so my hard drive has been through a lot that brought it to this stage: first, I plugged my hard drive into my ps4 (because I have movies on it) to see if it would work. whilst I was looking for it on my ps4, I clicked a bunch of stuff and I think I formatted it but I'm not so sure. then, when I realised I couldn't play a movie, I removed it from the ps4 and plugged it into my windows laptop, to which I couldn't locate it on. like, I could hear the connecting sound and I could find the hard drive when I wanted to eject it but I couldn't locate it on my computer so that I can open it. this is when I started surfing around google to fix it, which made me eventually change my letter path from 'a' to 'k' and when I did that I think I IDIOTICALLY formatted it, so, when I went onto my drive, EVERYTHING was deleted. the only reason I'm so annoyed and hurt is because on that hard drive I have a bunch of photo memories since 2013 and a bunch of files for my mum (I haven't told her), and movies I've spent 6 months downloading. the only way I could find to fix it was to download and pay for a software, which I just can't afford right now. so, technicians and computer people, even though I'm a massive idiot, please help me I'm desperate.
How do you recover files from a formatted hard drive? desperate
- Thread starter kother
- Start date
There are companies out there that say they will recover files from broken or accidently erased files from hard drives. They do tend to be expensive. I have a confession I did exactly the same thing a while back. Tried all the free recovery programs and nothing worked. My files were just family photographs that were on a storage drive that I accidentely formatted. I eventualy bought Seagate File Recovery for Windows. It took two days but this program did recover 90% of my files. I'm not making any guarantees all I am saying is that it worked for me. As I say there are a load of free file recovery programs out there just google free file recovery. None that I tried worked for me.
Try downloading Recuva first to see if it can find anything for you. If not, you may have to pay for a program.
https://www.ccleaner.com/recuva
https://www.ccleaner.com/recuva
Agent Smith
Well-Known Member
If it's truly formatted, use this. I have used it and it works. https://www.easeus.com/partition-recovery/index.htm
Once you get your data back, for God sakes back it all up to DVD or blu-ray which will require a blu-ray burner in the computer. You can use BDXL which can store an amazing 100GB. Dual layer will store 50 GB.
I don't know what happened to the HDD, but drive A is typically reserved for a floppy drive only.
Once you get your data back, for God sakes back it all up to DVD or blu-ray which will require a blu-ray burner in the computer. You can use BDXL which can store an amazing 100GB. Dual layer will store 50 GB.
I don't know what happened to the HDD, but drive A is typically reserved for a floppy drive only.
The fact that it is listing drive A would suggest that the computer is a bit ancient. I haven't come across a computer that has drive A in the bios for a long time. In view of that it is highly unlikely that it would be able to run blueray. I'm not even sure why you suggested blueray anyway. An external hard drive or even a big USB pen drive would be better. Great big clunky plastic disks that are kept in great big clunky plastic containers are old hat these days. 
Agent Smith
Well-Known Member
Only the fact you shouldn't trust magnetic or chipped mechanisms for data storage of precious memories. I mention Blu-ray because you can store up to 100GB on one disk. That's not storing "a lot of disks." And if kept in a cool, dark safe space they will last a very long time. I'd reburn the media every 20 years or so. Keep accessing that data of a thumb drive or HDD and you're bound for failure. Could use the cloud I guess, but why should I allow a company with my data when I can back it up myself? Then you have to pay monthly fees. Fine for corporations though. For a home user it's a different story.
I'm tired of this BS about optical media being old hat. Blu-ray is recent tech and can store tons of data for a very long time and doesn't suffer from a MTBF like a platter or chip would. Plus, as an added bonus, if God forbid an EMP were detonated over the U.S. your data on optical media remains. Not something to be too concerned about, but it has been talked about. I back up my website's to optical media every once in a while as well as at a free Box account I opened several years ago. All encrypted of course.
I'm tired of this BS about optical media being old hat. Blu-ray is recent tech and can store tons of data for a very long time and doesn't suffer from a MTBF like a platter or chip would. Plus, as an added bonus, if God forbid an EMP were detonated over the U.S. your data on optical media remains. Not something to be too concerned about, but it has been talked about. I back up my website's to optical media every once in a while as well as at a free Box account I opened several years ago. All encrypted of course.
I would think not. What's the actual risk of that? Even 0.0001% seems high.
That's all well and good, but what if I am backing up a 4TB drive? Yes, bluray is a lot more storage than a CD or DVD but it can still add up. Especially if I am doing semi regular backups. Optical disks make no sense for that.
They are a decent solution for long term storage if it's not that big though.
Agent Smith
Well-Known Member
Yeah, they're great for long term storage like pictures or home movies, Docs, etc. But not on a massive data backup of course. If one were to have several hundred family, wedding, etc photos and video, then Blu-ray or M-disk is the right way to go. You just can't trust magnetic or integrated circuit technology to keep your data safe.
Feel free but there's a very good chance you'll never see the data again if those didn't work. Some places specialize in advanced data recovery but it is EXPENSIVE.
HMMMM I thought I had recomended one.Oh well I must have been wrong again. (I eventualy bought Seagate File Recovery for Windows. It took two days but this program did recover 90% of my files.)
I just bought what was on offer. I don't think there were any variations. But have a look at the site and decide. Again I stress it worked for me but there are no guarantees and the progarm is not particularly cheap.