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Windows Data Recovery - Standard 4 minute read

How to Recover Data after Accidentally Converting an External Hard Disk into a Recovery Drive in Windows?

Updated on February 24th, 2021
Isha Rikhi
Written By
Isha Rikhi
Rohit Arora
Approved By
Rohit Arora

Summary: Is it really possible that we can recover data after accidentally converting an External hard disk into a Recovery drive in Windows? Do you have same question? Then here is your question's answer which is really very satisfying.

How to Recover Data after Accidentally Converting an External Hard Disk into a Recovery Drive in Windows?

Accidental formatting of an external storage drive is not usual, yet some people end up formatting their external hard disk. This usually happens due to lack of knowledge; for example, to create a Windows recovery drive, an external storage drive is required. So, people often mistakenly think that a partition on their external hard disk can be used as a recovery drive for Windows. However, that’s not the way how you create a ‘Windows Recovery Drive’. You should know that when you create a Windows recovery drive, it formats the external drive to FAT32 and all data from external hard drive gets deleted. Also, it doesn’t need entire storage to store recovered data that means rest of the storage is unallocated and can’t be used.

However, recovery of data from a formatted hard drive (internal or external) or partition is quite possible if the drive or the partition isn’t used after formatting. In other words, if you have accidentally formatted your external hard drive or a partition while converting it into a recovery drive and need to recover the lost data from that drive, then it’s very important to stop using the hard drive immediately.

When the drive is formatted, your computer marks all storage spaces empty. Actually, data is still on the drive until and unless you don’t overwrite it. Overwritten data makes recovery impossible. Data recovery can only be done using a professional data recovery tool like Stellar Data Recovery- Standard for Windows. There is no other convenient way to recover lost data from a formatted hard drive or a deleted partition.

Recover Data from Formatted External Hard Disk

You can follow these steps in order to recover data from an accidentally formatted hard drive or partition.

Step 1: Download and Install Stellar Data Recovery- Standard for Windows on your PC.

Step 2: Connect the External Hard drive to the PC via USB port. If you are prompted to ‘Format hard Drive’ option box, click ‘No’.

Step 3: Launch Stellar Data Recovery- Standard software.

Step 4: Check the ‘All Data’ checkbox to select and recover drive files, folders, and other deleted data from the external hard drive.

Step 5: Click the ‘Next’ button and then choose the External Hard drive and Turn on ‘Deep Scan’.

The Deep Scan option takes more time as it thoroughly searches for the deleted data deep inside the hard drive based on file signatures and it also facilitates recovery of RAW data.

Select the partition and click ‘Scan’ to start scanning. If nothing is found, click on the ‘Click here’ link at the bottom to start ‘Deep Scan’.

Step 6: In the left Tree View pane, you can see all recovered folders and files. Click on the ‘File Type’ tab to easily recover required data. You can also click on a file to preview it before you begin recovery.

Step 7: Check the requisite checkboxes of the files that you want to recover and then click the ‘Recover’ button.

Step 8: Click the ‘Browse’ button to select the location where you want to save the recovered data. Make sure not to select the same drive. Finally, click the ‘Start Saving’ button. The selected recovered files and folders are saved at the desired location.

The Stellar Data Recovery- Standard for Windows is quick and provides an option to ‘Save Scan information’ that allows you to resume recovery at a later stage. This is useful when you have a large hard drive or a huge amount of data needs to be recovered. This tool supports recovery from FAT, NTFS, and exFAT drives and offers other advanced features that can help in the recovery of specific files and formats.

Conclusion:

Always take precautions before you begin to play with your External storage devices. It’s important to know the consequences of any process that you perform on your hard drive. Instead of using an external hard disk, you can use a 32GB or 64GB 3.0 thumb drive to store recovered Windows data. Also, it’s quite easy to store and carry a thumb drive than an external hard drive. So whenever you need to refresh your PC or recover data, you can connect the thumb drive and get your PC back in working state. Use your external hard drive as a data backup drive to store large files like music, videos, important documents, images, compressed files, etc. Also, don’t forget to use Stellar Data Recovery- Standard in case of an emergency.

About The Author

isha

Isha is a technical blogger and data recovery expert. She has experience in Windows data recovery. She writes about technical tips and tutorials.

