Question Can data still be recovered on a drive that was formatted over a year ago ?

[Techguy200]

I have a Sony Vaio SVS131A12W laptop that I formatted over a year ago, and I'm curious about the possibility of recovering the formatted data. I understand that formatting typically erases the data on a device, but considering the time that has passed, I'm wondering if there are any potential methods or tools specific to the SVS131A12W model that might help recover some or all of the lost information.

1. Is there a time limit on data recovery after formatting?
2. Are there specific tools or software recommended for recovering data from a Sony Vaio SVS131A12W laptop?
3. Are there any precautions or steps I should take before attempting data recovery on this particular model?
4. What are the potential risks or challenges involved in trying to recover data from a Sony Vaio SVS131A12W laptop formatted more than a year ago?

I appreciate any insights, advice, or experiences you can share on this matter. Thank you!

 

[Aeacus]

I understand that formatting typically erases the data on a device

No, format doesn't erase data. What format does, is telling OS that this drive is free to be written new data on it, thus overwriting previous data.

There are deep formats out there, that fill the drive with zeros, in hopes to better "erase" the data.

Is there a time limit on data recovery after formatting?

Depends on a drive, but for HDD, data can be recovered even when it has sustained ~20 overwrites. For SSD, i'm not so sure since the data on it is stored in a far different way.

Are there specific tools or software recommended for recovering data from a Sony Vaio SVS131A12W laptop?

Only option is data recovery firm. Since they have the tools and know-how to recover the data. Depending how much the drive has been overwritten since then, the cost of it is either small fortune, arm and a leg, or can't be done at all.

So, if you're serious about recovering data, contact data recovery firm. They can answer your questions far better + give you ballpark figure what it is going to cost.
There are many data recovery firms, but the two biggest/best are;
WeRecoverData: https://www.werecoverdata.com/
DriveSavers: https://drivesaversdatarecovery.com/

What you ask of us, is free option to recover data. More often that not, using free software doesn't work, especially when you don't have the know-how regarding data recovery. Also, it often makes things worse.
Since after all, if people can recover their lost data on their own, using free software downloaded from the net, data recovery firms would've gone out of business long time ago. But this is not the case. Instead, data recovery firms are highly regarded in what they are doing.

 

[bill001g]

It depends what you did with the drive after you format it.

If for example you would format a drive reinstall a new copy of the OS and then continue to use it the data was likely written over many times.

If you format the drive and then sit it on a shelf the data recovery chance should stay the same as if you attempt to recovery it the next day. I suppose after some very long time of sitting the data might be lost but that is not related to formatting it.

When you look at the charges data recovery sites charge it should tell you how much effort this is. The data might still be on the disk but it is likely scattered all over the place and they have to manually find the disk blocks that make up the files you want and put them back together.

Lets say I put some random file someplace on your machine. I even give you the name but tell you to find it without the search option. How long would it take you to find the file even when you could use the file browser to click though all the directories.

With the many thousands of files on you average machine it would likely take you a very long time to find it. Now think about doing this when all the directory and file names have been formatted over. It is even worse if not impossible if the data has actually been over written.

There is no magic tools that will do this easily it takes massive amounts of manual effort and a strong knowledge of how files are actually stored on the disk.