# I formatted an HDD with my Bitcoin Wallet, anyway to recover it?



## Space Lynx (Dec 8, 2017)

Dear friends, in 2012 I had 1-2 Bitcoins in my 500gb HDD, that HDD is still running in a computer I built for my mom, she does nothing but browse the web, and it has only been formatted once. Someone told me if I used Linux OS and some tools I might be able to recover it. 

I have no idea on any of this, so please advise if this is possible, because at 20k per coin now almost... I am really really looking at all my options on recovering it.

If not it is fine, but yeah, worth a shot. Please advise.


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## xkm1948 (Dec 8, 2017)

fedex over your hdd I will help you recover lol


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## R0H1T (Dec 8, 2017)

Very little chance of recovering that, formatting won't erase the previous data but since it was used (with an OS installed) the sectors containing the wallet could well be overwritten by now. If you're willing to spend $ to recover the BTC then you can buy some data recovery software & see what happens.


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## Space Lynx (Dec 8, 2017)

R0H1T said:


> Very little chance of recovering that, formatting won't erase the previous data but since it was used (with an OS installed) the sectors containing the wallet could well be overwritten by now. If you're willing to spend $ to recover the BTC then you can buy some data recovery software & see what happens.



Care to recommend a software brand I should buy? As long as not to expensive, it is worth the investment even if this all fails on me. Just well, because lol


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## FordGT90Concept (Dec 8, 2017)

http://www.piriform.com/recuva

But there's a very good chance it's gone for good.


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## R0H1T (Dec 8, 2017)

lynx29 said:


> Care to recommend a software brand I should buy? As long as not to expensive, it is worth the investment even if this all fails on me. Just well, because lol


I'd recommend something you can run via USB or live CD. I won't recommend one particular brand, but there is ~ Acronis, O&O, Paragon, Easeus, Active@ just to name a few. You can see a list & reviews here ~ Backup and Recovery

 You should try free options first & see if that does the work, then buying something.


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## Space Lynx (Dec 8, 2017)

Downloaded Recuva, Acronis Demo, and O&O trial. Will try all 3 tomorrow.  Cheers mates.


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## Ebo (Dec 8, 2017)

Try get data back.
https://www.runtime.org/data-recovery-software.htm


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## silentbogo (Dec 8, 2017)

Did you do a full format, or a quick format?
If it was quick format, then it's only rewriting the file system map, which means your data is still there, but you might need to look for wallet.dat amongst those recovered files manually (cause file names were erased during formatting process).
Usually Wallet.dat file starts with hex value of:

```
00 00 00 00 01 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 62 31 05 00
```

And if you did a full format or zero-format (usually takes a very long time), then you are out of luck.


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## Space Lynx (Dec 8, 2017)

silentbogo said:


> Did you do a full format, or a quick format?
> If it was quick format, then it's only rewriting the file system map, which means your data is still there, but you might need to look for wallet.dat amongst those recovered files manually (cause file names were erased during formatting process).
> Usually Wallet.dat file starts with hex value of:
> 
> ...



I never do full formats, always quick.  Thank you very much for this information, I will do my best on recovering it. Still a chance I won't get it, but who knows maybe tomorrow is my lucky day. Thanks for the info man.


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## SnakeDoctor (Dec 8, 2017)

lynx29 said:


> Downloaded Recuva, Acronis Demo, and O&O trial. Will try all 3 tomorrow.  Cheers mates.



Try GetDataBack  - I have very high recovery rates when use it

Edit -May need to set options to - excessive scan,recover lost files,recover deleted files and untick quick scan


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## R-T-B (Dec 8, 2017)

lynx29 said:


> I never do full formats, always quick.  Thank you very much for this information, I will do my best on recovering it. Still a chance I won't get it, but who knows maybe tomorrow is my lucky day. Thanks for the info man.



If you don't, I'm pretty skilled at the software side of data recovery.  Feel free to contact me, I'd ask very little, and frankly, w1zzard knows where I live.


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## silentbogo (Dec 8, 2017)

R-T-B said:


> If you don't, I'm pretty skilled at the software side of data recovery.  Feel free to contact me, I'd ask very little, and frankly, w1zzard knows where I live.


I can do the same, and no one knows exactly where I live (including myself on occasion)


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## jaggerwild (Dec 9, 2017)

Toms Hardware is that way<<<


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## R-T-B (Dec 9, 2017)

jaggerwild said:


> Toms Hardware is that way<<<



WTF does this have to do with tomshardware?


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## Space Lynx (Dec 9, 2017)

R-T-B said:


> WTF does this have to do with tomshardware?



I think maybe he posted in the wrong topic by accident, because there is no logic to that at all. Made me lulz though


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## notb (Dec 11, 2017)

Private wallets so safe! 

Also:


lynx29 said:


> I never do full formats, always quick.


Always do full formats!


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## R-T-B (Dec 11, 2017)

notb said:


> Private wallets so safe!



Correct.  It's safe from everyone, himself included. 


Nothing, even a bank account, is immune to willful destruction.



> Always do full formats!



Really depends on the circumstances man...


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## xorbe (Dec 11, 2017)

I lost my bitcoin from years gone by also. =(


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## Space Lynx (Dec 11, 2017)

xorbe said:


> I lost my bitcoin from years gone by also. =(




We can snuggle with each other then and eat cupcakes under the covers. It will make us feel better for a tiny brief moment in time?


