Guest bighyp Posted August 13, 2008 Posted August 13, 2008 I accidently did a system recovery instead of a system restore and wiped out my hard drive/ is there any way a dummy like me can retrieve the data that was on the drive bighyp
Guest sgopus Posted August 13, 2008 Posted August 13, 2008 RE: data loss a system restore really doesn't wipe data, it does restore system settings. the data ie personal documents and such, may still be there just in a different place. "bighyp" wrote: > I accidently did a system recovery instead of a system restore and wiped out > my hard drive/ is there any way a dummy like me can retrieve the data that > was on the drive bighyp
Guest Daddy Posted August 13, 2008 Posted August 13, 2008 Re: data loss That depends on what exactly you mean by "system recovery". If it means your hard disk was erased then all pre-existing data is permanently gone. Well, it is sometimes possible to recover data from an erased hard disk but it's very expensive. Silver lining: You are now motivated to start backing up your data. Daddy "bighyp" <bighyp@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message news:6BC5F158-5ECF-46D6-82FC-B0C40CF8E149@microsoft.com... >I accidently did a system recovery instead of a system restore and wiped out > my hard drive/ is there any way a dummy like me can retrieve the data that > was on the drive bighyp >
Guest Malke Posted August 13, 2008 Posted August 13, 2008 Re: data loss bighyp wrote: > I accidently did a system recovery instead of a system restore and wiped > out my hard drive/ is there any way a dummy like me can retrieve the data > that > was on the drive bighyp You can try using data recovery software, but it is unlikely that it will recover anything. If the data is crucial, immediately send the drive to a professional data recovery company like Drive Savers (my preference) or Seagate Data Recovery. General prices run from $500USD on up. Drive Savers recovered all the data on a failed laptop drive for one of my clients and it cost $2,700. He thought it was worth the money; only you know what your data is worth. I understand that some insurance companies are now covering data recovery charges so check with yours. Drive Savers - http://www.drivesavers.com Seagate Data Recovery Services - https://www.seagatedatarecovery.com/ If you don't want to spend so much money, then you can try the data recovery software route. IN ANY CASE, IF YOU WANT TO RECOVER DATA, DO NOTHING FURTHER ON THE COMPUTER! If you use data recovery software, install it on another machine and either use it from that operating system or create a bootable cd/floppy and work with that. If you don't have the skill and/or equipment to do these procedures and the data is crucial, take the machine to a professional computer repair shop that has experience in doing data recovery. This will not be your local version of BigStoreUSA. Here are some links to various programs. I use Easy Recovery Pro, but it is expensive. People whom I respect have recommended R-Studio and Restoration. YMMV. http://www3.telus.net/mikebike/RESTORATION.html PCInspector File Recovery - http://www.pcinspector.de/file_recovery/welcome.htm Executive Software ?Undelete? - http://www.undelete.com/undelete/undelete.asp R-Studio - http://www.r-tt.com/ File Scavenger - http://www.quetek.com/prod02.htm Ontrack's EasyRecovery - http://www.ontrack.com/software/ You should also create and implement a backup strategy so you can recover from mistakes like this and hardware failure easily. Malke -- MS-MVP Elephant Boy Computers - Don't Panic! FAQ - http://www.elephantboycomputers.com/#FAQ
Guest Patrick Keenan Posted August 13, 2008 Posted August 13, 2008 Re: data loss "bighyp" <bighyp@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message news:6BC5F158-5ECF-46D6-82FC-B0C40CF8E149@microsoft.com... >I accidently did a system recovery instead of a system restore and wiped >out > my hard drive/ is there any way a dummy like me can retrieve the data that > was on the drive bighyp First, power the system down. Do NOT turn it back on. Remove the drive. If you do not do this, there is no possibility of recovery. Your next step for recovery depends on what you are comfortable doing and the value of the data. The first principle is that you never, ever, attempt to restore to the drive you are trying to recover from. Do not attempt recovery from a running drive - it has to be hosted, not in use as the OS drive. If you want to try it yourself, you need another system with enough drive space and data recovery software. This doesn't always work. I would start here - much recovery software has a demo mode so you can see, before purchase, what it thinks it can do for you. Data recovery services can also attempt to do this for you, and they have a better success rate than software you can buy. However, there are no guarantees, and you should expect a bill exceeding $1,000. Most services will give you an estimate of cost and expectations, but these estimates aren't always free. In the meantime, you might actually want to use your computer, so get a new hard disk, and set your old one aside safely. Drives are inexpensive; last week or so I paid $83 each for 500-gig drives (bare, not as kits). Use your restore disks to set your system up. This will allow you to use your system, and also provide you with the system to attempt data recovery. HTH -pk
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