Help, Photos and files are gone after reinstalling XP

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Guest

I am running Windows XP Home Edition. (dell computer)
My computer was running very slow, so a tech uninstalled and reinstalled XP.
He did not back up my Files or Photos.

Is everything gone forever, or is there a program, or something that can be
done?
What are the chances of recovery?
I really would like to have the pictures back, My Father recently passed
away, and I am hoping the photos are not forever gone.
I will do just about anything to get these back, I dont want to think years
down the road that I didnt try everything I could . thank you
 
oops, depending how it was done, you may recover some files and pictures.

if he did a complete format before install, the chances are slim to recover


Actually unless your pc was infected, with malware, chances are he did not
have to re-install to get it running fast again


you can try get a reputable local data recovery service to try.

If you were in Edmonton, I can connect your drive on my pc to scan for files
with my data recovery utility
 
aja said:
I am running Windows XP Home Edition. (dell computer)
My computer was running very slow, so a tech uninstalled and
reinstalled XP. He did not back up my Files or Photos.

Is everything gone forever, or is there a program, or something that
can be done?
What are the chances of recovery?
I really would like to have the pictures back, My Father recently
passed away, and I am hoping the photos are not forever gone.
I will do just about anything to get these back, I dont want to think
years down the road that I didnt try everything I could . thank you
Click to expand...

The chances of you being able to recover the data your self are minimal if
not non-existant. If the data is very important then probably the safest way
is to get a professional data recovery service to attempt it. This will be
expensive.

That being said, there are data recovery progams thay claim to be able to do
what you want.

http://www.recovermyfiles.com/
http://www.easeus.com/

Do a google search on "recover data after format" you will get around
1,960,000 hits.
 
On Tue, 7 Aug 2007 20:46:01 -0700, aja bein <aja
I am running Windows XP Home Edition. (dell computer)
My computer was running very slow, so a tech uninstalled and reinstalled XP.
He did not back up my Files or Photos.
Click to expand...


Techs like that should be shot! What he did is reprehensible. I don't
know what you chances of a successful law suit might be, but you might
want to ask a lawyer.

Is everything gone forever, or is there a program, or something that can be
done?
What are the chances of recovery?
I really would like to have the pictures back, My Father recently passed
away, and I am hoping the photos are not forever gone.
I will do just about anything to get these back, I dont want to think years
down the road that I didnt try everything I could .
Click to expand...



Your chances of getting anything back are exceeding slim. If anything
could be done, it would likely only be by a professional file recovery
company. Be aware, however, that such services will be very
expensive--probably over $1000 US--and not guaranteed to succeed. If
you do opt to use such services, stop using the computer
*immediately*, and power it off. Anything you do with it will
substantially lessen the chances of successful recovery.

I don't have any file recovery companies to recommend, but I know that
Malke has worked with one that she recommends. If she sees this,
perhaps she can give you a name/address to contact.

For the future, you should also be aware that you are *always* at risk
of losing everything on your computer. Besides stupid techs like the
one you used, it is always possible that a hard drive crash, user
error, nearby lightning strike, virus attack, even theft of the
computer, can cause the loss of everything on your drive. As has often
been said, it's not a matter of whether you will have such a problem,
but when. For that reason, you need to regularly back up anything that
is important to you.
 
aja bein said:
I am running Windows XP Home Edition. (dell computer)
My computer was running very slow, so a tech uninstalled and reinstalled
XP.
He did not back up my Files or Photos.

Is everything gone forever, or is there a program, or something that can
be
done?
What are the chances of recovery?
I really would like to have the pictures back, My Father recently passed
away, and I am hoping the photos are not forever gone.
I will do just about anything to get these back, I dont want to think
years
down the road that I didnt try everything I could . thank you
Click to expand...

There is a possibility that a reinstall of XP created a second set of user
account folders, and if that happened, your data is inside the old folder.
You may need to Take Ownership to get it.
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/308421

Othewise, if the drive was wiped first. unfortunately, this isn't good.
The best thing you can do right now, is turn off that machine, remove that
hard disk, and set it aside. Any continued use makes recovery less likely.

Install another hard disk and install XP to it, then install data recovery
software (most have free demo versions, so you can see if they might work
for you). *then* attach the old drive and run the recovery software. Be
sure nothing is written to the drive, so turn System Restore OFF for that
drive. My experience in this kind of context is that it isn't always very
successful.

Best results may come from a recovery service, but these aren't cheap.
Most services will give you an estimate, with what they think they can do -
estimates aren't always free, and don't guarantee success.

HTH
-pk
 
Stellar Phoenix Windows Data Recovery Software helps in recovering
lost data from formatted hard drive, or data lost occur due to
software malfunction, viruses, file/directory deletion or even
sabotage.
Download the demo version ( http://www.stellarinfo.com/partition-recovery.htm
) hook your hard drive as slave and start the scan. The scan result
will show you the preview of your lost documents, spreadsheets, web
content, images & pictures.
 
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