How to get files back after formatting your hard drive. Data recovery from hard drive, flash drive
In order to recover lost data, many special programs, using different algorithms for searching this data. You can use utilities such as UFSExplorer, R.saver, R-studio, GetDataBack, FileRecovery 4.x or any others. At the same time, in paid versions, before purchasing, we recommend starting with a demo version of the program you like. Despite such a variety of utilities, there are several common points in the sequence of their work, which we will focus on.
Getting started with a data recovery program always begins with its installation (unpacking). Before doing this, make sure that this process will take place on a disk (partition) that is not affected by formatting. Next comes automatic start utilities and pre-scanning. If at this stage the device or the required partition is not detected, the program may need to be changed.
Most data recovery programs with hard drive after formatting, they have a fairly clear interface and are quite easy to use. However, if the data lost during the formatting process is very important to you, and you are not an experienced enough PC user to restore it, entrust the device to professionals.
Deleted data can be restored as well as formatted disks. The area on the disk that stores file data is marked as available and retains old data. until it is overwritten by some other file.
In this article you will learn:
- how to get back deleted photos.
- You can get back deleted files.
- deleted the game how to get it back.
- How to get something deleted from the trash back?
- how to get back a deleted folder.
- How to get a deleted game back?
- how to get back deleted photos.
- how to get back deleted files.
- how to get back deleted photos.
how to get back something deleted from your computer.
All these questions in one article.
Try to remember if you copied new files to the disk or flash drive, as this will overwrite the files you want to recover. Once again, it is recommended to also install data recovery software to a separate disk.
So now there are two recovery methods to choose from, but it all depends on your specific case.
Condition 1. You accidentally formatted external drive or maybe your own computer's local drive, but still you may see empty space on the drive.
Condition 2. Did you format the disk during installation? operating system or anything else, and now you will not be able to open/start your computer.
So if your situation is like condition 1, then that's great because it means you need to run recovery process from the operating system like a regular program.
It's actually quite easy;
And you can check these recovery steps with my suggested article >> All about data recovery and how to do it?
In this article I described only the recovery process in a situation similar to condition 2.
# Let's see how to recover data when you accidentally formatted your disk during OS installation:
In this case, things get a little more complicated, but data recovery is still possible, don't worry.
The problem here is Without an OS you can't control your computer.
In fact, it won't even load.
In this case, you will need to use what is known as bootable data recovery software, which does not require an operating system for work.
Bootable recovery programs can be launched from an external source, such as a DVD or USB drive connected to the computer. ABOUTnor can they “see” errors in your system, to find out what went wrong, where and how to get the files back.
The search is best done on the entire HDD, and not just per partition (“letter drive”). This will allow the program to search the entire hard drive as a single block of data and ignore partitions, giving you a better chance of pulling that particular rabbit out of the proverbial hat.
Scanning a large hard drive, 500 gigabytes or larger, may take some time. This is also affected by how powerful your computer is and the number of files the program processes. It's not uncommon for the process to take a couple of hours to complete, so be patient.
Once the scan is complete, the final step is simple - just find the missing files and return them to the correct folder.
And to do all this, firstly, you will need to buy (download) data recovery software for your computer or laptop. Every data recovery software available only in paid version; If you try to do the same with free version programs, then the chances of recovering the necessary data will be much less, however, you can download “hacked” versions of paid programs on specialized sites (torrent)
Obviously, big plus here is that you don't have to run it from your hard drive, allowing you to search for anything without any hassle.
And here is the link if you are planning to buy this software (EaseUS Data Recovery Bootable Media 11.00 -Cart Link):
Let's see how to use EaseUS bootable media
To do this, you need to create in advance WinPE boot disk, which is also not so difficult.
WinPE stands for Pre-Environment Windows installations. This Windows system, which provides minimal necessary functions based on OS kernels.
To create a boot disk from WinPE Edition EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard, you will need a working computer in order to install the basic software and using this basic software you can do any of your USB drives or CD/DVDs ready for the data recovery process.
To do this;
Run data recovery program EaseUS WinPE Edition.
EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard WinPE Edition will automatically recognize your CD/DVD device or USB drive. Or you can also export the ISO file manually.
Select CD/DVD or USB drive and click "Continue" to create a boot disk or flash drive.
Then run the EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard from the WinPE boot disk
Now you need to change the boot sequence of your computer.
After loading EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard from the WinPE boot disk, you will see the following:
Select the "broken" drive you want to recover data from and be prepared for a long wait.
