How to Recover data from "Ghost" (or "image") hard disk drives by error?

Explanation

Imaging (or "Ghost") programs such as Symantec NORTON Ghost are often used to make identical or near identical copies of a hard disk. This copy can then be used as a backup or to transfer a system onto another hard drive etc.

Incorrect operation and use of the Ghosting programs may lead to very serious consequences, as the data previously held on the hard disk that is to receive the image will often be completely overwritten. This is not always the case though, as sometimes the disk receiving the image may be considerably larger than the original disk. Ghosting to a disk of this type will almost certainly destroy the file system and root directory structure but some of the data that was previously on the hard disk may still be recoverable. Other problems exist too, such as Ghosting in the wrong direction, unexpected program termination or system crash due to program defects or problems on one or more hard disks (e.g. due to bad sectors etc.)

Recovery of data from Ghosted drives is often complicated and time consuming. You frequently need to perform a considerable amount of analysis on a hard disk before you even know if the data is recoverable.

To recover "Ghosted" (or "imaged") hard disk drives by error, please follow this procedure:

• You can try to recover the lost logic drive firstly if you ghosted the whole hard disk.
• You can refer to the next steps if you only ghosted a logical drive.

1. Download EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard, install it and launch it. Click the Select "Complete Recovery" button on the main window of Data Recovery Wizard.

2. Select the file types you want to recover. Tick 'Search all lost files automatically' to find all lost file types. Tick 'Ignore bad sectors' to skip bad sectors when scanning.

3. You can see the list of volumes found on your computer. Please select the "Ghosted" (or "imaged") error logic drive and choose the "Option" before going to the next step.

4. Click on the "RAW" option and tick the "Recover RAW files only" box.

5. Click "NEXT" to begin Scanning to recover your files with RAW Data Recovery method.

6. Select the file type directory that you want to recover and press the "NEXT" button.

7. Select some directories or files and press the "NEXT" button to save the data.

Caution: Saving file(s) to the partition or drive where you are recovering data, for it may result in overwriting data and permanent data loss!

Please see "Complete Recovery" for more details.

The demo version of Data Recovery Wizard gives you a much fairer idea about chances of data recovery from your hard disk before deciding upon the purchase. How to continue demo version's recovery without rescanning by full version?

If you are running Mac OS X 10.7 (Lion) & 10.6 (Snow Leopard) & 10.5 (Leopard), please go to see EaseUS Mac data recovery software.