skeptikal
Premium Member
Hold the wheel and drive
If a hard drive has been formatted it is not easy to recover data.
http://www.easeus.com/datarecoverywizard/recover-formatted-partition.htm
spoonraker
10+ year member
CarAudio.com Elite
it's possible
it won't always be 100% successful depending on how the hard drive was cleaned before you get it, if somebody really knows what they're doing there is almost no chance of any data being recovered, but on the other hand your typical windows NTFS quick format is pretty easily reversible
it won't always be 100% successful depending on how the hard drive was cleaned before you get it, if somebody really knows what they're doing there is almost no chance of any data being recovered, but on the other hand your typical windows NTFS quick format is pretty easily reversible
Immacomputer
10+ year member
Cloud disappear
It's possible unless they zero filled it. But then I've heard claims that data is still able to be recovered if there has been a zero fill if you know what you're doing.
BassBallin
Banned
you can do it, but sometimes it is very hard
twisztdauthorit
10+ year member
-db-
possible but its possible that only bits of data here and there can be restored...
I just ran a HD NUKE program for my school cuz were getting rid of old computers and they want me to kill all the hd's and recycle them...
The program is called autonuke or something and there is no way to get data back from it.
so it just depends how or what it was formated with.
I just ran a HD NUKE program for my school cuz were getting rid of old computers and they want me to kill all the hd's and recycle them...
The program is called autonuke or something and there is no way to get data back from it.
so it just depends how or what it was formated with.
The professionals do use specialized tools, things that allow more analog readings on the 1's and 0's. with the added info, it is possible to guess at what the data was before the erase. eg, if an analog meter normally reads 1.0V when a bit is 1, and 0.5V for a 0, then a reading of 0.8 would come up as a 1, but probably was a 0 that was overwritten by a 1. likewise a 0.95V might be a 1 overwritten by a 1. depending on the file format, and file system, various other things can be used to help at guessing. eg, if the file is plaintext, then a character like "A" is more likely to be used then "~", if the program finds the raw data to show either an A or a ~, the system can guess at the A. Text files are most likely to be recovered, as they will not be fragmented across the drive.
Programs that effectively erase data will often try to write random data over the eraseable data multiple times with randomized data.
Keep in mind that erasing files should not be expected to actually work. if the file gets paged for some reason, it will fill an area on the HDD that is easily overlooked. Likewise any temp files written, say by word, might be deleted automatically by word, and thus be recoverable even though the original is erased. because the data can be cached to the drive without the user's knowledge, a file by file erasure is not effective.
For the same reason, encrypted filesystems are not bulletproof -- the unencrypted files may be cached to an unencrypted drive. Since a simple delete is done on the cached file in most cases, the data will be directly readable, even without special tools other then software capable of interpreting the raw data. All thats needed is a way to determine what the data represents!
Programs that effectively erase data will often try to write random data over the eraseable data multiple times with randomized data.
Keep in mind that erasing files should not be expected to actually work. if the file gets paged for some reason, it will fill an area on the HDD that is easily overlooked. Likewise any temp files written, say by word, might be deleted automatically by word, and thus be recoverable even though the original is erased. because the data can be cached to the drive without the user's knowledge, a file by file erasure is not effective.
For the same reason, encrypted filesystems are not bulletproof -- the unencrypted files may be cached to an unencrypted drive. Since a simple delete is done on the cached file in most cases, the data will be directly readable, even without special tools other then software capable of interpreting the raw data. All thats needed is a way to determine what the data represents!
jco1385
5,000+ posts
expert jcologist
it can be done. i have done this way more than once. cant remember the program i used, but it was very easy to do. for me anyway
the best way to make sure no one gets your data off your hard drive is to break the hard drive or put it in the microwave.
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