Taking my Breath Away

So my computer won't boot worth a damn.

I try every trick I know before resolving that it's a hardware issue that I really don't have the time to deal with.

So I take my box to the repair shop. I've got 2 hard drives so all my files are backed up on the secondary (actually it's called the "slave" in computer terms but we're not allowed to say that any longer due to PC) so I'm good to go.

It only takes dood half a day to get things in order and I'm ready to roll.

Except I get my computer back home and he's formatted both hard drives. Ugh. I seriously fell to my knees and start hyperventilating. My friend Paul called right as I was throwing up into my mouth, I was so sick. ALL my pictures were gone. Four years of pics of Anna... wiped out. I was sweating like a virgin at a prison rodeo. I basically freaked my sh1t. Paul got me calmed me down enough to do some research on data recovery tools.

I did not realize that a formatted hard drive does not mean your files are gone. It merely means the address pointers to those files are gone so they don't show up when you try to view them. Now, if you perform a low-level format or format a hard drive then start saving files on it, you're a goner.

However, I found some software, Stellar Phoenix, that allowed me to recover EVERYTHING.

Keep a bookmark to this page 'cause you might need that link one day; though I hope not.