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I accidentally erased all my data from my external hard drive. Can I get it back?

Tags:
  • Macbook Pro
  • Mac OS X
  • Storage
  • Hard Drives
  • External Hard Drive
Last response: in Mac Os X
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December 24, 2013 8:23:51 AM

I was struggling with my hard drive since i could not copy files into it. So I started looking for solutions and while I was at it I accidentally deleted all my data. I need that information back. Is there any way I can get it back? My computer is a macbook pro.

More about : accidentally erased data external hard drive back

a b G Storage
December 24, 2013 8:28:46 AM

If you used a program to wipe the drive, the data's gone. When a program wipes a drive it replaces all of the data with a set of numbers, all 0's or all 1's, something to that degree. The data that was previously there is not completely gone, with no chance for recovery.
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December 24, 2013 11:19:53 AM

P1nnacle said:
If you used a program to wipe the drive, the data's gone. When a program wipes a drive it replaces all of the data with a set of numbers, all 0's or all 1's, something to that degree. The data that was previously there is not completely gone, with no chance for recovery.


If the data files disappeared quickly, they are probably still there. A standard file erase or even reformat just wipes the file directory. If the drive had to work for a long time, then complete data loss is a possibility.

I would look into a commercial data recovery program. I've used one before (on Windows) and it worked pretty well. It took many hours however. All day, IIRC.
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a b G Storage
December 24, 2013 11:53:00 AM

Marid said:
P1nnacle said:
If you used a program to wipe the drive, the data's gone. When a program wipes a drive it replaces all of the data with a set of numbers, all 0's or all 1's, something to that degree. The data that was previously there is not completely gone, with no chance for recovery.


If the data files disappeared quickly, they are probably still there. A standard file erase or even reformat just wipes the file directory. If the drive had to work for a long time, then complete data loss is a possibility.

I would look into a commercial data recovery program. I've used one before (on Windows) and it worked pretty well. It took many hours however. All day, IIRC.


All 0's or all 1's is the quick way of wiping a HDD. You're right though, a reformat would have marked everything as rewritable, if OP hasn't put anything on the drive, there is a small chance you could recover it.
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