Oh dear, just formatted the wrong drive.

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tchart

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#138020 17-Dec-2013 09:44

Ive just formatted my backup drive :(

What are the chances of getting the data back from one of those recovery places? Can they retrieve stuff from a formatted drive?

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Vocus

#953527 17-Dec-2013 09:45

Quick format?

tchart

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#953532 17-Dec-2013 09:52

Er no I was using diskpart to clean a USB flash drive.

KevinL

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#953533 17-Dec-2013 09:52

Highly likely you will be able to get your data back. Recovery places are expensive. You can try using TestDisk first:

http://www.cgsecurity.org/wiki/TestDisk

NTFS - http://www.cgsecurity.org/wiki/Undelete_files_from_NTFS_with_TestDisk
FAT32 - http://www.cgsecurity.org/wiki/TestDisk:_undelete_file_for_FAT

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jhWbSM-630E

ubergeeknz

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#953535 17-Dec-2013 09:53

tchart: Er no I was using diskpart to clean a USB flash drive.

Hmm :/ well good luck :P

KevinL

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#953536 17-Dec-2013 09:56

ubergeeknz:
tchart: Er no I was using diskpart to clean a USB flash drive.

Hmm :/ well good luck :P

The method of deletion (whether deleted or partition wiped or formatted) doesn't make a massive difference to how easy the data is to recover, for what it's worth.

Edit - unless he used the clean all command with diskpart, in which case "good luck" certainly applies :D

ubergeeknz

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#953541 17-Dec-2013 10:03

KevinL:
ubergeeknz:
tchart: Er no I was using diskpart to clean a USB flash drive.

Hmm :/ well good luck :P

The method of deletion (whether deleted or partition wiped or formatted) doesn't make a massive difference to how easy the data is to recover, for what it's worth.

Edit - unless he used the clean all command with diskpart, in which case "good luck" certainly applies :D

That was implied in his comment, hence my response. If it wasn't actually overwritten, then prognosis is very good, but once you overwrite, particularly on flash, I don't fancy your chances.

Edit: end of the day, if it's just a backup (and not archival) then simply make a new backup... much easier than mucking around with forensic recovery.

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tchart

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#953550 17-Dec-2013 10:24

ubergeeknz:

That was implied in his comment, hence my response. If it wasn't actually overwritten, then prognosis is very good, but once you overwrite, particularly on flash, I don't fancy your chances.

Edit: end of the day, if it's just a backup (and not archival) then simply make a new backup... much easier than mucking around with forensic recovery.

Problem was that I was in the process of moving to a new notebook so I had moved most of my data to my backup drive :(

Anyway, I have asked for a quote to recover the data. I was more curious as to whether it was possible or not to recover data from a formatted drive.

rayonline

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#953560 17-Dec-2013 10:28

Edit - IC you moved it to your backup doing something with your laptop.

I always have more than one backup. 2 HDD in the PC. 1st is OS, 2nd partition of the 1st is backup of the 2nd. The 2nd drive are my files incl a OS system image. So if either fails I have the other.

I then have a external backup drive if the above 2 fail. Thinking of putting in a 2.5" rugged external HD into a bank deposit box. Irreplaceable photo's eg .. Cloud drives with our data caps are not workable apart from the most important handful.

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#953574 17-Dec-2013 10:53

there was a guy who recovered his data the other day - he should be able to help you! sorry can't remember which forum / thread ..

networkn

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#953601 17-Dec-2013 11:20

tchart:
ubergeeknz:

That was implied in his comment, hence my response. If it wasn't actually overwritten, then prognosis is very good, but once you overwrite, particularly on flash, I don't fancy your chances.

Edit: end of the day, if it's just a backup (and not archival) then simply make a new backup... much easier than mucking around with forensic recovery.

Problem was that I was in the process of moving to a new notebook so I had moved most of my data to my backup drive :(

Anyway, I have asked for a quote to recover the data. I was more curious as to whether it was possible or not to recover data from a formatted drive.

Not sure who you got a quote for, but Datalab does a fixed price I think it's $500 per disk.

BTR

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#953708 17-Dec-2013 13:20

A backup isn't actually a backup unless you have the data in more than one place. If you just moved data to another location and deleted the original you only transferred it. If it was actually a backup and you still have the original data then you shouldn't have an issue...

Sorry if that sounds blunt but thats how I see it.

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jonb

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#953711 17-Dec-2013 13:29

You may have more luck trying to recover the data from the old laptop drive

KevinL

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#953735 17-Dec-2013 14:01

tchart:
ubergeeknz:

That was implied in his comment, hence my response. If it wasn't actually overwritten, then prognosis is very good, but once you overwrite, particularly on flash, I don't fancy your chances.

Edit: end of the day, if it's just a backup (and not archival) then simply make a new backup... much easier than mucking around with forensic recovery.

Problem was that I was in the process of moving to a new notebook so I had moved most of my data to my backup drive :(

Anyway, I have asked for a quote to recover the data. I was more curious as to whether it was possible or not to recover data from a formatted drive.

Have you tried running Testdisk/Photorec (or Recuva) on the drive? It's safe to look, and you'll know very quickly if the data is recoverable. If Testdisk/Recuva fail, then try the experts.

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#953762 17-Dec-2013 14:57

tchart:
ubergeeknz:

That was implied in his comment, hence my response. If it wasn't actually overwritten, then prognosis is very good, but once you overwrite, particularly on flash, I don't fancy your chances.

Edit: end of the day, if it's just a backup (and not archival) then simply make a new backup... much easier than mucking around with forensic recovery.

Problem was that I was in the process of moving to a new notebook so I had moved most of my data to my backup drive :(

Anyway, I have asked for a quote to recover the data. I was more curious as to whether it was possible or not to recover data from a formatted drive.

IIRC correctly, one duplicate of your data is a copy not a backup...!

FFR look at something like Backblaze - you could just have requested a copy of your last backup and restored your computer.

tchart

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#953763 17-Dec-2013 14:57

jonb: You may have more luck trying to recover the data from the old laptop drive

Ah good call! I might try that too.

Im currently running GetDataBack on the formatted disk and its finding files (still scanning so I dont know what shape they are in ie file names retained etc)

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