Recovering lost data...

NYSpeed Automotive NYSpeed Off Topic
1

So I did a fresh install of vista. But before that, I backed up at 3-400GB worth of stuff onto my WD 750GB External. I checked it afterwards, and everything was there, and it was fine. Then after my windows install, I went to hook it up, and it says I need to reformat it before using. It said the same thing when I hooked up the external on my downstairs PC too.

So this is an area Ive never had to deal with before and am looking for some advice. I can’t reformat it for obvious reasons. I dont wanna lose all my shit.

Are there any data recovery programs I can use to get the stuff off the external HD before I reformat it?

2

There are a few free programs out there that will recover data from NFTS.

I actually just went ahead and purchased Recover Data for NFTS from:

http://www.recoverdatatools.com/

Main reason for me was i couldn’t find a free program that kept the original files names intact.

http://free-backup.info/data-recovery-software.htm

http://www.thefreecountry.com/utilities/datarecovery.shtml

3

http://www.officerecovery.com/freeundelete/

I’ve used that one a few times at work to recover stuff off removable drives and thumb drives.

4

Im trying the one from recovery data right now. Its going to take a loooooooooong time…

5

a little off topic, i have a harddrive that messed up on me and i swapped it out. someone told me there still might be salvageable items on it. How would i go about seeing if i can get anything off of it?

6

plug it back in as a slave drive and try one of the recovery programs and see if it finds anything.