After scanning is complete, select necessary files and restore them.
And depending on the size of the file, this can take a long time and be sure to ensure that your files are not damaged after you have restored them.
In contact with
Recovering files from a hard drive is an issue that worries many personal computer owners.
This includes the loss of valuable information and the time required for its successful recovery.
Specialized services charge a lot of money for this, but if the media is in good condition, it makes sense to try to recover the data yourself.
Reasons for losing information
If the storage medium is undamaged, the main reason may be:
- errors that occurred in the partition table or file system devices. Most often this happens due to incorrect shutdown personal computer, failures, malfunctions in hardware and software;
- the harmful effects of viruses, as well as user errors, often lead to the loss or corruption of data. With such failures, the information usually remains on the disk, but data about its location is lost. This is expressed in the loss of several disk partitions, displaying the partition as unformatted;
- Inaccurate file system records can also lead to partial or complete loss separate files and catalogues.
The main causes of malfunctions that lead to loss of information
Or maybe files, important data were accidentally deleted or the partition in which they were located was formatted. Information recovery is carried out using certain software in manual or automatic mode.
When using the appropriate programs, all information that exists on the media is scanned. Based on the detected information, a “map” of fragments of recovered data is created. It contains information: which file belongs to which sector, names, sizes and other parameters of the elements of the system being scanned. The selected data is then transferred to another drive.
What to do if data is lost?
If nothing was written to the sectors from which information was deleted, then the data was not physically destroyed, but information about its location was distorted or lost. First of all, it is necessary to determine exactly where the sectors that store the necessary information are located, and also to reproduce it in the correct sequence.
If information was written to the disk from which the files were deleted, for example, formatting and installation of a new operating system, there is a high probability of physical destruction of the data. In these cases, the feasibility of successful information recovery depends on the ratio of lost and recorded data. For example, if you delete 2 gigabytes of databases and write 100 gigabytes of music and movies in their place, the probability of successful recovery approaches zero.
Data recovery mechanism using programs
- media scanning;
- Based on the scanning results, a map of the location of pieces of information is compiled, based on the detected service records, and a directory tree is built;
- the map contains data about which file belongs to which cluster, the name, size and other parameters of the file system elements;
- if the information received is not enough, then certain extrapolation methods are used;
- folders and files that need to be restored are selected in accordance with the compiled map and transferred to another medium.
This article will review a variety of programs, both paid and free, and analyze their strengths and weak sides so that the reader can quickly choose the most suitable software for his request.
5 Best Data Recovery Software
Recuva
Recuva is one of the most common programs for recovering lost data or formatted disks. The high demand for this program can be explained by its simple and intuitive interface. Recuva does not require experience or special knowledge in the field of data recovery, it is very convenient and easy to use. You can download it from here
The program scans the selected hard drive in detail (various hard drives and flash drives are supported). Information can be recovered even if the drive has suffered any physical damage or was formatted using a standard system command.
It is recommended to perform recovery using the program without changing the standard settings, unless, of course, you are an expert in the field of data recovery. This utility has a simple interface and will provide effective information recovery, even if the user does not have the necessary knowledge.
The program will prompt you to select the type of file to be restored. When searching for a specific file (music, picture, document), it is worth specifying the category to save time necessary for the recovery operation. But, if you do not know the file type or want to find data from different categories, specify “Other” and the program will search for all deleted information.
Choosing WHAT to look for
Next you need to choose a place where this file was there before removal. You can select not only a separate folder, but also more extensive areas, for example: “My Documents” or “On a memory card”, and the program will check the selected area for the presence of the necessary data. If the exact location is unknown (the file was deleted using special programs or simply disappeared), you should leave “Exactly unknown” by default so that the utility scans the entire surface of the media.
We choose WHERE we will look
A window appears when you are ready to perform the restore operation. It is recommended to carry out an in-depth analysis: it takes more time, but its coefficient useful action will be many times higher.
It is worth waiting a while while the program searches for files. If you did not choose in-depth analysis, the operation will take very little time.
Selecting information to restore
A window will open indicating the deleted data found. From this list, you should select the information that needs to be restored, after which the program will prompt you to select a folder for recovery.
It is important right choice folders where our files will be restored, because this will affect the efficiency of their recovery. Restoration should be carried out to a drive other than the one from which the recovery is being carried out. This is especially true when it comes to returning large quantity files. You can connect an additional hard drive or flash drive to return data to them. The space should be slightly larger than the size of the files being restored.
The recovery procedure will not take much time and depends on the number and size of files.
