Recover data after I reinstalled Windows


Reinstalling Windows does not lead to permanent data loss. Data can still be recovered using Data Recovery Software. If you would like to recover the lost data then stop using the drive and make sure you do not save any data to the disk, as this would cause overwriting and permanent data loss. Just for your information, once data is overwritten it is impossible to recover using any Data Recovery Software.

What happens when you reinstall Windows?

Reinstalling Windows over the existing installation does the following:

  1. Copies original system files to hard drive
  2. Resets certain Windows settings to default values

Usually when you reinstall Windows, ‘Documents and Settings’ folder (usually in Winows 2000, Windows XP, Windows 2003 and Windows Vista) will be reinitialized and the files in that folder will be deleted. These deleted files are recoverable if it’s not overwritten. Overwriting of the data means replacing previously stored data on a disk with a new data. Recoverability is better for smaller, less fragmented files and data on larger disks.

Why do we need to Re-install Windows?

You would go for re-installing Windows, if your Windows installation was very old that needs a fresh start, when you fail in removing the virus/spyware from your system or you are having any software problems or you may not able to boot the system. This can be due to the following reasons:

  • Windows file that is required to run is either deleted or corrupted
  • Program that runs at start up causes an error which results in a computer crash.
  • Windows Registry has been corrupted.
  • Hardware failure during startup causes your system to crash.
How to recover data lost after Re-installing Windows?

Using either FAT Recovery or NTFS Recovery components of Disk Doctors Windows Data Recovery category, helps to recover your files in minutes in case of formatting, reinstalling OS, repartitioning or any other data loss disasters and helps to support your business continuity.