BleepingComputer.com: Formatted Wrong Drive!

The other day I was installing Windows 7 on my computer. I have 3 hard drives in my computer, and when picking the partition to install to, I wasn't paying attention and accidentally formatted the wrong drive . I did this through the Windows 7 installation GUI so I assume it was the equivalent of a quick format because it only took a few seconds to prepare my 500 GB drive.

Is there any way I can recover my files? I know they haven't technically been "deleted" and are mostly recoverable, since I didn't write much to the disk after formatting it. But I know it follows a different file structure than XP so I'm not sure if any Un-Delete programs will work. It was formatted as NTFS before my quick format, and after, so that avoids a major problem.

What can I do? I'd feel terrible if I can't recover my files. That was essentially my storage drive where I kept all my pictures/music etc.

Try this:

http://www.piriform.com/recuva

Thanks for the quick reply!

I'll try that out and get back to you with the results

so the scan finished and i see some file names in the list, but for the most part the files are named with numbers followed by the extension. Is there any way to get the original files back and the folder structure?

Edit - I ran this program through Win XP. I also have Windows 7 installed on a separate drive (not the one i accidentally formatted). If I run this program under Windows 7, will it get me the folder structure back? I'm wondering because I formatted this through the Windows 7 installation, and it proceeded to install files to that drive.

This post has been edited by javaman12: 02 March 2010 - 12:38 AM

You might try a different data-recovery utility...I don't know about running any from Windows 7 (I haven't had to try that yet).

These utilities vary a bit in their capabilities, so my experience is to try a couple of them when trying to reclaim data files...until you find one that either works or they all yield the same net result.

The utility that I have confidence in is a paid one. Since most users seem to want a free answer, I usually don't suggest it.

Louis

hamluis, if the program you use would work for me, I wouldn't mind paying for it. What's the name of the app?

Note: I'm not saying that it will, it's only an attempt to recover data.

GetDataBack - Data Recovery Software - http://runtime.org/data-recovery-software.htm

Note that the above is for NTFS formatted partitions...there is an alternate program required for FAT partitions. Please read all instuctions before doing anything. Run the trial version first, just to see if it can see the files you want to recover.

Louis

Here's another free one:

http://www.pcinspector.de/default.htm?language=1