about ur last questions
how do i restore? what about the data?
well i would recommend Ontrack Easyrecovery Datarecovery Pro It restored alot of my files when my HDD crashed ( altho it failed with picture files, mostly jpeg)... it's not free but did a good job with my HDD and my friends'

Check it out here :
http://www.ontrack.com/easyrecoverydatarecovery/