Is my SSD recoverable?

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Dose808

Dose808

PCHF Member
Mar 9, 2018
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Today I made a horrible mistake. I was looking to do a clean install on my laptop. I used my external SSD HD to download the Windows Download Tool. Unfortunately I didn't research this thorough enough and I believe I formatted my external. Now the only thing that pops up is the install files for Windows and anything associated with it. It is also showing 28 GB of 32 GB being used....not 1 TB. Is there any way to recover everything I had previously stored on there? I have years of saved files and resources that I just wiped out (I think). I have read about recovery software...but I want to make sure I do this the right way. Preferrably free or inexpensive, but whatever it takes. Thanks for your time!
 
If what you say is indeed true, you are 6 ways to sunday screwed - no nice way to put that.

but let’s check.
Confirm it’s your external you are referencing.
And why is it saying 38 out of 32 gig?
Check the partitions.

how was it reformatted, a quick format?
What software did the reformat?

Recuva by Piriform would be my first choice of recovery program. But it will take days to scan and only get back unfragmented files.
Any file fragmented will be ‘orphaned’ and come back with no chance of stitching back together. In short, it’ll be a mess.

Let me guess, no backup?
 
Windows did everything. I just followed the prompts from the Windows Download Tool and let it do its thing. After it was done, my external is now in its current state. I have no clue why it says 28 of 32 GB. It is a 1 TB drive. The good news is I DID have the most crucial/priceless files backed up on another external. That has eased my mind somewhat. I just lost a bunch of time.
 
check the windows.old folder on the drive that windows put the new OS on.
in that, there should be the old folder structure, get whatever you didn't backup.

I'd then be doing a fresh install to get the OS back onto the internal C:\ drive.
 
That didn't come up with anything. I talked to a local IT/computer "expert" that would be willing to look in to this for a small fee. I think I have decided to count my losses and consider this a hard lesson learned. I didn't lose the most crucial files like I initially thought, so I'm basically out of just time, collectively. I appreciate everyone's help. Thank you!
 
yeah, chalk it up to experience - we've all been there!
if any lessons are to be learned, sounds like your backup process may need improving.
 
Indeed it does....how I went this long without any problems is beyond me. It is 2020, though.
 
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