umm...no. tho it depends if it was a quick format or a full format. a full format completely erases the drive, while a quick just erases the FAT(file allocation table). and even if he did a quick format as soon as anything was saved to the drive, it overwrites what was there. and even if somebody had the time, programs, patience, and nerve to hack into it just to get his files, it would take a while to get the files off. (ive done it before...accidently formatted(quick luckily) so i used this program to get the files off, and now i am listening to music that came form that drive (tho its a little skippy, its there)