Second HDD won't work after format

[Mezga]

Hey guys,

Before formatting my computer today I transferred all my backup stuff onto my second HDD, then formatted the first and reinstalled Windows XP on it. Now I can't use my second hard drive!

I didn't realise I needed to remove the device in windows before formatting the other, is there any way of getting this data back?? I've lost 160 GB...with all my university work It says that the device is unreadable in the disk management utility.

Sorry if this is a bit of a newbie question, any help would be greatly appreciated...

 

[Deathwalker]

See if you can find a disk recovery program. As long as you haven't overwritten the data, some recovery should be possible.

For a 160Gb drive it could take over a day to try and recover the data.

A good one is available from http://www.stellarinfo.com

 

[Mezga]

Thanks a lot for your help, I just installed Stellar Phoenix and it's managed to detect all the files on the HDD, which I can then transfer to my existing one.

Going to take a while since the one I'm transferring to is only 40 GB, better than nothing though! Wish there was an easier way...what exactly is the correct process for detecting hard drives after a format? I'm still not sure why the import foreign disk function wouldn't work.