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Basically a mega frame and my balls are swinging over this - my wife has been using the laptop to write her dissertation (about six weeks worth of work)Recently it has flagged up that the hard drive was nearly full, even though I ran disk clean nothing could be removed. So I decided to reformat the drive after having had a few, only when the process started did I remember that data could be lost so I decided to halt the reformatting by ctrl/alt/del - now on searching for the document all I can see is the title of it but not the document itself. Any useful advice would be much appreciated.
Get the hard drive to a professional recovery company.
Get yourself a nice comfy blanket for the dog house.
Get someone professional to look at it and don't do anythign to the machine until they've looked at it.
Even if it costs you £100's it'll be money well spent if it means you get the doc back - you could lose it if you go ferretign about yourself.
And try and encourage her to make backups on to a physically separate device (USB stick/cd/etc) in future.
Dropbox is great for important documents - you have an automatic copy on the web of all docs.
Just re-instate from the back up copy?
I guess I really know the answer to that though 🙁
The good news is its almost defintely retrievable. The bad news is you will be looking at several hundred pounds.
Even a format does not erase the data but you need some quite specialised tools to get the data back.
As above dont use the computer in the meantime, I'm no expert but you may make things worse by overwriting the sectors the data is currently stored on.
Several seperate backups is the key.
Try using test disk if you feel competent
http://www.cgsecurity.org/wiki/TestDisk
Data recovery info here.
http://www.cgsecurity.org/wiki/Category:Data_Recovery
I don't know if it will work in your case but you can find documents which have been deleted by other means.
Before you start doing this ideally you would make a copy using dd (kind of more exact copy on to another hd) of the entire drive as it is now so you can "roll back" to the current situation if you make a mistake in the data recovery. You would need a linux live cd for this and a second hd at least as big as the current one.
http://www.google.co.uk/search?sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8&q=copy+drive+dd
This is not an area of expertise for me but this is what I would do how confident you feel will effect what actions you take.
So I decided to reformat the drive after having had a few, only when the process started did I remember that data could be lost
😯
And no backups? Omg!
**** ****ity **** **** 😐
Sorry I know this doesn't help but I'm seriously amazed that anyone would format a drive they knew had important stuff on, when there were no backups. The mind boggles...
How hard is it to email a doc to yourself?
So I decided to reformat the drive after having had a few, only when the process started did I remember that data could be lost so I decided to halt the reformatting
Do you really mean formatting? - because you should have put 'would' instead of 'could' as formatting gets you more space.... by deleting all your files.
As has been mentioned above, the file is probably there (or parts of it) but it's defo chequebook time.
It's a hard lesson but backups are really handy sometimes.
[url= http://www.google.com/search?&q=data+recovery ]Data recovery firms on Google[/url].
Good luck.
I've been known to 'have a few' but I've never decided to reformat my HD.
Rock and roll!
maybe it was that or throw it in a swimming pool?
You could always try [url= http://www.piriform.com/recuva ]recuva [/url]- it sometimes works
and once you have it going again sign up with [url= http://mozy.ie/home/free/ ]Mozy[/url]
Steven Fry is good at that sort of thing, you could try him.
If you know someone who is a bit linux aware you could recover any text fairly easily if its still on the disk.
I would as someone mentioned earlier use the dd tool to make a sector by sector copy of the disk into a file on another disk. So basically you will have 1 file with the whole contents of the disk in it. You can then search the file for keywords to find where stuff is. Only issue is depending for fragmented your disk was it may be all over this disk in the wrong order etc. Depending on the filesystem type you may be able to automate the putting it back in order etc.
The amount of damage to the data structures that manage the filesystem will depend on how automatic or manual the process will be.
If none of that makes any sense then get professional help to recover it if the data is valuable 🙂
It's your wife’s fault for not taking a backup!
Ditto toons IMO though I accept that might not be the right thing to mention now... 😉
By the sounds of it you're not a techy. If it's really important (and it sounds like it is) don't start the computer again (new data could write over the old data that you want back), take it to a professional and get a quote - it [i]might[/i] not be anything like the hundreds of pounds suggested - quite often recover is very straight forward and will be charged accordingly.
If you know someone who is a bit linux aware you could recover any text fairly easily if its still on the disk.I would as someone mentioned earlier use the dd tool to make a sector by sector copy of the disk into a file on another disk. So basically you will have 1 file with the whole contents of the disk in it. You can then search the file for keywords to find where stuff is. Only issue is depending for fragmented your disk was it may be all over this disk in the wrong order etc. Depending on the filesystem type you may be able to automate the putting it back in order etc.
The amount of damage to the data structures that manage the filesystem will depend on how automatic or manual the process will be.
If none of that makes any sense then get professional help to recover it if the data is valuable
Unless it's in a .doc or .docx file... Still worth a grep though.
I'm in no way associated with them but I've used and would recommend CBL Data Recovery Services (www.cbldatarecovery.co.uk). They operate on a no data no fee policy the last time I used them and their prices were very good. I've used them a few times through work over the past few years.
Good luck.
Once sorted post back for recommendations on backup software, external hard drives etc.
And don't tell the data recovery firm the importance of the missing file. If they think it is super-important they *might* if they aren't entirely reputable, take advantage of the position you have put yourself in.
