There are many valid reasons why one may need to reformat their computer’s internal hard disk drive or some other type of digital media connected to their computer. In fact very often Windows based PCs will prompt the user suggesting that the contents of a drive which cannot be read needs to be formatted. Invariably, the digital media involved has been formatted correctly and the prompt is an error. But we tend to pay close attention to everything that our Windows operating system suggests to us and it is all too easy to click yes and allow Windows to reformat our USB flash drive or compact flash card.
What we don’t realize until after it is too late is that the process of formatting digital media results in deletion of all stored files on that card or drive. We then find ourselves desperately seeking a means to recover deleted files after formatting. The process of data recovery after reformatting is somewhat simple. Bear in mind that reformatting is a form of file deletion and any time we delete a file the information held in the location of that file is still available for rescue.