Can I Recover Files from a Formatted & Restored Hard Drive?

[mtbcpa]

I recently gave my old laptop to my wife, but before giving it to her,
I used the cd that came with the laptop to restore it to the factory
default, so it would be clean and could have a fresh start. I thought
I had all the files I needed off it of course, but realized I would
like to get my old Outlook archive files, that were not being stored
in my documents. I tried one piece of freeware that recovers deleted
files, but it did not seem to find it. Does anyone know if it is
possible for me to find those files, after a format and restoration
like that? If so, any recommendations for software?

Thanks!

 

[DL]

Probably not, even if done professionally, the pst is a database type file,
easily corrupted, whilst it might be possible to recover the pst its quite
likely it would be unreadable

 

[Jupiter Jones [MVP]]

Search Google for "data recovery".
You may find a solution.
Some are free, some trial, but in your case it may be expensive.

Some trials allow you to identify files but you need to pay to gain
access, try one or more of those.

 

[AJR]

Most likely out of luck. Doing a "Quick format" deletes the allocation table
and as long as space has not been re-allocated recovery is possible, however
doing a full restoration usually involves a "full" format.

Data recovery programs (90%) are Linux versions which are CD bootable and do
not require HD installation. Linuix reads FAT and NTFS files.

Google for "knoppix" for free download.

 

[Pegasus \(MVP\)]

I recently gave my old laptop to my wife, but before giving it to her,
I used the cd that came with the laptop to restore it to the factory
default, so it would be clean and could have a fresh start. I thought
I had all the files I needed off it of course, but realized I would
like to get my old Outlook archive files, that were not being stored
in my documents. I tried one piece of freeware that recovers deleted
files, but it did not seem to find it. Does anyone know if it is
possible for me to find those files, after a format and restoration
like that? If so, any recommendations for software?

Thanks!

The problem actually lies deeper than your oversight.
"Dependable computing" means that you must back up
all important files regularly (e.g. weekly) to an independent
medium, and test these backups once every so often (e.g.
twice every year). With such habits well established, you
would have recovered from your error in a matter of
minutes. A 2.5" hard disk in an external USB case is an
excellent and low-cost backup medium.

 

[WarOfMars]

There is fair amount of chance that you will get back your data unless
its overwritten. There are lots of data recovery software available
online which will help you in recovering your data from formatted hard
drive. Stellar Phoenix Windows Data Recovery Software is one such tool
which recovers data from formatted hard drive or data lost due to
software malfunction viruses, file/directory deletion or even
sabotage.
You can download the demo version from: http://www.stellarinfo.com/partition-recovery.htm