Data Recovery Case File · Formatted & Logical Faults · The Windows Reset
A Windows reset, most files already backed up, and only certain folders wanted: the reset decoded, selective recovery explained, and every logistics question answered — imaged and indexed on OSForensics, delivered on USB
His follow-up was a model of the considered enquiry. After a phone conversation, he wanted things in writing: recovery of "about 1TB of files from a hard drive that has suffered a Windows reset," a formal quote before bringing the machine in, and answers to two practical questions — whether the recovered files would come back on a "USB-connectable external drive," and, since he has "backups of most of the files," whether he could "specify which files you will recover." All three get answered below. But first the reset itself, because understanding what a Windows reset does — and doesn't do — to his files is what makes the selective, targeted recovery he's asking for both possible and sensible.
| Media | Internal laptop/desktop drive (~1TB) subjected to a Windows reset — most data backed up elsewhere; specific folders the target |
| Reported situation | Drive underwent a Windows reset · owner wants a formal written quote before delivery · asks whether return media is USB-connectable · asks whether recovery can be limited to specific folders |
| Fault class | Logical loss from OS reset — prior files unlinked but substantially intact beneath the refreshed system; selective recovery well-suited |
| Equipment used | Write-blocked imaging (Atola TaskForce 2) · OSForensics indexing and file-tree reconstruction of the pre-reset data · targeted export of specified folders · delivery on a USB external drive |
The decode: what a Windows reset does, and how selective recovery works
Why the files survive a reset: "Reset this PC" reinstalls Windows fresh. Depending on the option chosen, it clears the file index and lays down a clean system — but on a normal reset, the drive is not securely wiped sector by sector. The old files lose their catalogue entries and the space they occupy is marked available, but the actual data remains written on the disk until new writes happen to land on top of it. So his ~1TB of prior files is substantially present but unlinked beneath the refreshed Windows — recoverable by reconstructing the former filesystem and reading the data back. The main enemy is post-reset use: the more the freshly-reset Windows is used, the more it writes, and the more it risks overwriting the unlinked old data. His instinct to get a quote and act rather than keep using the machine is the right one.
Question one — selective recovery, yes: because he has most files backed up and wants only specific folders, targeted recovery is exactly right, and entirely possible. Once the drive is imaged and the former filesystem reconstructed, the recovered data is browsable as a file tree — folders, names and paths intact where the structure survived — so he can point precisely at the folders he actually needs, and those are what get exported. No need to pay for or wade through a terabyte when a few folders are the goal.
Question two — USB return media, yes: recovered files are delivered on media of his choosing, and a USB-connectable external drive is the standard, convenient option — plug in, copy off, done. That's confirmed in the written quote so there are no surprises.
The formal quote, of course: a written quote before he commits is not just fine, it's how this should work — a fixed figure, in writing, for the specified scope, decided before the machine changes hands.
On the bench
The drive was imaged write-blocked on the Atola TaskForce 2 — the original untouched, the work done on the copy — and OSForensics did what this selective job needs: it indexed the image and reconstructed the pre-reset file tree, surfacing the former folder structure so the specific folders he'd named could be located exactly. Those folders were exported and verified; the rest of the terabyte, already backed up by his own account, was left aside. The recovered data was written to a USB external drive for plug-and-copy delivery — every one of his three questions answered not just in the quote but in the method.
The outcome
The specified folders recovered from beneath the reset and delivered on a USB drive, exactly as asked — the formal quote provided up front, the scope limited to what he actually needed. Free assessment, one fixed written figure including VAT, no recovery, no fee. A considered enquiry answered in kind: reset files survive until overwritten, selective recovery targets only what matters, and the return media is whatever's most convenient for him.
Files lost to a Windows reset — and you only need some of them
Stop using the machine: a normal reset unlinks your old files rather than wiping them, so they survive beneath the fresh Windows until new use overwrites them — every hour of post-reset use is a risk to what you're trying to recover. Selective recovery is entirely doable: an imaged, indexed drive yields a browsable file tree, so you can specify exactly which folders you need and skip the rest. Expect a written quote before you commit, and delivery on convenient media like a USB external drive. If most of it is already backed up, targeting just the gaps keeps the job small and the cost sensible.
Pick the folders that matter — call Edinburgh Data Recovery on 0131 202 0491; imaged and indexed, targeted export, delivered on USB, one written figure, no recovery, no fee.
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Our case files are drawn from genuine enquiries received by our laboratory over the past ten years, anonymised to protect client confidentiality. Each one describes the diagnostic and recovery procedure our engineers apply to that fault, using the equipment listed.