unformat hard drive? by mistake i format my backup drive is there any way to unformat it please help. Thanks?

Answer 1

Sorry, you are out of luck.

When a computer lays information down on a hard drive, CD, or disk it constructs a File Allocation Table (FAT). This tells the computer where to find the files. When you erase the file, you don't remove it you only remove the file's location from the FAT. The data remains on the media, but your computer doesn't know where it is. You can recover those files with special software that searches the media for a specific filename.

If you change the data on the media then you run the risk of writing over the old data. To the computer that area has no data in it just random noise. So, as far as the computer is concerned, there is no problem writing over it. To really remove a file you need another special program that writes over all the data to clear it out. Since the data is stored in various sectors on the media, and the FAT has no idea of where those files were written, the program has to write over all sectors that are not listed as being used by the FAT. To meet DOD standards this write over operation has to be done 50 times.

When you format a disk, you not only clear off the FAT (erasing it), but you clear off and rewrite all the data sectors. This makes it harder to find those files, and more likely that if you write to that media you are going to lose information.

Think of your hard drive like a library. To search every single book to find the book you are looking for would take a long time, so the library has a card catalog. To your computer the card catalog is the FAT, the bookshelves are sectors and the books are the files. When you reformat the drive you are removing the bookshelves from the library; imagine the chaos you created. The books are still there, but you have no idea where any one book is. To your computer the library is bare; it ignores the old books, and tosses out the old card catalog file. The card catalog has been burned and the old books lie in a heap all over the floor. Now if you want to find a specific book you not only have to dig through the heap, but the books are all in disarray; upside down, facing away from you etc.

You cannot unformat the hard drive. You may be able to find a specific file with special software, but trying to recover the entire hard drive would take as long as it would take to reshelve all those books, without the benefit of any tags on them or a card catalog to help you. Now you have to consider the size of your hard drive, it is like several large libraries. A terabyte drive can hold the entire Library of Congress, which is a copy every single book ever published in the United States ever since Thomas Jefferson donated his personal collection to the US Government. On that scale your hard drive would be like the library of a small college or larger.

You can't unformat a drive, the information isn't lost, but finding it would be like finding a bone needle in a haystack (you can't use a metal detector to cheat). You can use special software to find individual file names, if you know the file name, but to restore every single file would be a Herculean task.

Answer 2

Yes, there is software that will help you recover your data, even after formatting the drive. I'm no expert, but from what I do remember from trying to recover data from a drive in the exact situation you describe, is that the software is used to help recover one or both of the file allocation tables of the drive (FAT). Once the FAT table is recovered, the data information that is still on the drive--that is, if it has not been overwritten--can be recovered and all the files can be restored. I do not know the specific names of the softwares that can do this since it has been awhile since I did this, but it should not be difficult to find softwares on the net that can perform the job. It may involve a little technical understanding of hard drives, so you may require help from someone who can find their way around a hard drive. But do not lose hope, you can recover data from a formatted drive.

Answer 3

There's a program called 'GetDataBack' which I've found can recover most data from a formatted drive.
I believe you can download a trial version from this link:
http://www.download.com/GetDataBack-Data-Recovery/3000-2094_4-10061631.html

If you run this, it will scan your drive and tell you what data can be recovered - however, because it is a trial version, you won't be able to actually recover it......lol......... you're supposed to pay for the full version. I'll say no more on that particular subject, at least not in public....

If you need any more info or want to ask me anything about what I've said, just email me.....

Answer 4

can u unformat a hard drive...the answer is no BUT, you can always recover ur work as i did. I had formatted my drive accidentally as u did and then i used a professional recovery software called o&o disk recovery: - http://www.oo-software.com/en/products/oodiskrecovery/

it scans ur hard disk [takes a awful lot of time] 'but' you get back almost 90% of your work.

Hope that helps
Cheers!

Answer 5

It is hard to unscramble your scramble egg. You might want to try files recovery software to see if you can pick up left over files data after the format. This might your last stand but I can't guaranteed that you will recover all of them! It would take 4-5 formating to wipe the harddrive clean.

Answer 6

you're probable hosed. There are some utilities available that may help you undelete, as well as agencies which will charge a particularly hefty value to recuperate files from a formatted confusing rigidity. yet your perfect guess might want to be to deliver it off to a professional provider yet be able to pay a particularly penny. examine google for companies that do files restore. through ways do no longer use that confusing rigidity in any respect in case you intend and ever getting ANY files off of it. in case you want to purpose to recuperate the files unplug the confusing rigidity thoroughly out of your computer till you're waiting to deliver it off.

Answer 7

there is no way to unformat it as such but there is plenty of software out there that can help you recover data from a formated hard drive.

Answer 8

there is not such thing as "unformatting" in the PC world

Answer 9

depending on how you formatted it... there are programs that simply clobber the TOC.... and the files are still there... and there are ways to get it back.

if you did a full reformat and cleared the data, it's too late.

Answer 10

you can try a recovery program but more than like youre sca-rewwwwwwwwwed!