I wanted to know how can I retrieve my pictures and info from my computer after I've used my restore disk?

Question

I have erased everything on my computer...how can I get it back?
The same thing happened to my laptop (P45 Satellite from Toshiba) and I was able to get everything off of it. I mean the files, favorite pages, and music aren't just gone are they?

Answer 1

That's a slightly tricky question; some of your stuff is almost certainly gone, but there's a chance you can save some as long as you don't create any new files. When a disk gets formatted, all that really gets erased is the file system, which contains pointers to different spots on the hard drive that correspond to where files start and end. On a smaller scale, the same thing happens when you delete a single file and empty the Trash/Recycle Bin: the information about what and where the file is gets removed, but the OS doesn't take the time to go through the hard drive and overwrite all the data of that file (it'd be impractical for larger files). Instead, it just leaves the "orphaned" data where it lies, and makes a note in the file system that it's OK to write over that part of the disk in the future because it's free space now.

Anyway, what YOU can do, after closing any programs that might create new files and avoiding creating new files yourself, is (on another computer, if possible) look for "undelete" or "file recovery" programs that scan the free space on your hard drive for data that looks like it used to belong to files, and convert them to visible, usable files again. I doubt all of your stuff will be salvageable, as re-installing your OS likely overwrote some of it. Ideally, look for a program that can be run from a USB thumb drive, since then you won't have to install anything on the target computer before starting the salvage process. I wish you the best of luck.

Answer 2

This is what backups are for. If you reinstalled everything then your files are gone,
I believe their are some "undelete" programs out there that just may give you some of the files back if they are that important.
Prevention is better than cure. Make those backups!!

Answer 3

If, during the "Restore" process the system reformatted the hard drive, then all is lost.

This is one of the main reasons for doing "back ups".

Answer 4

if you re-formatted your PC , which I THINK the restore disk will prob do automatically, the afaik its gone, and I do not know a way of getting it back.

There nay be advanced tools for getting it back - but I have never heard of any.