Recovering Files From A Formatted Hard Disk

[bino]

I installed Windows 7 on a PC last week, believing that my photos were safely backed up on a CD. However, I have just discovered that my Photo backup CD has deteriorated and is unreadable now.

I know that there are a lot of tools out there that can recover deleted files on a disk, but not sure which one to use. Anyone have any recommendations on what to use in order to attempt a recovery from a formatted disk?

Thanks in advance.

[innerspace]

getdataback for ntfs is one that I have used often with good success. Google or torrent it.

However these kind of tools are only really effective recovering data when nothing has happened on the disk since.

When you delete files or format a drive, the only thing deleted is the reference to where the data is and not the data itself.

This is how these programs manage to recover files.

However if you continue to use the disk and especially if you install a new OS, much more of the data will be overwritten with new content.

If you have a small harddrive and windows has nearly filled it up then give up now.

If windows has only filled up a small percentage of the drive you may have some hope.

First thing to do, if you are still using the computer with the formatted drive is SHUTDOWN NOW!!

Take the drive out and place it in another computer. Simply running windows causes more files to be written and more data left.

Install your recover software on the other machine and run the search mode.

Go and have a beer, go to sleep or some other time consuming activity - this is very slow depending on the drive size.

If lost files are found then filter by type(images) and copy them onto a different drive. You cant restore them to the drive that you are recovering.

Once copied, look through the recovered files and pray. The filenames will have been lost but the pictures could be saved.

[thaimite]

All of what Innerspace said is accurate and good advice.

However your problem does highlight a bigger issue which people should be aware of and that is that home written CD's are not reliable for long term storage.

A few years ago there was a lot of discussion about this , and if memory serves me right, it was claimed that DVDs were less susceptabel to damage than CDs and that putting self adhesive labels on a CD or DVD is not a good idea as adds degridation of the CD. I am sure if anybody cares to research many links will be found on the subject.

Bottom line. Check the quality of you backups occasionally.

[Langsuan Man]

Or backup your photos to Photobucket, Google Picasa, or one of the other many free online services

[bino]

Innerspace - Thanks for taking the time to reply with the detailed info. I'll look for getdataback and give it a go.

I've shut the PC down already, and removed the disk. It is a 500 GB disk, and I have only added a few apps to the windows install, so I'm hoping that there will be enough unaffected disk space and a chance of recovering the files.

Thaimite - you're right about the life of a CD. I've seen the dye running inside cheap CDs, so bought good quality ones after that. Strangely enough, the backup CD I made of the photos was only about 6 months old. I've got some six to ten year old disks that still work fine. Your bottom line is spot-on. I shoulda known better and double checked before reformatting the hard disk.

If anyone else has suggestions - all are welcomed!

[lopburi3]

Try the disc in other drives and clean it well - it might be readable with effort or another computer.

You did not run Windows transfer to an external drive? Believe that would have saved the photos file as default.

[Jdietz]

If it's a CD, try if you can find an old CD drive (not DVD), the lower speed the better. They usually read marginal disks a lot better.

[Nisa]

There are also a number of programs out there that are designed to retrieve files from bad CDs.

[petedk]

I did exactly the same as you. Installed Windows 7 on my hard disk and lost all the photos. I made a mistake and installed on the wrong partition.

Getdataback retrieved all my photos and 90% or more of other files.

[SoloFlyer]

Recova??

[bino]

Getdataback did the job- highly recommended for anyone who ends up in a similar situation as me! Tks for the recco innerspace!

[astral]

Unfortunately it is not just home produced CD's that are at risk.

I have commercial CD's from companies like Decca that are rotting.

The silver coating on the top had developed small holes and the

discs play with an irritating popping sound.

The recording industry seriously led us astray when it promised that CD's would last for ever.