To answer this question, we have to get a clear definition of "cleaned" and how the cleaning is done because that would determine whether we can recover data or not. Let's first inspect the data recovery process.
Data recovery software takes advantage of the mechanism of deletion. When we delete a file, the file system only removes the address pointer to that file. But the file itself as raw data is still there. The computer just marks it as “deleted, can be overwritten”. If we put new files in, the computer may notice the newly freed space and cram the new file there. By doing so, the data of the old file, which is a complex combination of ones and zeros, will be re-arranged to form the new file data. That’s why overwritten files can hardly be recovered. The same goes to quick format. When we quick format a memory card or hard disk, the file system only clears the address table to all files. The operating system will not locate any files without their index so when you look at the hard drive you would not see any data and assume the drive is erased. In fact, the files as raw data are still there but they are no longer exist as files. They are hidden from users and will be freely overwritten.
To sum up, as long as your files are not overwritten or physically destroyed, professional data recovery software such as H Data Recovery will be sufficient to scan, search and reconstitute these files and restore them.
Did You Truly Cleaned Your Hard Disk Drive
There are many ways we can clear all the contents on a hard disk drive, such as formatting, erasing, deleting... But clearing all the contents does not equal to cleaning a hard disk drive. As is mentioned above, data would be unlikely to recover if they are overwritten. That is why most safe cleaning methods involve overwriting. The strict sense of "cleaning a hard disk drive" would be that you wipe every bit of original data on that hard disk, either overwriting and blurring with new data or applying physical degaussing.
Various software is available, such as DBAN, for the secure erasing of files from hard drives. This kind of software is designed to overwrite the hard disk drives with random ones and zeros repeatedly. Its purpose is to blur the residual pattern so that even the most advanced lab-level recovery tools can only recover negligible fragments, if not none, of data from previous files.
You can also achieve this effect by full format your hard disk drive. Unlike quick format, a full format will zero-fill your hard drive so that all the files would be erased and permanently gone. You can perform a full format by using the command line format p in your Windows CMD console.
Also, if you are resetting your computer with Windows system, choosing the option "Remove files and clean the drive" will also clean wipe your hard drive.
Hard disk drives use billions of small magnetic domains to store data. These domains make up the writable surface of hard disk drives with magnetized cells represent "1", while demagnetized cells represent "0". The degaussing method uses a powerful magnetic field that demagnetizes all of the cells, neutralizing the data stored.
These are the most common methods to truly clean hard disk drives without the physical destruction of them. Files lost in a cleaning process are not likely to be recovered. That is why these methods are also widely applied when disposing of sensitive data and personal information. If your cleaning process doesn't involve the overwriting or degaussing mentioned above, you can surely restore your lost files with data recovery utilities like H Data Recovery.
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