Readers like you help support MUO. When you make a purchase using links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Read More.

I formatted my external hard drive because it was not opening on any PC. I tried to use "recover my files" software to recover my documents, but it's not showing me any. What can I do?

2011-12-24 10:45:00
recovering the files can be difficult, if  the files are marked as deleted and hidden then you can recover back. Otherwise try your luck. SO you have to run some softs and see if they actually will recover files. EasyRecovery Professional Standard Edition 6.20.11http://www.softpedia.com/get/System/Back-Up-and-Recovery/EasyRecovery-Professional-Standard-Edition.shtmldiskdiggerhttp://diskdigger.org/
MAKEUSEOF VIDEO OF THE DAY
SCROLL TO CONTINUE WITH CONTENT
FIDELIS
2011-12-24 05:00:00
Hello, if you did a normal formatting, chances are you can recover some or all of your files.....some of them might be corrupted/unreadable though.  If you did a low level formatting, chances are you will not be able to.  If you want to use any of the following two softwares, you will have to download the ISO image and burn it as an image to CD.  Once CDs are burned, you will have to start your computer from CD/DVD.  Whenever you have to recover anything, it is advisable to stop using the drive completely, to prevent the content you are trying to recover from being overwritten.  Also, if you are able to recover anything, you have to use a different drive to save the recovery.  Keep in mind, that these softwares take a long time to run, especially if you use deep scans.The software that has accomplished best results for me even after reformatting and a new instal, is linked to below.  It is paid software though.  You can download the free trial and it will be able to show you what it can recover.  Then it is up to you if you want to buy it or not:http://www.file-recovery.net/If you want a free option wich provides good results most times, you can try the one in the next link.  You have to use command to use it:http://www.cgsecurity.org/wiki/TestDiskTutorial for TestDisk:http://www.cgsecurity.org/wiki/TestDisk_Step_By_StepThe easiest one to use would be Recuva, but I am not sure if you could recover anything after a formatting.  You could try though:http://www.piriform.com/recuva