Recordings Lost to a Reinstall

The decode

A reinstall clears the index, not the file data. That the recordings were lost when the OS was reinstalled does not mean they were erased, because reinstalling or restoring an operating system writes a fresh system and clears the catalogue that lists where the old files sit, but it does not scrub the whole drive — so the old file data stays where it was written, in the space not taken by the new system, until something new is saved over it. So the loss is of the listing, not the content: the drive no longer indexes the old recordings, which is why they appear gone, rather than the data being wiped. His recordings usually persist on the drive, reached by reading it. A reinstall clears the index, not the file data.

Not using the machines since is exactly right. That the machines have not been used since the reinstall is exactly what protects the recordings, because the space holding the old file data is only lost when new data is written onto it — so a machine left alone has not overwritten that space, and the old recordings remain to be carved back. So his instinct to leave them untouched preserved the recovery: the less that has been done since the reinstall, the more of the old data survives, and not using them at all is the best case. His recordings are reachable because the drives were left alone. Not using the machines since is exactly right.

The recordings are carved back by content. Because the old index is gone, the recordings are carved by content — each drive imaged read-only, the freed records recovered where they survive, and the recordings identified by their content where the index is gone, so the files are rebuilt from what remains on the drive. So the recovery reads each drive for the recordings themselves rather than relying on a catalogue the reinstall cleared, with the laptop and desktop each read in turn. His recordings are reached by carving the drives, which is how files lost to a reinstall are recovered. The free diagnostic establishes how much survives before any work is agreed.

The honest prognosis is a strong partial, the drives untouched. If the drives have not been written to since the reinstall — his case, the machines left alone — much of the old data carves back, often most or all of it, even years later, since age does not fade what is on the platters. If a machine had been used and the freed space written over, that part is lost, and recovery returns what remains. His having left them alone puts the odds high, confirmed at assessment before you decide.

On the bench

Each drive was read directly behind a hardware write-blocker on PC-3000 UDMA to prevent any further writing. It was imaged read-only on DeepSpar. The filesystem was parsed in R-Studio, the freed records recovered, and the recordings carved by content in PhotoRec where the old index is gone, validated onto fresh media.

The outcome

Each drive read read-only, and the old recordings carved back from what survived the reinstall. The diagnostic stage is free and reports back within two working days of the media arriving; after it you hold one written quote, fixed with VAT included — and if the files don't come back, you don't pay. The decode: a reinstall removes the index, not the files — untouched since, they carve back well. Carved from what remains, your recordings come back.

Our case files are written up from genuine enquiries our lab has handled for customers across Swindon and Wiltshire, anonymised to protect client confidentiality. Each one describes the diagnostic and recovery approach our engineers apply to that fault, using the equipment listed.