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I unplugged my external hard drive while it was being formatted 30 seconds in, using TrueCrypt's Volume Creation Wizard. I unplugged the external while it was actively being formatted because I realized it was a mistake and it wasn't what I wanted.
This is what I did while in TrueCrypt's Volume Creation Wizard:
1. Selected "Encrypt a non-system partition/drive"
2. "Next" button
3. "Volume Type" Menu > selected "Standard TrueCrypt volume"
4. "Next" button
5. "Volume Location" Menu > pressed "Select Device", selected "\Device\Harddisk 1\Partition 1"
6. "Next" button
7. "Volume Creation Mode" Menu > selected "Create encrypted volume and format it"
8. "Next" button
9. "Encryption Options" Menu > under "Ecryption Algorithm" sub-menu, selected "AES"
10. "Next" button
11. "Volume Size" Menu > selected "More than 4GB" /* I'm not entirely clear of the wording/menu name for this as I couldn't seem to go back */
12. "Next" button
13. Created and confirmed password
14. "Next" button
15. "Volume Format" Menu
16. Pressed "Format" button
17. Unplugged external hard drive
Is there anyway I can recover my data from the steps taken above?
I've mounted with TrueCrypt, and through my Computer directory to access my external drive, and a popup window appears which states: "You need to format the disk before you can use it. Do you want to format it?" with Format or Cancel option. I do not want to format.
I've tried to change the "Driver Letter and Paths" in Disk Management on my Wins 7 by removing the drive letter and reassigning another letter. That did nothing.
user289481
Posted 2014-01-13T04:16:23.483
Reputation: 11
If it was only 30 seconds, you do have a chance. We've got a couple of data recovery questions already; please search through them and report back if you need more information. Generally, you're looking for something like testdisk, photorec, recuva, etc. Do not write anything further to the drive. – Bob – 2014-01-13T04:57:21.103
You can start by running the file recover software of your choice. Of course if the data was encrypted then you are out of luck. – Ramhound – 2014-01-13T11:53:49.863