can i recover files after a reformat

[yellowjohn]

i think i know the answer to this but as i am in the doghouse here goes.

is there any software that will allow me to recover some excel files from before i reformated my pc.

cheers

[jh17]

Hi John

It is not all bad news - you can recover files even after formating your PC. However, the key thing is to do as little as possible now - the more you overwrite the disk with new files, the more files will be unrecoverable by software available on the market.

Tell me exactly what you have done (formatted a partiition, formated the whole drive and reinstalled Windows .....??) and I may be able to help further.

JH17

[Mattk]

there was a feature on the gadget show a few weeks back and basically the answer is yes you can - nothing is ever removed from your hard drive,it is just moved to an unused section.

i would imagine the software wont come cheap tho.maybe check out the gadget shows website archives ?

www.five.tv - there should be a gadget show section

[yellowjohn]

hi jh17

i'm afraid i formated the whole drive and reinstalled windows

[fo3nix]

give this free app a go:

http://www.pcinspector.de/file_recovery/uk/welcome.htm

but will not be able to recover everything.

[stevie21]

yellowjohn - I've got some software that can check this out for you.
Click Start > Programs > Accessories > Administrative Tools and then "Computer Management".
In there (once it loads) click "Disk Management" to see if your hard drive is formatted using the NTFS or FAT 'file system'.

Any time I've "recovered" files after being deleted some have been fine and a small number still haven't worked. They may have been partly overwritten.
You can find me via (this username) dot com.