Accidently formatted.... Trying to recover data...

[C0RR0SIVE]

Ok, last night I finaly got my server back up and running, well, in the process I accidently formatted one hard drive using the quick format, well.... It had several tax documents my mother needs, and hundreds of family pictures that we can't replace. Now I have a copy of Bart PE, tried that, it found all the data, but it refuses to let me copy it, what it does is tell me that I must have a licensed copy in order to copy the data... So does anyone know of anyway to get this data??? It is still there, but impossible to copy due to software glitchs or something...

 

[eyeCpc]

With that much important information involved your best option is to head for a professional data recovery service and pay the fee over depending on any retail product that could be pointed out. A quick web search will find enough of those like Active Undelete for example.

The smart move would be to bring the HD in for them. This is their specialty there.

 

[KSoD]

Well first and formost dont touch the drive. Dont put any new data on there and dont remove anythign from there. Any activity on that drive could potentially make the data recovery even more difficult and possibly cost you more.

After that your best option will be what eyeCpc said. You can try things like Panda Recovery but it most likely will not find anything.

 

[eyeCpc]

If it was simply a bunch of mp3s and other replacable data then you would often try out a trial period shareware version of one of the data recovery programs like the ones named here so far. Too much unreplacable? call a pro!

They are far better equipped for this. Have a few dvd-r blanks when bringing the drive in to them. What they recovery they will burn to those or transfer onto a second working drive for you.

 

[Osiris]

I haven't downloaded this yet but from the looks of it, it's the old ERD Commander




Microsoft Diagnostics and Recovery Toolset can be downloaded from Microsoft as a 30 day evaluation version which is more than sufficient for our cause. It helps administrators identify and repair PCs that have become unusable by offering tools that analyze and solve the problem.
The file MSDaRT50Eval.msi has to be installed on a system which has the result that a iso is created. The iso has to be burned to CD afterwards. It is located by default in C:\Program Files\Microsoft Diagnostics and Recovery Toolset. Once the CD has been created you have to boot the non-working computer with the CD which loads a basic system with tools to analyze and repair problems.
Available tools are for instance a Crash Analyzer, Disk Wipe and File Recovery, System Restore and System File Repair and Hotfix Uninstall. Please note that this CD is working for 30 days after burning the ISO. It will stop functioning afterwards. I tend to keep the installation file on my PC and burn it when I need it. Since I have two computers it is not a problem at all.

Microsoft Diagnostics and Recovery Toolset : Welcome To Tech-Dump

 

[C0RR0SIVE]

I found some software for a relatively cheap price ya ask me, the demo let me view all the data, everything seems to be in perfect condition... Now, just to pay the $30 to get the license so I can copy everything to another drive, thanks for the help guys.... Surprised that anyone can still find old copys of ERD Commander....

 

[Osiris]

I got a fully functionaly copy, you know it you want it.... just gotta ask

 

[eyeCpc]

I found some software for a relatively cheap price ya ask me, the demo let me view all the data, everything seems to be in perfect condition... Now, just to pay the $30 to get the license so I can copy everything to another drive, thanks for the help guys.... Surprised that anyone can still find old copys of ERD Commander....

Want to learn about another tool that costs the price of a blank cd-r? One old 2004 article sums up how to use a live for cd Linux distro to recover files off of an MS partition when it becomes inaccessible. Computer First Aid Using Knoppix ubuntu is another live distro some use.

 

[peterhuang913]

Want to learn about another tool that costs the price of a blank cd-r? One old 2004 article sums up how to use a live for cd Linux distro to recover files off of an MS partition when it becomes inaccessible. Computer First Aid Using Knoppix ubuntu is another live distro some use.

The partition is GONE, not inaccessible. Seriously, you give out the worse advice.

 

[eyeCpc]

The partition is GONE, not inaccessible. Seriously, you give out the worse advice.

Maybe you should pay more attention by actually reading the thread. The reference there was for any future problems if a partition becomes unreadable for some reason.