Take the hard disk out and take it to a specialist in data recovery. This problem is beyond the scope of an average user, in my opinion. You can try using Norton's recover utility to see what it can come up with but I haven't had a lot of luck with it.

The data is PROBABLY still on the hard disk at least for a high percentage of those files but how much they can be reconstructed depends on which parts got erased. If it is just the file-allocation table (the map in the front of the book, so to speak) then the chances are good the data can be recovered. If the disk was highly fragmented before the erasure, it makes recoonstruction more complicated.

Good luck, and hope this helps.


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