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15 comments

  1. Zion says:
    March 10, 2022 at 11:40 am

    Hi,
    I used your software to recover my data from a formatted external drive. This software was too good. It recovered my lost data. The interface was very good. There are guides available if you face any problem you can refer that to recover your data.

    Reply
  2. SANJAY says:
    September 21, 2019 at 11:04 am

    WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN “STELLAR DATA RECOVERY” COSTING $49.99 AND “STELLAR DATA RECOVERY PROFESSIONAL” PRICED AT $79.99 OR THE PREMIUM VERSION PRICED AT INR 7999?
    I have accidentally made my External HDD into the Recovery Drive. WANT TO RECOVER MY .DOCS, .PDF FILES AND PHOTOS.
    Which of the PRODUCT WILL BE SUITABLE. KINDLY ADVICE/ GUIDE.

    Reply
    1. Satyeshu Kumar says:
      September 25, 2019 at 9:38 am

      Hello Sanjay,
      We have three variant Stellar Data Recovery (Standard, Professional & Premium). You can choose as per your requirement.

      In Standard, you can recover permanently deleted data, formatted data lost partition data and recover deleted emails.

      In Professional some additional features also include like Create Disk Image, Recover data from DVD/CD, monitor hard drive health, clone HDD or SDD, etc.

      Now we talk about Premium, so it has some additional features along with Professional features like repair corrupt videos, repair corrupt photos also.

      So as per your query, I would like to suggest you can use Stellar Data Recovery $49. It will suitable according to your needs. One more thing according to their features, its prices also different. You can check the edition comparison on this link.
      Reference: https://www.stellarinfo.com/windows-data-recovery.php

      Reply
  3. Naomi says:
    May 20, 2019 at 12:40 pm

    You can’t use the external drive where the files are deleted? I have a 1TB external hard drive and because of the recovery drive, it becomes 32gb only. Does the external hard drive won’t be 1TB again?

    Reply
    1. Satyeshu Kumar says:
      May 21, 2019 at 11:33 am

      Hello Naomi,
      In this case, I suggest you to try the demo version of Stellar Data Recovery software and use can’t find drive to search for lost partitions and once it will list then scan the partition to recover files from it. Thanks.

      Reply
  4. Hiren Parikh says:
    May 3, 2019 at 6:25 am

    Windows 10 formatted my external HDD and made it bootable. I lost all my data on that drive. How to recover the data from formatted HDD? Please guide me. Your help will be highly appreciated.
    Thanking you

    Reply
    1. Satyeshu Kumar says:
      May 9, 2019 at 5:17 am

      Hello Hiren,
      You don’t need to worry you can recover your formatted data from your HDD with help of Stellar Data Recovery Software. It will allow you to preview before saving the file and easy to use. So use it and share your experience.

      Reply
  5. Kristen Davidson says:
    March 11, 2019 at 3:13 am

    The software is really genius and trustworthy in recovering lost/deleted hard disk files.

    Reply
    1. Satyeshu Kumar says:
      March 11, 2019 at 3:44 am

      Glad to hear kind words Kristen

      Reply
  6. Harsh says:
    October 22, 2018 at 3:47 pm

    i converted my hdd to a recovery drive accidentally. so now i dont know which step to follow. the 5th step or step 5.1. also in step 5.3 how do you know which partition to scan? is there any video which shows how to do this step by step? not that this article didnt help. its just that id rather follow a video. thanks a lot for this wonderful article.

    Reply
    1. Isha Rikhi says:
      October 24, 2018 at 3:16 am

      Hello Harsh,

      Kindly contact our Technical Support team at: support[@]stellarinfo.com as per the concern. You may also reach our support team at 0124-4326777 for precise guidance to recover data.

      Reply
  7. Phil says:
    July 17, 2018 at 6:54 am

    Great step-by-step instructions!

    Reply
    1. Isha Rikhi says:
      July 18, 2018 at 5:04 am

      Thanks Phil

      Reply
  8. Kerry Lawson says:
    April 17, 2018 at 10:23 am

    Is the given software compatible with Windows 10?

    Reply
    1. Isha Rikhi says:
      April 17, 2018 at 10:51 am

      Hello Kerry,

      Yes, Stellar Windows Data Recovery software works well with Windows 10.

      Reply

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