ADR / Sorted by symptom / A format nobody intended

The cause · Format clicked on the wrong volume

Formatted drive recovery, London. Quick, or full? Only one of them takes anything away.

Everything here depends on whether a quick format or a full format occurred. Nine times out of ten it was the quick type: the index is replaced, the actual files do not get moved, and most often the directory tree also returns with the dates and names of the original files attached. Where a full format ran to the end, the conversation is a different one, and it is better had over the phone than after postage has been paid. The call from Bromley, from Camden or from Croydon almost always says the same thing: "Format went to the wrong disk." At that point, stop there and ring us. The assessment is absolutely free. A memory card or a memory stick comes to £250 + VAT and a drive to £300 + VAT, and on most jobs you only pay if we recover your data.

Only pay if we recover your data, on most jobs A free look first, then one figure in writing Media posted in from Croydon, Ealing and Camden

Put it to an engineer — the first look costs nothing
0203 0868633

What the symptom usually means.

Different fault? Try the finder →

How it shows itself	The usual reason for it	Where that leaves you
A format request appeared, and you accepted it	There is now an empty new index in place of the old one	All the files below it remain intact, so leave them alone
It opens empty, and reports the whole disk as available space	Only the reference to the files changed; nothing else did	Stop anything else being written
A full format that was allowed to run through	Every data sector is given a zero by a full format (from Windows Vista onwards), and by definition a zero represents nothing	Nothing survives underneath it
A full format aborted mid-run	Anything that never received a zero remains intact	Stop it, then unplug
diskpart, and the word clean	Takes the partition table off, and does nothing else; the volumes under it remain untouched	Usually still recoverable
diskpart, and the command 'clean all' entered	Every sector is cleared to zero, which puts you in the same position as if a full format had finished	Zeros, and nothing besides
An SSD after a quick format	TRIM has gone out, and the controller is already taking care of clearing cells without asking	Power it off now

Packing it and posting it: get a quote first by phone or with the form, then carefully pack it (so nothing inside shifts) and send it tracked and insured to our Guildford intake lab, or drop it off there yourself, Monday to Friday, 9am to 5:30pm (no appointment needed). We will pay for the postage to return it home. If you would like an engineer to go through the packing with you first, ring us before you seal it. For complete details on this please see the guide to packing and posting.

What each of those actually does.

The quick format, in shortThe index has been swapped, but everything underneath it is precisely as it was. What the disk says is "empty", but what is stored on the platters has not changed, and this is why we get to bring back complete folders.

The full format, Vista onwardsIt is from Windows Vista onwards that the option changed its meaning. In today's world, a full format goes across the entire face of the disk, leaving a zero in each data sector, and once the last one is written there is nothing remaining on a hard disk that is worth searching. Anyone with an invoice to raise may say otherwise.

clean, versus clean allOne of the two removes the partition table from under the disk without disturbing anything under it. The other zeros the disk end to end. It's that additional word that will tell you if there is any work here.

An SSD is its own caseQuick-format an SSD and usually, TRIM will go out within the second. On its own, a WD or Seagate drive will then begin clearing cells, and by the time you notice, the cells are usually already gone. Even so, shut off the power and call us anyway.

From the box arriving to your files going back.

Work we have closed →

Logged the day it lands, and the first look costs nothing Free

As soon as your parcel arrives here, an engineer assigns a case number that same day, prior to determining what has really failed, which is the first thing done and costs you nothing. In addition to a note of what can and cannot be recovered from your drive, you will receive at the same time the fixed, written price for restoring what can be recovered. You can accept this quote, or decline it, which will result in no further obligation on your part and nothing owed to us.

Nothing to pay for lookingA single figure, put in writingNothing owed at this stage

Working out which format ran

Clean all, or just clean? Full or quick, and did it run to completion? Everything you can read once the recovery is done is capped by the answer, therefore it is decided on the bench before anyone puts a number on the odds of recovering your data.

Which format ran, firstA straight answer on the chances

Rebuilding the index

All the work runs against the image of the data, and the disk you posted is never written to. The part of the old file system that still exists is split from the new file system and reassembled. If enough of those records can be recovered, the filenames, the dates and the folder structure will all come back with the data.

