large_x7 Posted October 2, 2004 Report Share Posted October 2, 2004 Does anybody know of any (preferrably free) data recovery programs for a PC? Most of the ones that I've seen so far, like Norton Ghost, require you to image your hard drive before you lose data. Which doesn't really help me now. I accidentally formatted and installed Windows on the wrong partition and wrote over a bunch of important stuff, so I want to get it back. I know there are data recovery places that I can send my drive to, but I would just as much try and do it myself. Thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest h23it Posted October 2, 2004 Report Share Posted October 2, 2004 Most programs you can use (free or otherwise) are something you have to have on your drive before you delete. Either they have you write an image or they keep one on their own. I don't know of any programs that can go in and recover any data thats been deleted if they weren't on the computer before hand. I know of some people who could do it, but not really sure how to get ahold of most of them anymore, and they would charge for their time. Any data that has been completely written over though is gone for good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
large_x7 Posted October 2, 2004 Author Report Share Posted October 2, 2004 I understand that. But I did a quick format of my hard drive, and then installed Windows. The stuff that Windows wrote over is probably gone, but the rest of the stuff that was on the drive should still be there, since a quick format doesn't actually delete data, it just tells the computer that the data clusters are available to be written over. I have heard of services where you ship your hard drive out, and they will recover the data for you, but I was wondering if there was any way that I could do it myself. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. Jones Posted October 2, 2004 Report Share Posted October 2, 2004 I think I have a program or two to help.. Do you have a spare PC to work with or a 2nd hard disk ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
large_x7 Posted October 3, 2004 Author Report Share Posted October 3, 2004 Yeah. Windows usually goes on the "primary" hard disk. I formatted my "secondary" hard disk, which had all my mp3s, games, and pictures from the last 4 years of my life (which I'm most upset about!). When I originally built the computer, I had a Raid on the two hard drives, but I decided to scrap that idea after one of the hard drives failed. Let me know what you would recommend. I have found a couple of programs online, but none of them have worked so far. I need a program that will recover data after a reformat. All of the ones I have found just recover data that is lost through Windows (empty the recycle bin, lost file, etc...) Thanks for your help. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tractor Posted October 3, 2004 Report Share Posted October 3, 2004 this one says it can recover a formated hard drive ---- http://www.recovermyfiles.com/index.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
large_x7 Posted October 3, 2004 Author Report Share Posted October 3, 2004 That one seems to work. It's the fourth one I've tried. I'll have to purchase a license to actually recover the data (I can only see the files now), althought it is $67! I guess you pay for what you get. Good find, though, thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drunkendubber Posted October 3, 2004 Report Share Posted October 3, 2004 I got some things that can recover most anything. We have one prog at work that'll pull damn near anything. If you have a spare pc, you could drop me off the drive and i can run some shit on it for yah. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest doggunracing Posted October 4, 2004 Report Share Posted October 4, 2004 Originally posted by large_x7: That one seems to work. It's the fourth one I've tried. I'll have to purchase a license to actually recover the data (I can only see the files now), althought it is $67! I guess you pay for what you get. Good find, though, thanks.You have PM. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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