Getting away with a format in C: (Windows !!!)

[Jose]

Sorry,it's pee cee related but I need advice as to which software to use in recovering a big .zip file (around 200mb) I lost in the formatting of a 40Gb HD in my Athlon. Went to a near PC store where a "friend" of mine works and they told me it could take me 40$:pissed: That's almost the price of some professional recover tools one can find on the net.. the {bleep}s!

[Jose]

...
I know there's plenty of stuff on the net (warez and stuff) but I rather use something I can trust rather than a crack, even if it's just once, cause I really don't wanna risk this file (had plenty of bookmarks and also some information collected through the years!).

[nagaflas]

A file that large is most likey going to be fragmented all over the hard drive, depending on how long it sat there.

Therefore, your only hope would be to call a professional, because any software you buy to recover the files will cost you as much as getting someone to do it for you.

[blobrana]

Hum,
if it were me...

I`d not write anything to that drive...

And i would fit it into another computer...

And install professional software to that computer to recover the data...


(30 day trial software...)

[Jose]

"A file that large is most likey going to be fragmented all over the hard drive, depending on how long it sat there."

Hi, you're not giving me much hope:-)... It sat there for like 2 days cause it was just a zip made of a compilation that I wanted to back up before reinstalling Windows2000 (I formatted to HD before installing it). 200mb out of 40Gb maybe there's still some hope. When the HD is practically empty doesn't it write first to the outer cilinders?

"Therefore, your only hope would be to call a professional, because any software you buy to recover the files will cost you as much as getting someone to do it for you."

The problem is that those so called "professionals" are many times just using a registered version a such recovery software, or even cracked, and they just use the software. That I can do too. Not saying that there aren't people that deserve that title but I tend to think twice before risking giving a whole bunch of money to people that may end up not deserving it..

 
 

[Jose]

@blobrana

I tried that one yesterday (recover my files) and it seems to be of the best around. But I didn't like it that it only asked me to pay when I was about to save a couple of files.  

[Trev]

$40 is a cheap price for a professional data recovery service. I'd be a little skeptical. But if they know what they're doing. . . .

And if you don't know what you're doing, you're likely to damage what you're trying to recover. . . .

Trev

[Jose]

@Trev

Well, I have a general idea of how a filesystem works. If I save something or just simply boot from the drive I'll probably  risk writting over the file here, is there anything else?
Does anyone knows if NTFS tends to fragment files over the HD much ? If so I probably already screwed it..

[Tahoe]

Clean format should be recoverable. I always use Easy Recory Pro by Ontrack. Once got a load of pictures from a 60 GB disk which was formatted, reinstalled and used for a month.... Fortunatly the DIR was untouched....
Easy recovery opens the disk as read only and you'll have to recover the file(s) to a different disk/volume.

[Cass]

Just do not boot from this HD. In each boot/halt the system saves data to the disk, so it's more probable that overwrites empty blocks.
If the disk was already fragmented/full, it doesn't matter the size of the zip, as it is written in every free gap between the files.
Use the recovery program installed in another disk/system, and then mount the HD you have to recover the .zip , else leave this job to trusted professionals.
________
FIND DISPENSARY

[Trev]

@Jose

Yeah, NTFS fragments files just like most other file systems--it's just supposed to be more efficient when indexing those fragments. (So, if the file system knows where to find the data ahead of time, it can avoid high-level seeks and allow the disk subsystem to perform an optimal read. I'm probably over-simplifying.) Assuming the drive has just been repartitioned and not formatted, it should be possible for a data recovery specialist or a good software packge to recover the MFT and the file(s) you need.

Head over to http://www.sysinternals.com/publ.shtml and check out "Inside Windows 2000 NTFS, Part 1" and "Inside Windows 2000 NTFS, Part 2" by Mark Russinovich. (NTFS has remained mostly unchanged between 2000, XP, and 2003.)

Trev

[Waccoon]

Here's a free tool that works well for me.  Boot your machine from a seperate hard drive, then use the undelete feature.

Drive Rescue

NOTE:  This program has been discontinued and replaced by a new, commercial tool.  This is the older, legal, free version.

Try this bootable CD

http://biatchux.dmzs.com/?section=main

[whabang]

ActiveUndelete is excellent, although the trial version only supports files up to 64 kb.

[kevh100]

Heres another totally free file recovery program...
http://www.officerecovery.com/freeundelete/

Kev
www.kphonline.co.uk