is estimated left time realistic?

Hello,

My laptop was accidentally reformatted but I immediately powered off my device so that the reformat will not push through but it seems it still went through because when I powered it on, it says I need to proceed with the reformat.

So I removed the hard disk and placed in an enclosure and plugged through USB on another laptop. And upon checking I can see that the drive was empty.

So used Recuva and after 24 hours it had scanned 1,876,899 files at 28% but 4 days and 3 nights now and it didn't have any progress. The only thing that changes is the estimated time left which is everyday, it increases to 1 day. So as of now, the estimated wait time is 11 days.

I am wondering if estimated wait time is realistic. I mean, is the recuva doing its task though there's no change in the "Current Progress" for how many days now?

The size of the drive is 435GB and the supposed file to be recovered is around 250GB. I am using Windows 8.1.

Thanks for your help.

Andy

It varies drive to drive. I just ran Recuva on a 2TB raid array and it took around 7 hours I imagine (I let it run overnight but it was finished when i woke up)

It varies drive to drive. I just ran Recuva on a 2TB raid array and it took around 7 hours I imagine (I let it run overnight but it was finished when i woke up)

This answer is, only a bit, misleading. While winapp2's total drive space might be 2TB, that's not the underlying factor as much as the amount of drive space which has been previously,and currently, written to. By this I mean: a new empty 2TB will scan much quicker than a 1TB which has been filled and formatted.

Secondly, a factor in the scan time is the options that you set in recuva. In your situation, I would start with a non-deep scan and with scan for undeleted files turned on. A format doesn't actually remove files as much as it tells the Operating System that there's nothing there.

A format doesn't actually remove files as much as it tells the Operating System that there's nothing there.

just so it's clear to all, I take it you mean a Quick Format.

A format doesn't actually remove files as much as it tells the Operating System that there's nothing there.

just so it's clear to all, I take it you mean a Quick Format.

As opposed to a zero wipe you mean? I thought both selections(and formats in general) formatted the same way (wiping out mbr) but I've not (ever I think) done anything but a quick format so :unsure:

A full format writes 0's to every cluster which is why it takes ages.

But yeah, prior use of the drive is a big factor too, more heavily used drives will be subject to much longer scan times as they have more file records on them

Ah-ha

a quick format only wipes the file table (be it FAT or NTFS), updates the partition table and creates a new master boot record.

all files are left untouched which is why it is so quick compared to a normal format (which also checks for bad sectors).

and why Recuva still is an alternative when the drive is corrupt and forum members are told a quick format may be a thing to try.

This answer is, only a bit, misleading. While winapp2's total drive space might be 2TB, that's not the underlying factor as much as the amount of drive space which has been previously,and currently, written to. By this I mean: a new empty 2TB will scan much quicker than a 1TB which has been filled and formatted. Secondly, a factor in the scan time is the options that you set in recuva. In your situation, I would start with a non-deep scan and with scan for undeleted files turned on. A format doesn't actually remove files as much as it tells the Operating System that there's nothing there.

I tried non-deep scan but it yielded 0 results. Anyway after 1 week of scanning, i cancelled it and tried to recover around 10 files with green label and excellent recovery status. but when the recovery was finished after 3 days for only 10 files, i got only 4 recovered and the rest there's a pop up that says cant recover because of I/O error on device etc.

I thought when the green button is on, the file is recoverable?

I/O error could mean the disk is failing, got locked by another process, or got put to sleep while the recovery was running

I thought when the green button is on, the file is recoverable?

I've always taken it to mean it is one step better than not being green but still may not be recovered.