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## oinkypig (Dec 11, 2017)

Learn how to run testdisk utility
recovers in missing secondary partitions for raid 0 configurations with high success rates. IF you can find a list of files,ie bitcoin wallet, or similar, then infastructure of files are still recoverable


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## Aquinus (Dec 11, 2017)

It has been running since 2012? Good luck. The chances of finding it, let alone being completely intact is very unlikely.


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## xorbe (Dec 12, 2017)

My bitcoins are part of a disk platter wind chime now.  Technically I still have them, hah.  Would you like to buy my wind chime for $17K?  lol


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## notb (Dec 12, 2017)

R-T-B said:


> Nothing, even a bank account, is immune to willful destruction.


Nothing is immune, but properly designed products have mechanisms that will help the user...
It's not that easy to lose money you keep in a bank. You can't close the account if there's money on it. If you lose your login information, the bank must identify you and offer a new password.
If you forget about the account, they'll try to contact you from time to time.



> Really depends on the circumstances man...


Depending on circumstances sound like a security threat. 
Have you given it a thought?
Quick format -> data stays on a disk. What circumstances support that?

So as long as you control the disk, you can quick format as much as you want. But why do it at all? What's the point of formatting a drive you're using - other than changing partition setup (e.g. installing the OS)?
And if you lose control of the disk (selling, giving away to family, utilizing), why keep data on the disk? There is no argument that would support such action.


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## R-T-B (Dec 12, 2017)

notb said:


> Nothing is immune, but properly designed products have mechanisms that will help the user...
> It's not that easy to lose money you keep in a bank. You can't close the account if there's money on it. If you lose your login information, the bank must identify you and offer a new password.
> If you forget about the account, they'll try to contact you from time to time.



It's also pretty hard to accidentally format a hard disk.  I'd say the difference in difficulty is academic at that point, and honestly, you are looking for a jab at bitcoin where there is none.



> So as long as you control the disk, you can quick format as much as you want. But why do it at all? What's the point of formatting a drive you're using - other than changing partition setup (e.g. installing the OS)?



You just stated the reason with your last statement.  I do that all the time on different machines I control.  It is a legit circumstance.



> There is no argument that would support such action.



You're assuming a lot.  That people care if family see what's on the disk, that the disk is given to family or sold or whatever, that the time to erasure is worth the security of the data, a lot of assumptions man...


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## BadFrog (Dec 14, 2017)

werecoverdata.com

I used this server to recover data from an Iphone that was fell and was ran over by a car ( don't ask for details lol). It costed me $500 but this is a professional service. This is more for enterprise businesses but how important is that bitcoin  I had to drop off/send in the Iphone for repair and i could see a memory chip that was bent and they were still able to recover.


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## notb (Dec 15, 2017)

R-T-B said:


> It's also pretty hard to accidentally format a hard disk.  I'd say the difference in difficulty is academic at that point, and honestly, you are looking for a jab at bitcoin where there is none.


I doubt people accidentally format drives a lot.
What they do is: they have a mess in their files and when they have to do a format, they don't know if there is something important or not. And they don't have time to check those hundreds of GBs.
If you've grown up on a Linux, you should have good habits when it comes to folder structure.
Actually, if you're on Windows and you use it as Microsoft recommends (libraries: documents, photos, music etc), it's still not bad.
But this is not how people use Windows. They keep most files on the desktop and when it fills up, they make a folder like "old_desktop" and move everything there. Or they put files directly on C:. And so on.

And I'm not looking for a jab at bitcoin by all means. I'm looking for a jab at the good old stupidity.



> You just stated the reason with your last statement.  I do that all the time on different machines I control.  It is a legit circumstance.


The "why" remains. The real "why" - not the "because I can" kind.
Why format a drive you intend to use further? I don't get that. I don't think I've ever quick-formatted a drive beside installing an OS.



> You're assuming a lot.


Work habit.


> That people care if family see what's on the disk, that the disk is given to family or sold or whatever, that the time to erasure is worth the security of the data, a lot of assumptions man...


But here I've hardly assumed anything. I built a decision tree covering all possibilities. If you plan to give the disk away, you won't find any circumstances that could support quick formatting. Seriously, give it a thought. 
If you don't care if your family sees your files, just give them the disk. Why format at all?
But what happens when they decide to sell or throw it away? Will they sanitize it?

BTW: quick formatting is also usually not recommended/not allowed in corporate environments. If your company has a security policy, you can check what it says. Mine forbids formatting in general (it's locked in Windows).

At home I'm also rather strict when it comes to data. Everything private is encrypted, I change my passwords regularly, I don't give them away. I don't let my girlfriend use my accounts on our computers. Of course I have multiple backups and so on. I find all these to be pretty basic stuff...


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## commission3r (Dec 15, 2017)

try a program called Recover My Files
i used it to recover my photo collection after a full format
it is an old program
good luck


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## R-T-B (Dec 15, 2017)

The bottom line notb is a full format takes a long time, and if you do not care who sees whats on the disk or the disk remains in your control, it is often a legit action to do a quick erase during reinstall.  At least you start with an uninflated mft this way (NTFS only).

It really is that simple.  It's a simple matter of the value of your time vs the value of the data.


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## Hockster (Dec 15, 2017)

SnakeDoctor said:


> Try GetDataBack  - I have very high recovery rates when use it
> 
> Edit -May need to set options to - excessive scan,recover lost files,recover deleted files and untick quick scan



I've used GetDataBack before and it's performed brilliantly. Just keep the drive you want to recover out of use until you do the recovery.


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