I got this server where I had a Windows 2003 installation on, and I didn't think I needed it anymore, so I desided to install ESXi on it for testing purpose. But now I just found out that there where some important files on the disk !!

Anyone know if it is possible to recover those data, if so, how ??

link|improve this question
2  
Presumably you've never backed it up? – Chopper3 Aug 31 '11 at 11:34
feedback

1 Answer

You're probably very, very screwed. If the data is really valuable, a forensic data recovery place can probably get most of it back, but it'll be incredibly expensive.

This is why we always quarantine drives for (at least) 3 months between decommissioning the hardware and reusing the disks. Having a bunch of spare disks on hand is orders of magnitude cheaper than the serious-looking men with electron microscopes.

link|improve this answer
I was afraid that it would be the answer I would get, but I had to ask :) – Lasse Gaardsholt Aug 31 '11 at 10:42
feedback

Your Answer

 
or
required, but never shown

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.