PS1/2 Is there anyway to recover saves after accidentally formatting a PS1 memory card?

[LG18]

The only method I've heard of (and its validity I'm not certain of as I can't find any info about it online) is to use a feature within the RPG game "Beyond the Beyond" that enables you to reverse the memory card format.
I stupidly accidentally formatted the card in the menu of Wipeout and it had mine and my girlfriends Final Fantasy 9 save on there at disk 3.

Is there any other way? Am I correct in thinking that despite the formatting, the data is not actually deleted but just flagged as such.

Can anyone help?

Many thanks!

 

[Ryccardo]

The files themselves (ie the 15 advertised blocks out of the 16 a memory card fits) may still be there, but may be fragmented in who knows which order... (the console's memory card screen doesn't show them in their physical order)

Definitely do a full raw backup of the card using some memory card reader (such as the new-fangled Arduino one, the official PS3 one with custom drivers on a PC, a direct parallel cable, a surplus DexDrive or the like, ...) and you can start working from there - you may have luck with memcardrex (depending on the implementation of the formatting software) or you may have to figure out the save format manually (by comparing to others) and stitch it back manually, or there may be nothing left at all...