R-Studio
R-Studio is a convenient and functional program for recovering information from various drives that was deleted by mistake. With its help, you can scan various media and recover lost data not only from hard drives, but also from flash drives. You can download the utility from the website http://www.r-studio.com/ru/Data_Recovery_Download
Initially, you should decide on the choice of version: demo or full. If you do not perform data recovery on a regular basis, it is better to choose the demo version. A 20-day period is more than enough to restore all information.
If you are not a pro, it is better to use the demo version
In addition to recovery, the utility can also perform a preliminary scan. This operation will speed up and increase the efficiency of the recovery procedure. It is worth noting that you can scan the device with third-party programs, and upload a file with a report on the work done to R-Studio. The utility always conducts a detailed scan by sector. This may take certain time, depending on the size of the partition being scanned.
We scan the selected partition
After the scan is completed, it will be possible to view all the files that it was able to detect and then select those that can be recovered. In order to restore a file, you need to right-click on it and select the “Recover” command.
R-Studio is convenient and multifunctional
If you don’t know exactly what was deleted from the device, and you are going to recover all lost files, in this case, right-click on the desired media and select “Recover all files.”
At the end, simply select the partition where to restore
At the end, you will need to select a folder where the seized information will be restored. Important! It is imperative to take into account that the folder should not be located on the hard drive from which the information will be returned, because during the recovery of some files, others may be completely overwritten by them.
After selecting a folder, you need to wait while the program diagnoses the drive and restores lost information.
Easy Recovery
Easy Recovery can safely be called a high-quality program for professionals, which can be mastered by an ordinary user. It has gained popularity due to its excellent efficiency and, at the same time, ease of use in comparison with similar utilities. The advantage of this program is that it can also perform preliminary diagnostics of the media. Download the program
Click on “Disc Diagnostic” and select the required command. If the utility was downloaded in order to recover data, then we conduct a deep scan “SmartTests”. In addition to scanning, the program will perform diagnostics and determine whether the hard drive has problems, for example, unreadable sectors or any others, in order to prevent troubles.
Diagnostic menu
After selecting the command, the type and number of media that are currently running on the device are determined. We choose which one we will work with and where to restore the information.
For the most accurate and complete diagnostics, select “Run extended SMART test”. First of all, you should be patient: the verification will take a lot of time.
Be patient and choose scanning
To restore files, go to the “Data Recovery” section and select the mode that is interesting to us. In this program, modes are selected depending on the specific situation.
For example, if you accidentally formatted your hard drive, select the “Format Recovery” category. Next, select the file system of the drive and the partition that was formatted.
If there is a need to recover deleted files, then select the “Deleted Recovery” function - the disk selection menu opens and the formats of the recovered files are determined.
Recovering lost files
If the data is lost as a result of a software failure or the reason for the loss is unknown, select the “Advanced Recovery” option. After scanning, the program will find information that was deleted within a certain period of time.
We choose what we need to restore. Typically, the diagnostic and recovery procedure does not take much time. This will depend on the amount of data that needs to be returned.
PhotoRescue Pro
PhotoRescue Pro is a utility that will help you recover deleted photos or videos. Today's digital devices provide ample opportunities for recording, dubbing and optimizing media files. If you accidentally deleted the necessary files from a digital gadget, this utility will solve this problem.
With this program you can recover data from any type of flash drive, hard drive or mobile phone. It is possible to recover data even from damaged and formatted media.
Working with PhotoRescue Pro is very convenient and accessible. You can download it from here. The program supports many languages, including Russian. After selecting the language, a window appears in which we click the “Next” button and the registration window appears. If you just want to recover a few photos, there is no point in registering the program, but if you constantly work with the camera, and this problem occurs quite often, it is worth purchasing the full version.
First, we select the drive from which we will return information. The utility works with several file systems at once, which is very beneficial. Click “Next”.
Analyzing the content
After selecting the drive we need, click “Next”, wait a couple of seconds - the utility will check the partition we have selected. A list of folders is displayed, we need to select the one that interests us. If the location of the file is unknown, click on the checkmark at the very top to highlight all the data found. "Next"
Select the desired folder
We select the formats of the files that interest us. To avoid mistakes, it is better not to uncheck individual formats so that the utility can find as much information as possible. Next, select the required files. Click “Next”.
Select the desired folder
Once you have completed selecting formats, the scanning operation will begin. The verification time will depend on the volume of data and will take from a few minutes to a couple of hours.