Check EBuyer first there is a £30 data recovery service for home users for sale on there.
Not tried it, but I have had to use other dr services before for various reasons from stupidity to bad luck and it's amazing what can be recovered from devices I've though ****ed even with 20 odd years of experience.
I've been known to 'have a few' but I've never decided to reformat my HD.
It's the IT equivalent of Rolls into swimming pool or TV out of hotel window.
*backs up PhD to Dropbox*
Pretty much a daily thing for me now.
This is more for the geeks, as opposed to the OP.. but it might help the situation.
http://liveview.sourceforge.net/
Combined with a LiveCD.
It's a useful tool - I've used it for cloning the disks of 25yr old industrial PCs!
Unless it's in a .doc or .docx file... Still worth a grep though.
Yep good point, but like you say worth a grep or getting a hex editor out 🙂
xiphon, that live view looks really interesting !!!
I can recommend a data recovery bod if you need one.
You formatted a laptop drive, from within Windows, and was able to stop it with a ctrl-alt-del? Was it an external disk, or a separate partition? I'm calling "not possible" otherwise.
Six weeks of work and no backups at all? Your wife is an idiot. What if the disk had died of natural causes?
You started a format and then thought "hang on, I might lose data" - what do you think format does?
Is this actually a genuine question? None of it adds up. I don't think I believe you.
bazzer - Member
xiphon, that live view looks really interesting !!!
It's pretty darn useful, and equally fascinating how it works.
I've got an interest in security/forensics, and stumbled across it.
Doesn't work on x64 Win7, so going to try it out on x64 W2K3, as the drivers in the vmware tools package aren't signed properly (well, they refuse to install in Win7).
1) Using another PC, download and burn an iso of Ubuntu 10.04LTS
2) Boot jiggered PC from Ubuntu CD (select boot device using function keys at startup)
3) Once booted into linux, go to software centre.
4) Install scrounge-ntfs
5) Run recovery, recreating partition on external HD or second HD (or separate partition)
6) Reinstall Windows (or upgrade to linux)
7) Copy files from 'recreated partition' to freshly installed operating system.
All the above steps are individually easy enough for someone with limited IT experience. The first possible downfall is that linux may not happily run on your laptop, but this is becoming rarer and rarer. The second possible downfall is that reinstalling Windows can be quite difficult without a recovery method provided by the original laptop manufacturer. If you get to the stage of reinstalling Windows post again, Cougar shall then believe you, and shall offer suitable advice.
Someone mentioned grep - you can only grep within a file system or file.
Actual LOL at that, Waderider. (-:
Xiphon - interesting bit of software, I'll have a play with that. Ta.
Please just pay someone to do all this for you.
Anyone that thinks that reformatting a drive is a good idea to recover a bit of space (in any state of inebriation) should probably leave well alone.
A bit like Cougar, I'm amazed that you managed to interrupt a "re-format" and yet are still able to get the OS to load? Did you have the OS and data in separate partitions (like a C: and D: drive)?
If it was the live system partition, the OS wouldn't have been able to ascertain a lock on the volume in order to start the format, let alone get as far as to be interruptable.
[i]Assuming[/i] it was started from the live OS partition, yes.
[quote=Waderider]6) Reinstall Windows (or upgrade to linux)
LOL why do people always have to write *upgrade* ??
It's neither an upgrade nor a downgrade!!!
Judging by the advice, sounds like you're the one with limited IT experience....
Assuming it was started from the live OS partition, yes.
Given the information provided in the OP, can you envisage another likely scenario? (-:
Ha ha I can see the post now "IT help please - dissertation file lost - took n00b Linux advice - now more buggered than before"
( Although I'm not sure 'buggered' is quite the right word to use going by another thread LOL )
Waderider - Member
Someone mentioned grep - you can only grep within a file system or file.
Somebody doesn't know their UNIX(/UNIX-like) 🙂
*backs up PhD to Dropbox*
Pretty much a daily thing for me now.
does dropbox keep old versions of the file including deleted files? or just the latest saved edit?
If the former, that's a handy free offsite backup. If the latter, you'll be slightly annoyed when you overwrite or delete the file.
The only thing more important than doing a backup, is verifying that you can restore backups (and filesyncing, mirroring, is not a backup if it syncs the overwrite/delete)
(*can't access dropbox from here to check cos it's blocked by firewall)
I've successfully used File Scavenger in the past
http://www.quetek.com/prod02.htm
Best to take the Hard Drive out and scan from another computer but i've used it without doing that.
andytherocketeer - dropbox automagically keeps deleted files (including a "version history" for modified files) for 30 days in the free version (paid for versions will keep indefinitely).
For future consideration, I use sugarsync and never have to even think about backups, and can access all my files from any pc, mac or smartphone. Just sayin' like. Good luck. I once lose 6 chapters of a book, I had forgotten to backup - in the days of floppy discs.
Happy Days with a help from a man at Fujitsu got the document back intact in 20 minutes - thanks for the advice, balls intact and Mega hopefully arriving in June together with an external drive 😛
You have been very lucky, and so has your other half.
I take it you now have an off-site backup in place ?
Result! Great news (but don't think you weren't lucky - get a back up solution in place now!)!