Windows 7 - i need to recover files from a corrupted hd

so i had a hd go out on me. so i order a new 1.5 tb hd and install win 7 fresh on it. when i try to access my old hd it just states it has drive I with no info and ask to be formatted before used. i want to recover my old files off of it. I really need them.

Zero Assumption Recovery (ZAR) might do it. If Windows will recognize the disk, which yours is, ZAR claims it can recover files off the disk. This includes deleted files. You can download it for free and try it out. It has a limitation of four folders it will recover until you purchase a license but that will give you chance to find out if the drive is recoverable. I've used it twice. Once on a camera module and once on a crashed disk. It worked pretty darn good and I was able to recover hundreds of photos and files. I think it paid for itself. On files that have had the index deleted or corrupted, it will assign the file a number id but that's better than loosing the file. It works from the inside out and walks the disk as it analyzes the data. It's worth a try.

Download critical data recovery software - computer data recovery with ZAR.

Hello there. Try to boot Linux distro as Live CD to see if you can access the old hdd. Also you can try F-Secure Rescue CD.