Scan duration depends on data size
The advantage of the program over analogues is that it simultaneously checks the drive for the presence of unreadable sectors. Thanks to this, you can not only restore lost information, but also carry out diagnostics and troubleshooting.
All that remains is to restore the data
After scanning is completed, a list of files opens. It is possible to search for files by categories (video, photo, audio) and formats, and not by sections and various folders.
The program shows how much data was found and what was deleted. Thanks to this, you will quickly find out which files were found and which were irretrievably lost.
GetDataBack
GetDataBack is one of the most effective and most powerful. With its help, you can recover data in almost any situation. The developer divided the program into two subtypes: the first for the NTFS file system, and the second for FAT. Download it from here: https://www.runtime.org/data-recovery-software.htm
We recover all deleted files for effective results
Install this utility necessary for a foreign hard drive. You cannot restore to the media from which files will be restored, since the necessary information will be overwritten.
After opening the program, a menu of four items appears. For maximum efficiency It is recommended to select the fourth item – “I want to recover deleted files” (I want to recover deleted data).
Select the required section
In the list of local drives that opens, which the utility will find while scanning the hard drive, you need to find the partition where the deleted files were located. The program provides many possibilities in the field of data recovery, but if you just want to return information from the drive and do not know where it was, you should select the “Physical drives” category.
A file system window opens and you need to select the one that is supported by this version of the program (in our case, NTFS). Modern computers use different file systems simultaneously, so check the box next to “Show recommended”.
We choose the one we are interested in file system
After a detailed scan, the utility will open a folder explorer, simple and easy to understand. The contents of the selected folder will be displayed on the right; if the information was deleted, after recovery GetDataBack will show the files in strikethrough font for ease of classification. Each file is equipped with a special marking, which can be used to determine the type of information found.
Data recovery is easy and convenient
As a result, we select the data we need and start the recovery. Once finished, the recovered file will be available in the editor
Restoring files using this program in the FAT file system is carried out in the same way.
Conclusion
This article discussed, in my opinion, the most popular and effective programs to recover deleted data from a hard drive and various media. For beginners, the popular Recuva with a simple interface is suitable; if you lose media files, you should choose PhotoRescue Pro, it can recover data from almost any modern gadgets; For permanent job with information return, GetDataBack is ideal - it has powerful functionality, is efficient and at the same time has an ergonomic main menu.
If for some reason you were unable to recover your data, but the information is valuable, it makes sense to contact specialists. They have more powerful software and can help where these utilities are powerless.
Accidentally or intentionally deleting files does not mean that you will no longer be able to get them back. For some reason, computer users and mobile devices They are sure that by deleting files or formatting the hard drive, they will get rid of the information forever. Actually this is not true. Using special software, you can recover files after formatting, that is, return deleted photos, videos, audio, documents and any other types of files.
How to recover data from a formatted hard drive
If you formatted your hard drive by mistake and want to get back deleted files on your computer, you can’t do it without special software. Most the right way– use the Tenorshare Any Data Recovery program. It is as easy to use as possible, plus there is a free trial version. Its other advantages include an expanded list of files supported for recovery: photos, videos, documents, audio, email, archives, etc.
For Mac OS X 10.9-10.14
Program for recovering files after formatting
With Any Data Recovery you can recover formatted data from your hard drive, USB flash drive, digital camera or video cameras, mobile phone, media player, as well as from any memory card. Thus, the range of uses of this program is quite wide.
Any Data Recovery also allows you to recover files not only after formatting, but also after they have been infected by a virus; in case the hard drive is unreadable or you unknowingly emptied the recycle bin on your PC. In any case, you always have the opportunity to return files deleted from your computer.
Recovering deleted files from hard drive and flash drive
Any Data Recovery is a simple and safe way recover deleted or damaged files from a flash drive or hard drive. The process itself is short and involves the ability to preview files before they are recovered.
1. Download the Any Data Recovery program, install it on your computer and run it.
2. Mark required format files you want to recover, for example, just photos. Or photos, documents, etc. Click Next.
3. Now you must indicate where exactly you lost the files - on your hard drive, in the trash, on removable media, etc. Select a hard drive. And click “Next”.
5. When the scan is finished, you will see a list of files that have been deleted. Mark the files that need to be restored. Select all if necessary. You also have access to a preview function. Click the "Recover" button.
A quick format is formatting a drive without physically destroying the information stored on the drive, allowing a data recovery tool to recover everything, up to last file? Wrong! The Quick Format command destroys enough information to make recovery difficult and unguaranteed. Let's take a closer look at what happens when you format a drive using the Quick Format command; what can be recovered after and what cannot, and why.
