Can i recover files from a HDD that's been formated.

[Reksi123]

So i wanna know if i can recover files that were previosly on the HDD. I mean i formated the disk (installed new Windows and chose to delete the files). Some say the files stay? and that i can recover them.

 

[DSzymborski]

That usually means a quick format, which means you have the chance to recover some files. You need to use software recovery like Recuva or EaseUs to see what's on there. But to have your best chance to recover things, you'll need to either put this drive in an enclosure and recover files using another computer or install Windows on another hard drive and use this as a secondary drive. Every second you operate an OS on this hard drive, the less likely you become to recover the file you want.

 

[Dark Lord of Tech]

If it's been formatted they are pretty much gone for good , unless you go the professional recovery route which is very expensive , and even then results vary.

 

[ss202sl]

You formatted, and then installed Windows??? And want the files from before you formatted?

 

[reedo_43]

Get data back for ntfs. They give you a trial to see if it work for you. Great stuff!

 

[DR_Luke]

yes and no. You can recover any file that wasn't overwritten with the re-installation of windows and other programs. If you do a full scan of the drive, you should be able to find some partial MFT and INDX records that aren't overwritten, giving a partial file structure, but does not necessarily mean that the file contents, themselves will not be overwritten. You may also find a lot of files that are not overwritten, but only recoverable in a RAW format, because there are no longer any MFT records to identify them.

Be sure to connect the drive into another computer, scan it with a data recovery program, my preference is R-Studio, and then save the recovered files to any drive, other than the one from which you are recovering. Be sure you are 100% satisfied with the results and sure that you won't want to seek professional assistance before starting to use the drive again. In a perfect world, you would take the time to get a full sector-by-sector image of the drive and work only with the copy and not the original.