# The disk in drive E: is not formatted. Do you want to format it now



## jimbobau76 (Jul 7, 2005)

it seems a lot of people have had this problem.
i'm using 2000 pro (ntfs) and my second drive (maxtor) has just came up with this message and i don't want to lose the files from it.
do i format it then recover the files?
can i repair the problem without formatting?
i've used powermax from maxtor and everything checks out ok but still getting the same message


----------



## JohnWill (Oct 19, 2002)

Try PC Inspector, it's a free data recovery package that's worked several times for me.


----------



## accat13 (Jun 8, 2005)

If you format you will loose the data.Not sure how to read it.Maybe uninstall it.Then reinstall. Or try it in an external drive.Read a previous thread about hardrive damage that mentioned knoppix live. Just some thoughts.... edit:That program that JohnWill mentions looks impressive


----------



## jimbobau76 (Jul 7, 2005)

i thought some of the file recovery programs would work even after a format?


----------



## accat13 (Jun 8, 2005)

jimbobau76 said:


> i thought some of the file recovery programs would work even after a format?


I fdisked a drive once by accident.I tried data recovery.They say the least amount you do to the drive the better


----------



## Elvandil (Aug 1, 2003)

Some people have had success recovering partitions and data with these partition recovery apps. Try the first, scan for partitions. Read the enclosed docs.

 <--(Bootable floppy image) <--(Bootable CD image)

http://www.cgsecurity.org/testdisk.html
http://users.adelphia.net/~abraxas/dl/partfix.exe


----------



## jimbobau76 (Jul 7, 2005)

i used a program called partition table doctor that told me my boot sector was faulty, then i repaired it with the same program, rebooted and the drive was back although some files were deleted. trying to get them back with various file recovery programs.


----------



## DaveBurnett (Nov 11, 2002)

As they say, "If you find youself in a hole, STOP DIGGING"



> I fdisked a drive once by accident.I tried data recovery.They say the least amount you do to the drive the better


Strangely enough, FDISK does no damage to the data at all since it only changes the Partition Table. A full format may damage data, but Unformat can recover it if the /U switch wasn't used. A quick format doesn't touch the data itself, it just clears the File allocation/MFT tables.


----------

