Member Avatar for jigoro

Hi can anyone help me? i inadvertently quick formatted my hard drive, which at first has 3 partition 1 for windows the other 2 for files. but now it is 1 big ntfs partition. is all my file deleted? is there a way to recover some of my files? pls help me im so depressed, all my school file are there. i still did not installed an OS, now i cannot do anything. is there any recovery propgrams out there that works without an OS? pls help me.

  • 2 Contributors
  • 2 Replies
  • 130 Views
  • 3 Weeks Discussion Span
  • Latest Post Latest Post by geebalicous

Dani AI

Generated

A brief, practical plan for based on the situation you described and the pointers from .

A quick format typically removes file-system metadata (file tables/partition pointers) but usually does not overwrite all user data immediately — that means recovery is often possible if nothing else has been written to the disk. Microsoft documents the quick format behavior in the format command notes (see the Microsoft docs linked below).

Immediate steps (do these in order and do not install or write to the affected drive):

  1. Stop. Every write reduces recovery chances.
  2. Make a sector-by-sector image of the drive to another physical disk. Use a tool that can copy an entire device safely (for example GNU ddrescue), so you can work on the image and preserve the original. (See the ddrescue manual below.)
  3. Attempt partition/table recovery first on the image. Tools such as TestDisk can find and rewrite lost partition tables and recover NTFS metadata if present. If TestDisk restores the partition and files appear, copy recovered files to a different drive.
  4. If partition recovery fails, use file-carving tools (PhotoRec or a Windows desktop tool like Recuva) against the image to extract recoverable files. File carving can recover many file types but will often lose original filenames and folder structure.

Important cautions: do not run automatic repair utilities (chkdsk) or reinstall an OS to the formatted disk before imaging. Always recover to a separate physical drive. If the drive shows clicking sounds, SMART errors, or other physical faults, stop and consult a professional data recovery service — software recovery can make physical failures worse.

Useful references:

This workflow maximizes chances of reclaiming school files while protecting the original media.

Recommended Answers

All 2 Replies

Member Avatar for geebalicous

if u have another computer u could put that deleted hard drive into there as a second drive then search for file recovery programs in Google for your operating system (there's quite a lot) then the program will do the rest

Member Avatar for geebalicous

winundelete works

Be a part of the DaniWeb community

We're a friendly, industry-focused community of developers, IT pros, digital marketers, and technology enthusiasts meeting, networking, learning, and sharing knowledge.