***Important***Formatting a Drive Using Windows Vista

[kate]

After discussions with customers and further extensive testing, we have found that if you are running Windows Vista and initiate a full format of your drive (i.e. not a "Quick Format"), NO data recovery software will be able to recover your files.

It appears that due to the enhanced security features of Windows Vista, that when a full format is run, it writes 0's to every sector of the disk. As each sector has had something new written to it, the old data is completely erased.

In terms of security when donating your pc to charity, giving it away or selling it, this is a good feature.

However, if there is even the remotest possibility that you will need to recover data from your drive, then users are out of luck.

I would recommend that if you are going to format a drive using Windows Vista, that you select a "Quick Format". Your drive will still be formatted, but you will be able to use data recovery software, including Recover My Files and the other products in the GetData range of software, to recover your data.