Received from: Leonard Morgenstern At: 4:16 am (GMT) on Mon, Mar 24, 2003 >Have you tried Norton SystemWorks or a similar utility package? Remember, >normally when you "erase" a file, it's not really erased. Instead, the >disk sectors that it occupied are flagged as available for new files. If >you use Norton before you have added too many new files, you can recover >some (or even all) your data. So, don't write anything to that disk until >you have attempted to recover the files! > >I assume that's what happened to you. If your disk is physically damaged, >Norton won't work. I'm told DriveSavers is expensive but they often work >wonders.
From Max's original message he seems to have actually reformatted the drive, which is much more serious than simply deleting files. Actually, when you delete a file in the normal way it isn't deleted at all; rather, the OS simply flags the space that the file takes up as being available to be overwritten (normally a file's space is protected from being overwritten so that when you save file B it isn't saved over the top of file A -- unless it has the same name, of course). So deleted files actually aren't deleted until the OS uses that space for a new file. Formatting, on the other hand, DOES wipe data. However, as the FBI and other security agencies know very well, whilst a single reformat will render the data on a drive Totally Gone to the average user, with the right tools it *can* be recovered. I read once that it takes 7 reformats of a drive to completely destroy the data on it to the point where it is *really* unrecoverable (guys may want to bear that in mind when erasing those girly pics before giving their girlfriend their old mac). So the low-down is that a reformat is not the end of the line but you'll need a specialist service to have even a hope of recoving the data. I think. Hope this helps; Rick ----------- G4/500 MHz (DP) :: OS 10.2.4 :: PM 4.1.2 :: 3 pane mode :: 768 MB RAM <www.sharkattack.co.uk>
