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HELP!!!!!!!!!!!! - how to retrieve deleted files on PC

ChiquitaBanana31720

59

Posts

EW NEWBIE

Latest post on 02 April 2011 - 00:04

DH has rebooted the PC as we are getting rid of the computer - so by rebooting he has (accidentally) deleted all the photos I have saved on the desktop... (don't ask - he ASSUMED all was on the external drive).

So - any pC expert out there that can help me retrieve those photos .... PLEASE say that it's possible! please please please ....

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vero possumus37927

876

Posts

EW GURU

Latest post on 04 April 2011 - 14:07

Try running testdisk. Since data is fragmented, I believe even after a full format, it may (not always) but may be possible to retrieve parts of the data, as long as they were not written over. anyway, I doubt it was a full format, that would take forever with the large drives of todays pc's...you should be ok ETA: I am sorry Edna, I shall be testing my theory soon....shall report back to you....I am sure of this (hmmm maybe...) <em>edited by vero possumus on 04/04/2011</em>

22

Posts

EW NEWBIE

Latest post on 04 April 2011 - 01:32

edna !! I believe you are generations ahead of me!! Thank you for trying to educate me but alas it all went over my head and I am still stuck with my opinion. Damn! I was always a slow learner. in few years I am sure I will understand.

edna.welthorpe36638

516

Posts

EW GURU

Latest post on 04 April 2011 - 00:32

edna.welthorpe hi :-) what you say might / might not be true It's true. It really is a myth that you can always recover data from any drive. If you've done a full (slow) format, the data is gone. Khalas. You don't need to go as far as a low-level format, and in fact most modern hard drives won't actually allow you to do a low-level format anyway, it's something that can only be done at the factory. Formatting /wiping /wipe erase & wipedestroy are some of other methods which are considered reasonably safe Sorry, but that's all still myth! A single full format will overwrite every single piece of data on a disk, and once it's overwritten it's gone. All that stuff about having to incinerate hard drives etc - nonsense. Utter nonsense. Not a scrap of truth in it, but it's such a persistent myth that I suppose it helps sell lots of new hard drives, so somebody's making a nice bit of money out of it. In January 2008, a computer research organisation threw down the Great Zero Challenge, which was a challenge to professional data recovery companies, or indeed anyone at all, to recover the original data from a hard drive that had undergone a single full format. None of this "wipe and destroy" cr@p, just a single full format. The challenge remained unaccepted, and in the end it was withdrawn because it was clear nobody was EVER going to accept it. Not a single data recovery company or computer forensics department in the world was willing to take it on, for the quite understandable reason that it was impossible. But still, the popular myth that the "only way to be safe" is to completely destroy your old hard drive persists. People actually WANT to believe this stuff.

22

Posts

EW NEWBIE

Latest post on 03 April 2011 - 16:54

Can you send me more details on your "service" and cost involve in retrieving datas please. thank you I might have been misunderstood. I do not provide these services. I wanted you to have info for what possibilities exist for you. edna.welthorpe hi :-) what you say might / might not be true. What probably you are referring to is what is commonly called low level format and not full format. Formatting /wiping /wipe erase & wipedestroy are some of other methods which are considered reasonably safe. Formatting I think is to set a magnetizing pattern on the platter (in lay man's terms) I read somewhere that without latent heat exchange \ release /absorption i.e state change i.e from solid to liquid and re solidifying from molten stage platter demagnetizes every molecule of the platter & That is the only safe way! I think that is probably why usa defense/ other departments will not just full format but physically destroy all the platters to dust and melt them. I am not at all sure what I read is correct. On a lighter note I can not make any sense out of what I have written ( when I was writing it did make though) but if you can please do explain to me as well!! LOL. <em>edited by Veekay53 on 03/04/2011</em>

edna.welthorpe36638

516

Posts

EW GURU

Latest post on 03 April 2011 - 15:12

That is why I have a cupboard full of hard drives, that I have removed from our old pc's before binning them, as I know that if someone wants to, they can retrieve it all. If you have done a full format, then no, they can't retrieve it all. It's a myth. A full format overwrites every single byte on the disk, and once data has been overwritten, it's gone. In the cases where someone has bought an old hard drive and been able to recover data from it, it's because the original owner either did a quick format (which doesn't overwrite the data) or simply didn't format it at all. The reason so many people seem to think it's possible to recover overwritten data is because of Peter Gutmann, a computer scientist who suggested in 1996 and again in 2001 that it might be possible. Unfortunately, as of 2011 there's still no practical evidence to support Gutmann's theory.

ChiquitaBanana31720

59

Posts

EW NEWBIE

Latest post on 03 April 2011 - 14:27

Thank you all from your message and suggestions. To Veekay53: My DH has has reformatted the PC to factory settings .... (looking to get rid of the PC) and having just spoken to my IT colleagues, it looks like there is no hope in retrieving those lost files. Take my advice.. take out the hard disk. do not do anything to it. Do your other options and if they do not work then you can use this hard disk to retrieve the data. "I know What I am talking about." it might take few minutes to few days to retrieve the data but it is retrievable. whether you can afford the cost is a question which you will have to decide. I know of recovered data from burnt out platters (& yes it cost hundreds of thousands of dollars) Can you send me more details on your "service" and cost involve in retrieving datas please... chiquitabanana 29 at gmail dot com thank you

vero possumus37927

876

Posts

EW GURU

Latest post on 03 April 2011 - 14:25

the data will still be there. there are programs to retrieve this. NOTHING is deleted permanently. That is why I have a cupboard full of hard drives, that I have removed from our old pc's before binning them, as I know that if someone wants to, they can retrieve it all.

