Data Recovery Software

Hi all,
My friend reinstalled the Windows XP on her desktop and she thought she had burnt all her data onto CDs. Apparently it didn't get burned properly and now she has lost all her data. Are there any programs which will let you recover your data after you have reinstalled the OS?
I have heard about companies offering these services, but they are way expensive. Any thoughts?
Thanks for all your input.

Anon
Wednesday, January 7, 2004

Norton UnErase is an utility into Norton Disk Doctor, but not sure if valid in her environment.
the software comes in Norton Utilities or Norton System Doctor Utilities.

Guillermo
Wednesday, January 7, 2004

"Lost and Found" is the standard one.

However if she reinstalled XP she would probably have formatted the disk first, and that means the data will be very difficult to get back unless you pay hundreds, or thousands, of dollars to send it to a specialized data recovery firm.

Stephen Jones
Wednesday, January 7, 2004

It depends on how the disk was formatted. Often, the data is not actually erased but simply marked as deleted. This is why back in the days of DOS there was  'format /u' option which would not only delete the data but write random data over it to guarantee that it was irretrievable.

Most likely part of the data will be gone as the OS will probably have overwritten some of it. But theoretically the majority may be recoverable using software like what was mentioned earlier.

James Ussher-Smith
Wednesday, January 7, 2004

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