Help pls!

[voicu]

Hello.
I have a problem with recoverying some data of a hard drive.
First i'll tell you what happened and then what i tryied so far.
So what happened was i have a "Compaq" computer, with a Samsung hard drive of about 120 gb. My hard drive had on it 2 partitions from factory : one NTFS of 115 GB (containing op sys Win Xp and all my data) and a FAT32 of 5 gb(recovery partition). What happened was i got a upgrade 512 mb of ram , wich got deffective after a week of use , and my comp woudn't boot any more , so what i did was i tryed a factory restore by pressing F10 during boot. This factory recovery it was suposed to get my op sys working , but IT DELETED ALL MY DATA AND INSTALLED A NEW WINDOWS XP ON MY BIGGER PARTITION.
When i saw that i put the hdd in another computer , but threre i see my hdd as a non formatted one, i tryed to get back my data with "get back data for ntfs ", but i only got a few files in some folders named like : "02342".... so not my original folder structure.
I also tryied a fast format recovery using latest version of "Recover My Filles" but same thing , it recovers only verry few filles in some folders , but no original folder structure .
Can somebody help me with some advice , what options do i have ????
Oh, and btw now if i put my hdd in my old compaq computer , it doesn't work no more , i cannot read it any more there , even tough before , right after i did the sys recovery was booting up and working just that my data was missing ...

[voicu]

Also some update : In Recover my filles wizzard, at the step where i have to select wich drive to search , i see my bad hdd as "1 physical" and it's size shown is ONLY 31.50 GB, but the size of my hdd was 120 GB. How come ???
Also in partition selection area i have for thet hdd a partition RAW D:, of only 31.50 GB . How i see again ther full 120 GB of my hdd ???
Thanks a lot !
Edit : Actually i limited that hdd by mistake , was a jumper setting i did wrong , now i see it all , i try now a full format recovery.

[GDH]

Hi,

Now that you can see the full physical drive, use Recover My Files (www.recovermyfiles.com) to try a "Complete Format Recover" and search only for the default selected file types.

At the end of the search look in Folder View for your files. Click on the files found to preview their content.

I think you should get most of your data back. Only the files that have been overwritten by the new installation of Windows will be lost.

[voicu]

Originally Posted by GDH

Hi,

Now that you can see the full physical drive, use Recover My Files (www.recovermyfiles.com) to try a "Complete Format Recover" and search only for the default selected file types.

At the end of the search look in Folder View for your files. Click on the files found to preview their content.

I think you should get most of your data back. Only the files that have been overwritten by the new installation of Windows will be lost.

Thank you for your prompt response .
I did a fast format recovery but almost no files was recovered , and no folder structure. But what chances do u think i have with "Complete format recovery" ?
I started a "Complete Format Recovery". I'll let you know how it turns out.
Can u pm me with ur yahoo messanger id , or msn , in case i need to reach you please ?
Thanks a lot !

[GDH]

I would expect that you will get your files back with a Complete Format Recover. What does the Recover My Files progress window currently say next to "Files Found" and "OS Items found"?


Thanks.

[voicu]

Originally Posted by GDH

I would expect that you will get your files back with a Complete Format Recover. What does the Recover My Files progress window currently say next to "Files Found" and "OS Items found"?


Thanks.

Files found : 17869
OS Items Found : 53150
Time elapsed : 4:28:02
Progress : about 25%

Are these results promising ???
Thanks.

[GDH]

Yes, the results look good so far...

An OS item (Operating System Item) is a single file with full file and folder name. The more of these your find the better. At the end of the search these are the recovered files that will be displayed in Folder View of the Recover My Files results screen.

[voicu]

I see . But i dont understand why to each file it says that is in folder : "1\Lost Files\" , does that means that i will not be able to get back my original folder structure ?

P.S. : Here's a screen shot with my current search progress : http://www.anybodykillasclan.com/recovery.bmp

[GDH]

Thats fine, the file and folder structure is not rebuilt until the end of the search.