What Happens When You Delete a File? Formatting a hard drive eliminates all of the information stored on the drive. In a metaphorical blink of an eye, gigabytes of information on a hard drive are gone. Formatting can erase crucial work documents, treasured family photos and vacations videos in just a few minutes. But all is not necessarily lost if you discover you don't want that slate wiped clean. Read on to learn more about formatting and recovery.

	THE TYPES OF FORMATTING
	Nothing in the world of computers is entirely simple. There is more than one type of formatting; three of the most common types of format are: The Quick Format: This type of formatting does not eliminate the information on the drive, but rather constructs a new file table. The previous information on the drive is nearly unaffected by the format, while new information can be written to the new partition of the drive.   The Full Format: This type of formatting is a bit more extensive than the first type because the full format deletes the file table. At least some of the old information is overwritten but the extent of the format is partially dependent on the operating system. A secure format is a lengthy process executed by some operating systems throughout which the entire drive is overwritten. The Reformat with Operating System Reinstallation: It is very common that when a drive is formatted, an operating system is reinstalled at the same time. While this type of reformat does not necessarily eliminate all of the previous information, a large amount of new information is written to the drive at the same time. This new information is written over the previous information, making a full file recovery less likely. A hard drive can also be partitioned or have its partitions resized. This can sometimes be as destructive as formatting the hard drive because it erases data in a similar manner as the quick format. While some disk tools can divide and resize partitions without deleting the old information, this process can potentially lead to disk corruption. When the disk is corrupted, it may no longer be able to boot by regular methods.
	FORMATTED DRIVE OR PARTITION FILE RECOVERY
	Regardless of the type of formatting or partitioning you have carried out, there is always a chance that the old files may still be recovered. This is true in the case where the disk is not bootable or even if it has undergone multiple reformatting attempts. It is still possible to scan the raw information for files that have remained in recognizable shape as long as they have not yet been overwritten. Therefore, the challenge to file recovery is locating that lost information. Third-party data recovery software can help you in your search. While the steps to recover your files from the hard drive vary depending on the program used, there are a few general steps to follow to ensure your best shot at recovery.
		Do not perform the file recovery from the formatted hard drive. If you have already reinstalled the operating system onto the hard drive, do not boot into the drive. Remove the hard disk from the computer and attach it to another computer by storing it in a USB enclosure. You can also install the hard disk as a slave in an internal hard drive bay. Once the hard disk is mounted to another computer, use the read-only access to examine it.
		Do not write any new information to the formatted hard disk. This writes over top of any old information still there. When performing file recovery, save the information found by the recovery tool to a different disk. Otherwise, it may overwrite the recovered information.
		When attempting to recover files from a damaged or corrupt disk, create a disk image. This captures a "snapotshot" of the disk before more damage or corruption takes place. Once you have made a disk image, use the file recovery tool to search for the data on the disk image, rather than on the hard disk to avoid further damage.
	Formatting your hard disk does not necessarily ensure complete file loss. There is always a chance that you may be able to get those files back. To make sure the problem doesn't worsen and to ensure your best chance at file recovery, keep in mind the information above if you ever find yourself in a file recovery crisis.
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