay and wherever they could for the soul purpose of using hard drive restoration programs to steal peoples CC info and important passwords. Kinda scary I though, since i use my current computer for this biz I want to make extra sure that my info is wiped.

Originally posted by Trixxxia
There are a few products to totally wipe your hard drive - I just didn't bookmark them - here's a quick one - but I'm not sure if it only deletes your everyday files or if it will 'robustly' format your hard drive. The other thing is that the only way it will become unrecoverable is if they are replaced by other files.

Apparently, Evidence Eliminator can do it.
Here are a few others that I found:
http://www.iolo.com/ds/
http://www.east-tec.com/

I hope that helps :-)

I've done some research myself and Evidence Elliminator came top compared to competitors. It has functions like -

Magnetic Remenace in Directory Structures - Enabling secure Under-Writing of Directory Structures

File Structure - Enabling secure Under-Writing of File Structures

Those are just two examples but I just wanted comfirmation from a few people that this program does infact wipe, overwrite and delete everything. Its an impressive program which can also speed up your computer a lot when used regularly by eliminating swap files and a bunch of other cool stuff

[Paul]

Btw Trixxxia congrats on getting your info back I've been in the same position in the past but unfortunetly I didn't know enought about restoration programs to retreive my data. I learnt my lesson though and backup my shit daily now Still its always handy to have a few urls of these restoration programs just incase

[HS-Trixxxia]

Coatsy - although I agree that Evidence Eliminator is a great product - pushing it as an affiliate isn't a good idea. You seldomly will get credit for the sale since it's a free trial & by the time it cleans up the system, you won't get the credit when they decide to buy - I think the only one that doesn't forget the hand that fed it the traffic is History Kill.......

Just some food for thought.

[Paul]

Originally posted by Trixxxia
Coatsy - although I agree that Evidence Eliminator is a great product - pushing it as an affiliate isn't a good idea. You seldomly will get credit for the sale since it's a free trial & by the time it cleans up the system, you won't get the credit when they decide to buy - I think the only one that doesn't forget the hand that fed it the traffic is History Kill.......

Just some food for thought.

Did i give you the impression I was promoting it ? Well I don't I don't promote any of those programs

[HS-Trixxxia]

Originally posted by Coatsy
Did i give you the impression I was promoting it ? Well I don't I don't promote any of those programs

Hahahah.....no - just in case you thought it was so good that you'd want to promote it. I think the owners were called out about this and they conveniently didn't respond or vaguely responded that they were tracked through other methods however - many claimed to never have received credit. Mind you this is all what I've read in the past, things may have changed, but I haven't heard differently.