Recover files from formatted drive?

Win 7 64-bit
3.5in Ext. HDD (ST3160203U2-RK)...if that makes any difference

There doesn't seem to be a particular forum for this question, so i thought I might as well try here first...............

my external HDD has been formatted (quick format) & then had just over half of it used for file storage, but I think there was something really important on there.

any suggestions on how to try to recover files......programs?

any help much appreciated!!!

thanks,
Jeff

Don't holds your breath, but you can try GetDataBack for ntfs. I've used out a few times... It can take quite awhile though.

Like hiker said, don't hold your breath. When data is "deleted" from a drive the sectors on the disk are simply marked as "available"; but no data is overwritten. When you do a format it does this to the whole disk. So as long as nothing's been written over top of those you'll be OK. BTW, there are programs out there than will actually wipe the sectors by rewriting data over top.

If you can't do it yourself there's some good forensic file recovery places out there, but be prepared to pay a very hefty sum for it. It all comes down to how much money the data that you've lost is worth to you to recover. If it was me loosing a personal hard drive, then it's not much of a big deal. I'd have to reinstall things, and I'd have lost a few files in the process, but nothing that I can't live without. If it was a business that kept all of their electronic files on the drive without a backup (and yes, it does happen, a lot!!) then it's worth significantly more.

..........it's found the directories of what I was looking for, but when I copy them to my main HDD i just get almost empty folders.

I guess i'm just getting scraps because i'd written other files over them as well as reformatting. That'll teach me to be more careful in future!!!

Thanks anyway guys, GDB is worth knowing about

This program probably found several instances of the files and folders. Even though it found the directories, make sure you also look for the filename itself. Also, it's been awhile since I've used it, but verify hidden files/folders are shown.

I used this program called Recuva

http://www.piriform.com/recuva

used this to get the files back on a formatted drive and it worked out and got some back but not all.

..........the files weren't that important & I needed the drive so I've reused it now.

At some point I'll experiemtn with both those programs tho.

Thanx for the help!
J