Reformatted portable hard drive

[lost!]

Hi,

My laptop asked me to make a recovery disc. I decided to use my portable hard drive. It said that if I continue, I might lose all my information. I didn't think it will erase everything on the hard drive. Once it was done... My hard drive is empty, only my back up disc is there. All my info is gone. How can I recover or can I even recover what was on my hard drive. I tried some free sites to down load programs. It looks like my hard drive is all empty, the programs are unable to find any files on the hard drive. Please help. I found a site that states HDD would be able to recover my files. Right now I am just scanning my hard drive. Please advise if I can recover my information from my hard drive before it's been reformatted?????

Thanks you!

[warnerr]

Typically (if FORMAT took about 10 seconds- if it took say 15 min- NO) yes you can recover much of what was lost. #1 item- do not use, add to, or alter drive that lost info in any way. (don't reinstall os, etc.) From an independent working computer use a tool such as R-Studio http://www.data-recovery-software.net/ with your drive added as second drive or on usb to the working computer. Scan drive for files- select what you want to save, and save it to a folder on working computer. If you are not comfortable doing this consult a DATA RECOVERY COMPANY. Lots on this forum!

[Dmitri]

My laptop asked me to make a recovery disc. I decided to use my portable hard drive. It said that if I continue, I might lose all my information.

Most of the data, which wasn't overwritten should be recoverable.
Recall which file system you've been using and fine-tune your recovery software to search for its specific structures. Here's a brief and basic overview of chances for different FS: http://www.ufsexplorer.com/und_fmt.php
Use another drive to save the recovered data.