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I formatted my 2TB external hard-drive thinking it was my memory stick. I lost everything, wedding photos, graduation...a lot of memories, nothing in the cloud.

I have tried a post on Toms-hardware Forum, which linked to this tool, which is supposed to be "the best."

Sadly after the scan nothing got detected.

What Did I do / Additional Info?

The HD was formatted, on windows 10. Inside My Computer I right clicked and did a quick format. Which took about 10-seconds to wipe a decade of memories.

The HD was a Western Digital My Book 2TB.

Any help / advice appreciated.

Timothy Coetzee
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  • Try [TestDisk](https://www.cgsecurity.org/wiki/TestDisk). – harrymc Mar 24 '18 at 10:32
  • Thank you I'll give it a scan. Fingers crossed. Willing to try pretty much anything at this stage. – Timothy Coetzee Mar 24 '18 at 10:37
  • or https://superuser.com/questions/295497/how-to-recover-folders-from-formatted-drive or https://superuser.com/questions/81877/recover-hard-disk-data or https://superuser.com/search?q=recover+formatted+drive – Tetsujin Mar 24 '18 at 10:42
  • Anyone ever managed to recover (LARGE) `.zip` files with one of the suggested tools? – Timothy Coetzee Mar 24 '18 at 10:44
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    Maybe not duplicate - the others are not for Windows 10. – harrymc Mar 24 '18 at 10:49
  • @TimothyCoetzee [Be nice](https://superuser.com/help/be-nice). No one has actually voted to close your question, all people have done is give you information on other similar questions where you might find an answer. – Mokubai Mar 24 '18 at 10:55
  • @Mokubai haha I was gonna send yo that link but then I thought, "nah." If it is a duplicate, sure, but may I kindly point out instead of just posting "possible duplicate" You could maybe have posted something a little more constructive. Instead of simply saying "possible duplicate link" Maybe something like --Check this out for help-- similar post can be found here --have a look here for help -- etc. Just my opinion, but hey Im new here so dont have much of a voice. Usually over at SO. – Timothy Coetzee Mar 24 '18 at 11:04
  • The comment is auto-generated by the system when you vote-to-close as duplicate. – Jörg W Mittag Mar 24 '18 at 11:07
  • @TimothyCoetzee I could have phrased it better, but it definitely did not warrant being called "douch bags" for doing little more than giving you a link to further information that could (potentially) be a duplicate of this question. – Mokubai Mar 24 '18 at 13:21

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There is a program at www.easeus.com/resourse/recover-data-after-format.htm It cost about $65 USD, but it will restore if you have not overwritten the drive. You will need an adapter to connect the hard drive to a different computer, and I think they suggest you restore to a different hard drive which would require a second adapter. The adapters can be purchased from Amazon for between $10 and $20 You will have about $100 in it plus the cost of a new hard drive to restore the files to. That is cheaper than send the hard drive to a business that will do it for you but you can do that too. Just Google it. If you have any questions email me at ricky.robinson@att.net. Hope this helps.

user887156
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  • After download test scan first to see what files it finds before purchase – user887156 Mar 24 '18 at 11:43
  • Sorry did not see it was an external drive. You will only need one adapter if you save to a separate drive. I thought it was a primary drive. – user887156 Mar 24 '18 at 11:47
  • Ok Ive got external HD, so no problem. QUESTION: will the data be returned in the same directory structure? I guess not...I ran a deep scan with test disk (still running) it seems to retrieve data files in small chunks no directory structure...correct? – Timothy Coetzee Mar 24 '18 at 11:48
  • Depending on whether any old file table structure can be found, you may get some of the original hierarchy back, but expect to be disappointed. you will usually get back 0001.jpg, 0002.jpg etc etc all in a pile – Tetsujin Mar 24 '18 at 11:59
  • @Testujin Thank you. The structure was a mess loads of files with folders inside folders inside folders you get the idea....2TB worth UGH. So im guessing file names and everything will be gone? Do you think if I take it to a professional they would be able todo a full recovery? Its pretty simple just a disk with pics, vids and large .zip files, which was Windows quick formatted... – Timothy Coetzee Mar 24 '18 at 12:13
  • idk, you'd have to call a few, see what they say. It's a service I've never needed... but that's what a good backup strategy is for, & much cheaper in the long run ;) – Tetsujin Mar 24 '18 at 12:22