Quick formatting in Windows
So let's see what happens when you quickly format a drive in various Windows versions. Let's start with Windows 7, as the most popular operating system at the time of writing this article.
Most hard drives used in desktop and laptop computers running Windows are formatted with the NTFS file system. Since XP, Windows cannot be installed on a disk that has a different file system (for example, FAT), so NTFS is the most popular file system when we're talking about about hard drives.
NTFS has a unique and very logical approach to organizing information. In this file system, *everything* is a file. As a result, NTFS stores information about user files, such as photos and documents, in a special system file called $MFT. This file contains entries that identify other files on the disk and contain pointers containing the physical addresses of all the clusters on the disk occupied by this file. To get the desired files back, a data recovery tool will typically try to recover and analyze $MFT. The rest is simple: the tool will "parse" this file and discover all other files on the disk based on the entries contained in $MFT.
What happens when Windows quickly formats a drive? Although no information is actually erased, the system creates an empty $MFT file of a certain size. The new $MFT is 32 KB in size in Windows XP, 64 KB in Windows Vista, 256 KB in Windows 7. Each MFT entry is 1 KB in length, so a 32 KB MFT can contain information about up to 32 files.
When you start placing files on this created drive, Windows automatically adjusts the MFT size so that it can fit the information about each file and folder created. As a result, $MFT fragments quite quickly. Thus, a typical system may have $MFT files consisting of 3 to 10 fragments stored in random locations on disk.
When you quickly format a drive, Windows creates an empty $MFT file in a fixed position. Obviously, the new $MFT overwrites the beginning of the old file with the same name. As a result, the first records in the old $MFT are lost (overwritten). Considering small size If $MFT is empty, the number of files that become unrecoverable is relatively small. Additionally, the first 27 entries indicate system files, which are not so important for data recovery purposes. That is, there are really few unrecoverable files left.
Taking into account the size of the empty $MFT file created by various versions of Windows, we end up with the following number of unrecoverable files:
- Windows XP: The new $MFT is 32 KB. 27 entries point to system files, which means 32-27=5 files are unrecoverable.
- Windows Vista: The new $MFT is 64 KB, meaning 37 files are unrecoverable.
- Windows 7: The new $MFT is 256 KB, meaning 229 files are unrecoverable.
There is one more thing that is often (if not always) overlooked by non-professionals. If you take an NTFS drive that was quickly formatted in Windows XP (with $MFT of 32 KB in size) and connect it to a Windows 7 PC, the system instantly, automatically, without warning, increases the size of $MFT to the size provided by Windows-7, then there are 256 KB, making the first 229 files unreadable. This is one of the reasons why professional data recovery labs always connect the drive through a write-blocking hardware device. Alternatively, the drive can be connected as physical device, which will prevent Windows from mounting the volumes.
The following table shows how many files become unrecoverable after quickly formatting the disk in different versions Windows. The numbers in each cell indicate the number of files that cannot be recovered given a given combination of factors.
Data recovery in Windows XP
Data recovery in Windows Vista
Data recovery in Windows 7
Alternative File Recovery Methods
As you could see, traditional methods Data recoveries that rely solely on the file system (the original $MFT file) may not always recover all of the files originally stored on the NTFS drive. However, there are alternative methods, allowing you to successfully recover missing files even if they no longer appear in the file system.
RS Partition Recovery uses an innovative recovery algorithm based on Content-Aware analysis. Content-Aware analysis performs a full disk scan, searching for files based on signatures, that is, looking for files that can be identified by permanent signatures. For most popular file types such as office documents, most images, video formats, databases, Email etc. identifying signatures are already included in the utility's built-in database.
This type of analysis also has its limitations. Signature search works great when identifying files that are stored in one part of the disk contiguously. If the file is fragmented and its parts are scattered throughout the disk, a signature search may not yield results. According to a recent study, the level of fragmentation of user-created important files such as emails, photos, videos or office documents is relatively high. Thus, it was found that about 16% of JPEG files, 17% of Word documents, and 22% of AVI videos are fragmented. Email databases are among the most highly fragmented files (up to 58% of such files are fragmented).
However, this is not a reason not to use Content-Aware analysis. The actual likelihood of encountering a fragmented file recovery is extremely low, since these files are usually stored on the hard drive and are rarely modified. And even if you end up with multiple corrupted or incomplete files, such as .jpg photos, you can always use RS File Repair to fix (repair) the damaged file.