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From: darrylo@hpsrlc.HP.COM (Darryl Okahata)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc
Subject: Re: UNFORMATTING formated PC floppies
Message-ID: <3320014@hpsrlc.HP.COM>
Date: Fri, 15-May-87 11:08:12 EDT
Article-I.D.: hpsrlc.3320014
Posted: Fri May 15 11:08:12 1987
Date-Received: Sun, 17-May-87 11:55:25 EDT
References: <4327@nsc.nsc.com>
Organization: Network Measurements Div - Santa Rosa, CA
Lines: 39

> Hi.
> 
> Does anyone know if it is possible to recover data from an accidentally
> formatted diskette.  I started a PC-DOS 3.2 format on a good diskette with

     If you format a floppy disk, the data is gone -- annihilated.  It is
only with hard disks that the FAT tables are overwritten (a true format is
not done with hard disks).  With floppies, the format.com program does a
true format (writes new tracks -- complete with address marks, sector info,
and *new* data).

     As you stopped the format just a few seconds into the process (how, I
don't know -- reboot, maybe?), only the first one or two tracks were
rewritten -- or, as it seems in this case, paratially rewritten, hence the
read errors (I assume this is what is meant by "can't read the floppy").  As
only one or two tracks were probably destroyed, only the FAT table, the
root directory and part of the first one or so files are actually lost.
However, reconstructing (most of) the disk, while possible in theory, would
involve MUCH work and is probably not worth the effort (I like to think of
it as trying to reconstruct a cow from a pile of hamburger 8-).

     Sorry about the bad news.

> 		NAME:   Michael Umansky (misha)
> 		E-MAIL:
> 			 	sun! ----\
> 				hplabs! --\
> 				pyramid! --+----> nsc!misha
> 				decwrl! --/
> 				amdahl! -/

     -- Darryl Okahata
        ucbvax!ucbcad!ames!hplabs!hpcea!hpsrla!darrylo		<== best path
	hplabs!hpcea!hpsrla!darrylo				<== alternative
	CompuServe: 75206,3074

Disclaimer: the above is the author's personal opinion and is not the
opinion or policy of his employer or of the little green men that
have been following him all day.