I accidentally formatted a VHD that was used by an older virtual machine, and I’m trying to determine whether the files can still be recovered. The virtual disk contained documents and project data that I hadn't backed up separately, so I’m hesitant to continue using the VHD or make any changes to it.
I know that formatting doesn't necessarily mean every file is immediately gone, but I’m not sure how this works with virtual hard disks. Most of the recovery guides I’ve found focus on physical HDDs or SSDs, while my problem is specifically with a VHD file.
Would a normal data recovery application be able to scan a VHD directly, or should I use software designed specifically for virtual disk recovery?
While researching this issue, I came across the SysInfo VHD Recovery Tool. It claims to recover data from formatted, corrupted, and damaged VHD files and supports both fixed and dynamic virtual disks. It also provides multiple scanning and recovery modes, which seems useful if a basic scan doesn't locate the required files.
Another feature I’m looking for is the ability to preview the recoverable data before saving it. I want to confirm that the important folders and documents are actually available before starting the full recovery process.
For this situation, my priority is VHD File Recovery without unnecessarily modifying the original disk. I’m especially concerned about preserving as much of the original folder structure and file information as possible.
Has anyone successfully recovered files from a formatted VHD? If so, what approach did you use, and did you work with the VHD directly or first convert/mount it somewhere else?
I’d also appreciate feedback from anyone who has tried the SysInfo VHD recovery software. I’m mainly interested in real-world results with formatted or seriously damaged virtual disks rather than basic recovery scenarios.