The old index put back togetherWorked entirely on the image

Carving out what is left

Since none of the original file structure remains, files are identified by the first few bytes of each file's header (the code their format opens with) and taken off the image whole. If a surviving record still contains a filename, then that filename is restored.

Recognised from their headersLifted out by file type

You see the file list before you pay

You will see what has been recovered as a list first, after which a bill exists. Accepting the list means that a bill will be issued. Rejecting the list means that a bill will not be issued, and in most cases you only pay if we recover your data. The recovered data travels from here back to you via new media purchased specifically for your project, with the cost of postage paid by us. Your case is not resolved (i.e., "closed") until you personally view the files on a computer of your own.

No charge until you accept the figureFresh media, supplied with the jobThe post home is ours

What arrives most often

Windows Vista is the break point: over half of the internet still states that a full format does not wipe anything. That is true of XP. Not true of any version of Windows since.
If you interrupt a full format, whatever is left over will survive: zeros are placed across the disk in order from beginning to end, so whatever survived would likely be at the very far end of the disk.
One word determines everything: clean, at a diskpart command prompt, removes the partition table and leaves whatever is under it alone. Add all and zeros are placed across the entire disk. There is no other single mis-type on this web page that could cost as much.
Re-installing Windows on the incorrect disk costs you twice: once for the format to begin with, and then for gigabytes of Windows unpacked on top. Every minute it runs shrinks how much data is left to find.

Plainly, then: in situations where nothing but a quick format was performed, the news is good and the job usually takes very little time. In cases where a full format completed or clean all was typed at diskpart, the position reverses: every sector on the disk now contains a zero on purpose, which has been the default behaviour of every version of Windows since Vista, and therefore nothing exists beneath to search for. Any company claiming they can reverse one should be asked exactly how. You'll get our answer before you get a price quote, and we don't charge anything for it.

One job, followed all the way through.

LDN · ADR-2026-3179JOB LOGGED ✓

The format meant for the twin 2TB disk landed on the family archive

One tower contained two 2TB disks from the same manufacturer. Unfortunately, the incorrect disk was formatted. This disk contained the family archive, whereas the other was the spare. Because a quick format operation does little more than generate a new index, everything located underneath it remained in the exact location that it previously occupied. No further writes had taken place to that disk. The family archive was successfully restored, reading back just as it had gone on.

The entire file tree recovered3 days here, and back to you

What helps, and what harms.

Do this much first

Stop immediately when you realise
Which command were you using? Quick, full, clean or clean all?
Shut off the power, then label it
Tell us what has been saved to it since

What sets us back

Reinstalling Windows onto that disk
Formatting again, to reverse the first format
Installing recovery software on the same disk
Waiting for something that reverses a full format once completed. There is no tool available for reversing a full format on a hard disk

Questions answered before you commit.

What comes through a quick format?

Normally, everything. A quick format on a hard disk only writes one thing: a new, empty catalogue. Beneath that catalogue, nothing has been changed. Your files remain where they are; only their catalogue was switched. If no data has been written to the disk since the quick format, your folder structure should reappear intact, with all your dates and filenames still attached.

Is a format ever a genuine wipe?

Only if a full format was allowed to complete. Since Windows Vista was released, that pass has written a zero to each and every sector it went through; a quick format doesn't write any. Most jobs on this page can be determined based solely upon whether it was the quick format or the full format.

I formatted the wrong disk. What do I do?

Turn off the computer. Set that disk aside, unused, and get it imaged by an engineer prior to allowing anything else to touch it. As of today, every file you save may overwrite something readable.

Is an SSD different here?

No. Typically, an SSD that has had a quick format issued will issue TRIM within the second, and its controller will then clear those blocks without being prompted to do so. Shut off the power and call us. Delay costs you more on this type of fault than on any other format job we take on.

Begin here if yours is doing the same thing.

The drive inside the machine → Pen drives and USB sticks → What is left after a delete → Every device we take →

Nothing gets worse while the power is off.

It doesn't cost you anything for us to look at it. All we do is give you a breakdown of what opened and what did not, plus a single fixed price to complete, written down before you agree to let us continue. On most jobs, you only pay if we recover your data. Please don't turn on the drive until you get that breakdown.

0203 0868633

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