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Subject:Re: How Do I Recover my old stuff From:Pro TechWriter <pro -dot- techwriter -at- gmail -dot- com> To:Technical Writing Plus <doc-x -at- earthlink -dot- net> Date:Sun, 4 Apr 2010 19:29:39 -0500
There are companies that can try to recover a formatted hard drive but as I
understand it, it's very expensive. You could try some local PC repair shops
(where you can get references, if they are BBB members, and if they are
bonded) and see what they would charge. I found a company online that is a
Better Business Bureau accredited business. This means you can go to BBB.org
and check their record with customers. They have an online chat where you
can ask, at no charge, about your problem: http://www.24hourdata.com/
>>This is not an endorsement of their business as I have not used them,<<
but I looked at six companies and they were the first that are
BBB accredited. They have companies listed as references as well, such as
United Way and Texas Instruments. They also have a local phone number as
well as a toll-free number, and two brick-and-mortar addresses that show on
Google.
So those are things to look for: a physical address, references, a local
phone number (although this is not as good as before you could get a cell
phone with an area code anywhere at all), and BBB membership. A
BBB accredited business is important because you should be *very* cautious
about who you hire if you have any personal or financial data on that hard
drive. You can also check for complaints with the Attorney General of the
state the business is located in.
I am very sorry for your data loss....it's happened to me also. Now I have
an online data backup service that costs me $15 a month for three computers,
Mozy.com. There are others, too. Mozy is free for 2GB or less to backup.
Good luck! Let us know how this turns out. If you have a good experience
with a data recovery company it would be good to know.
PT
On Sun, Apr 4, 2010 at 3:56 PM, Technical Writing Plus
<doc-x -at- earthlink -dot- net>wrote:
> On Friday I had a problem with my PC (Win XP Pro, NTFS, Pentium 4
> Processor, 9 years old but very stable...). I accidentally re-formatted the
> HD and started up a new instance of the OS.
>
> I thought that I was being careful not to do this, but it happened anyeay.
> Is there a way for me to recover my old system and all of its files and
> programs?
>
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