22

Posts

EW NEWBIE

Latest post on 03 April 2011 - 14:18

Thank you all from your message and suggestions. To Veekay53: My DH has has reformatted the PC to factory settings .... (looking to get rid of the PC) and having just spoken to my IT colleagues, it looks like there is no hope in retrieving those lost files. Take my advice.. take out the hard disk. do not do anything to it. Do your other options and if they do not work then you can use this hard disk to retrieve the data. "I know What I am talking about." it might take few minutes to few days to retrieve the data but it is retrievable. whether you can afford the cost is a question which you will have to decide. I know of recovered data from burnt out platters (& yes it cost hundreds of thousands of dollars)

ChiquitaBanana31720

59

Posts

EW NEWBIE

Latest post on 03 April 2011 - 12:00

Thank you all from your message and suggestions. To Veekay53: My DH has has reformatted the PC to factory settings .... (looking to get rid of the PC) and having just spoken to my IT colleagues, it looks like there is no hope in retrieving those lost files. [b'>HOWEVER[/b'>, apparently there is a way of retrieving files/images from my memory card of our SLR camera. If any of you know how to do this, then this particular situation is solved. Any suggestions of a particular program to use?;)

edna.welthorpe36638

516

Posts

EW GURU

Latest post on 03 April 2011 - 09:30

If its reformatted then the files are gone for good. As others have said, not necessarily. If it's a quick format, which is what most people use, all that happens is that the computer marks the data area of the disk as being empty. All the old data is still there until it ends up being overwritten by new data. So as long as you don't save anything else to the disk after doing a quick format, it's usually possible to recover what was on it. <em>edited by edna.welthorpe on 03/04/2011</em>

43

Posts

EW NEWBIE

Latest post on 03 April 2011 - 09:24

Normally deleted files can be easily recovered. Your situation, however, appears to be more serious as the disc was formatted. Was the whole drive formatted or just one partition? Is the operating system is still there? Was it a quick format or full one? The latter is much more serious nonetheless the data can still be recovered. Search for an appropriate software on the Internet. There are plenty of them, many of them are free. There is tons of information how to do it. Search for 'how to recover data from formatted hard drive' http://www.ehow.com/how_4493148_recover-data-from-formatted-hard.html In case only one partition was formatted and you still have access to the operating system and the drive. Do NOT save anything into that drive as by doing so you'll be overwriting existing data, iow erasing it permanently p.s. this is rather delicate operation and as you don't know the difference between rebooting and formatting you may like to consider someone else preforming this procedure for you ;) Good luck.

22

Posts

EW NEWBIE

Latest post on 03 April 2011 - 05:53

ChiquitaBanana Yes in most of the cases it is possible to recover. DO NOT DO ANYTHING TO THE HARD DISK TILL YOU ARE SURE WHAT YOU ARE DOING! 1. First step should be to make a raw copy of your hard disk and recover from copied disk. 2. Was it quick format or full format? If quick then it will be very easy but if full format , well it will still be recoverable unless it was military grade erasing but will require patience!! depending upon your answer, I might be able to guide you on how to recover.

266

Posts

EW NEWBIE

Latest post on 02 April 2011 - 22:29

if it's reformatted, just go to the tools or format or rescue and recovery tab. find where your backups are stored. restore to the backup before the format, you should get everything back and it shouldn't take more than a couple of minutes

369

Posts

EW EXPLORER

Latest post on 02 April 2011 - 22:22

I know, and really, Im a total computer idiot. It was that easy.

3220

Posts

EW MASTER

Latest post on 02 April 2011 - 22:08

no they are not gone, dont fiddle with it. There are ways or retrieving them. Google restoring files after reformatting. I had a memory stick with an important video on it, a helpful relative formatted it for me. I sent it to Sony, they couldnt restore it, I sent it to a big camera store at home in Australia, they couldnt fix it. In desperation I used a program I downloaded for free off the net, and I restored it in 7 minutes! Really? Wow,your lucky.

369

Posts

EW EXPLORER

Latest post on 02 April 2011 - 21:38

no they are not gone, dont fiddle with it. There are ways or retrieving them. Google restoring files after reformatting. I had a memory stick with an important video on it, a helpful relative formatted it for me. I sent it to Sony, they couldnt restore it, I sent it to a big camera store at home in Australia, they couldnt fix it. In desperation I used a program I downloaded for free off the net, and I restored it in 7 minutes!

3220

Posts

EW MASTER

Latest post on 02 April 2011 - 21:32

If its reformatted then the files are gone for good.

49

Posts

EW NEWBIE

Latest post on 02 April 2011 - 21:29

If you mean he has "reformatted" it (as opposed to "rebooting" - which is just turning it off and turning it back on) I think it's pretty unlikely you can retrieve the files, because they haven't just been deleted but wiped from the system altogether. Sorry to be the bearer of bad news :(

124

Posts

EW NEWBIE

Latest post on 02 April 2011 - 00:32

There are programmes that you can buy online that will retrieve lost or deleted files. If you google retrieving lost files you should get a few that come up, I think Paretologic is one, although I am unsure as to how good it is. You will go through a sort of wizard and it will retrieve what it can and then if you want to download it, it will ask you to buy the programme, but at least you will see what it has managed to bring back.

1996

Posts

EW EXPERT

Latest post on 02 April 2011 - 00:28

Unfortunately you can not do anything, unless you made a backup :( Fingers crossed someone can help you

48

Posts

EW NEWBIE

Latest post on 02 April 2011 - 00:27

Unfortunately you can not do anything, unless you made a backup :(

1996

Posts

EW EXPERT

Latest post on 02 April 2011 - 00:24

I know absolutely nothing about rebooting computers but would they be in the recycle bin-or is that a silly idea?

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