I have a USB/SATA adaptor, attached to the hard drive (has C and D drive) and working laptop.

The drives are recognised on 'my computer' as F & G but when I try to open, it says I need to format the disk to use. I'm assuming if I format I will lose all the data...

Is there a way around this so I can access the data?

Thanks for you help!

MFT is screwed up looks like. Or the heads flaky. If heads are flaky what i am about to sugest is DANGEROUS. Do at ur own risk.

Get ur hands on software like R-Studio, Easus , File Scavanger , Recover My Files or any logical recovery soft out there with decent rating. Scan ur drive. Get the data.

Always better to clone/image first........

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You don't have to backup all of your files, just the ones you want to keep.

sometimes its better to go for most important data 1st. Sometimes its better to clone and work on a clone. To determin the way - diagnistics are needed to the extent that DIY cant do.

Well, you don't necessarily clone/image the whole drive

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You don't have to backup all of your files, just the ones you want to keep.

Don't write on your drive!

I would first examine the damage.

Could we see the partition table and boot sector with Microsoft's Sector Inspector?

http://www.users.on.net/~fzabkar/SecInspect.zip

Extract the above archive to the one folder and execute the SIrun.bat file. The procedure will generate a report file named SIout.txt which you can then upload so that we can examine it.

If your computer BIOS can detect the drive, most probably your MFT is missing, corrupted destroyed by virus or the sector is physically damaged.

Good news is that you can recover the data on your own with file recovery software as Alexii stated above. Just download a free copy and if you can see your files, you pay for the program to recover your data..

Good Luck!!