IBM utility erased ext. drive - how can I restore it?

[thepocket]

Short Version: How do I restore files on my external drive that IBM erased?

Slightly Longer Version: So I wanted to backup to my 250GB external drive using IBM Rescue & Recovery. The program said it had to make my hard drive bootable before it proceed, I said okay (off topic: it made no note of formatting or deleting files).
The seperate USB Bootable Program opened, worked on my drive for about 5-10mins and closed --> leaving me with a bootable albeit empty drive.

I have tried using PC Inspector File Recovery (freeware) to recover my documents. The only data I didn't have backed up elsewhere were 2.5gb of family photos from this summer. This is what I really need back. The drive also had 12,000 songs, 500 shows, and 17,000 photos on it.

Any advice or help would be greatly appreciated.
-The Pocket

[Nolonemo]

I have tried using PC Inspector File Recovery (freeware) to recover my documents

The first thing to do (which I expect you know) is not to write anything to your 250GB drive, or run any program from it.

You didn't say what results you got with PC Inspector File Recovery (which I have used with success to recover deleted jpegs from a CF card).

[thepocket]

With PC Inspector I got 1.2gb of files back but all the photos have a gray band at the bottom. Sometimes the band is barely noticable but other times it takes up half the photo. A strange thing is that the thumbnails show full photos without gray bands.

[ariadgr]

You should definitely try Ontrack easyrecovery pro.

[Nolonemo]

You should definitely try Ontrack easyrecovery pro.

It had better be pretty darn good for what they're asking for it.... I'd check zdnet or cnet to see if there are review of recovery programs you can use.

BTW, I had the same problem with a couple of the recovered jpegs.

[thepocket]

thanks for letting me know you had the same grey problems. I tried EasyRecovery Pro and it has found a bunch of pics, but none of the ones I want. Virtual lab, which will cost over $100 found almost all the pictures, and without the grey bars.

Any advice on how to use OnTrack EasyRecovery Pro to recover photos?

Thanks

[dmar]

If you're still not able to recover your files fully, try using GetDataBack: http://www.download.com/GetDataBack-Dat ... 02138.html

It's not freeware, but I had pretty good luck recovering my photos off a Lacie External HD that had a crashed boot sector. It takes awhile to run (depending on the size of the drive), but was able to get 95% + of my files back.

Try doing a Google search for other freeware if you don't want to fork over the 80 bucks.

My other alternative was going to the data recovery experts, and they charge a arm and a leg... so the $80 was reasonable.