A reader asks: “Is there any way to recover data from a computer that has been factory reset?”

Reader Troy Marcotte* asks: “Is there any way to recover data from a computer that has been factory reset?”

If the device was simply reset using an ordinary factory recovery DVD/flash drive, or the like, then yes, some data may still be available.

With a standard factory reset, the drive usually gets reformatted, and fresh copies of the operating system files are written to the drive. Other parts of the drive may be left nearly untouched.

You’re not likely to be able to recover old data from any areas of the disk that are overwritten. But any parts of the hard drive that were not yet overwritten — such as areas that may previously have contained user files — may still contain recoverable data.

As an easy, but long-shot first step, try a standard undelete or unerase tool (examples), and see what it turns up. (Probably nothing much, if the drive was reformatted, but it won’t hurt to look.)

If that doesn’t work, try an unformat/unpartition tool (examples); it may be able to undo the factory reset — at least somewhat — and restore some of the previous files to normal access. (You’ll want to have a boot disc/drive on hand, as this may render the system temporarily unbootable from its hard drive.)

If/when you can get at the old files, copy them to a safe location off the hard drive that you’re working on. Once the files are copied and safe, re-do the factory restore to get everything working again.

But all that assumes a minimal factory reset.

If the PC’s drive was “wiped” prior to the reset (wiped = all previous data erased and overwritten with new, random data); then no, you’re unlikely to be able to recover any old data from the system without exotic and very expensive tools and technology, anyway; and even then, you probably won’t get much.

Would this be a good time to mention how having good backups lets you avoid problems like this? 🙂

If those old, now-deleted files still existed somewhere in safe backups, all of this would be moot: You’d just restore the files from backup, and that’d be that.

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