attached External 3.5 drive to access old information on 3.5 disks.

[vegasannie59]

Hi and thanks for any help. I just attached a new external 3.5 inch disk drive to my Sony Windows XP laptop. Immediately the drive fired up but then I received a screen message that said I need to reformat the disk. If I reformat the disk it will erase the important data stored on it. What can I do to get the information off the disk without formatting it?

[abseh1]

If it was new ...what did you use to put data on it?

[vegasannie59]

If it was new ...what did you use to put data on it?

Hi abseh1...The 3.5 external disk drive is new but the loaded disk is from a few years ago. We moved and gave the desktop Windows 95 or 2000 away that had the 3.5 drive built into it. I need some information off the disk that I have been hauling around with me. Thanks!

[abseh1]

This is a common Windows issue it shows the drive as raw format for some reason

Linux programs do not have this issue...Knoppix will recover the data...then put the data on a NTFS hdd
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There are many recovery software that you can use to recover the data from your hard drive.

For instance, you can use the Easy Recovery Pro which is a complete data recovery, file repair and disk diagnostic tool.

EasyRecovery FileRepair, is supplemented by diagnostic tools such as advanced disk Ontrack Data Advisor and recovery features for high-performance data....it is expensive and used by the pros (@ $400 +) but they allow a free trial use

Some are a trial use then pay

I have not used the application below...it claims to be free
Free easy recovery software to recover lost files, free easyrecovery software download.

Here are a few recommended by H2G for free
File Recovery: Recuva (free) * , TestDisk (free) , PC Inspector (free) , Unstoppable Copier (free)

[vegasannie59]

This is a common Windows issue it shows the drive as raw format for some reason

Linux programs do not have this issue...Knoppix will recover the data...then put the data on a NTFS hdd
================================================================
There are many recovery software that you can use to recover the data from your hard drive.

For instance, you can use the Easy Recovery Pro which is a complete data recovery, file repair and disk diagnostic tool.

EasyRecovery FileRepair, is supplemented by diagnostic tools such as advanced disk Ontrack Data Advisor and recovery features for high-performance data....it is expensive and used by the pros (@ $400 +) but they allow a free trial use

Some are a trial use then pay

I have not used the application below...it claims to be free
Free easy recovery software to recover lost files, free easyrecovery software download.

Evening , thanks for the quick response. I will take a look at all the info you have supplied. I might need a second person on this project, maybe a little more knowledgeable. LOL



Here are a few recommended by H2G for free
File Recovery: Recuva (free) * , TestDisk (free) , PC Inspector (free) , Unstoppable Copier (free)