Recovering Files

I did a reformat a few days back and it looks like I lost some files I didn't want to lose. Is there anyway to retrieve them or are they gone forever? From what I've heard nothing is ever "lost"…

Hi Chase,

You could try here, and here, and see how you go, but I have had no experience with the software at all.

Good luck, keep us posted how you get on so others may learn.

kind regards,

I have used Recuva, from the makers of CCleaner and it worked fairly well. Restoration is another possibility. Full recovery is not.

I did a reformat a few days back and it looks like I lost some files I didn't want to lose.

Which begs the question, why format? The purpose of format is to clear the disk of previously stored data and prepare the platters for data storage - and this is done by laying down tracks and sectors on the drive, then marking marking the areas as available in the file tables. Any data that is in the way, is overwritten.

Is there anyway to retrieve them or are they gone forever?

That depends on what you did to the drive after the format, and how it was formatted. If it was formatted using a different file system, then most likely they are lost, except what fragments can be recovered by forensic analysis, which is very expensive and time consuming. If you have saved anything to the drive since then, your chances of any recovery are further reduced. Certainly, even in the best ideal conditions, 100% recovery is not possible - some data will be destroyed. But again, if anything was saved to the disk after format, chances are greatly reduced.

From what I've heard nothing is ever "lost"…

If only it were that easy. Recovery is never a sure thing, with the best chances of recovery occurring immediately after the delete or format.

No backup?