Removeable hard drive troubles

[cruisingbooboo]

I went to use my RHD when I plugged it in no prompting window open, when I found it in my files it had a new name, and none of my old pictures were there, I was able to save 6 months of photos under the new name of the RHD but can't find the old photos listed under the old name. I'm scared 7 years of photos are gone...and more annoying I thought I was being so safe saving them on a RHD. Am I a lost cause? If I bring it to a pro could they be found? What's a good way to save data safely?

Thanks

[pilotdane]

First I would check to see if you have any recovery or backup programs for your drive loaded on the computer you are using. Most manufacturers provide a backup or management utility with their drives. If that software is not used to view the drive your files may not be superficially visible.

 

Also, many drive manufacturers have recovery software available. Even if the directory is corrupt it can recover the files on the drive. But before trying anything extreme I would take the drive to someone a bit knowledgeable to see if they can help.

[cruisingbooboo]

Dear PilotDane, thank you so much I feel better already!!!!

[Crew News]

It might be beneficial to try connecting it to a different computer to see if the files can be read.

 

As a longtime computer user, it must be noted that files are not really erased when you press the delete key. Deleted files merely have the first letter of their file names changed to a question mark " ? ".

 

Unless you have defragmented your storage device, you can search and find all files that start with a question mark: ?*.* . Once found, you can rename the files by replacing the ? with a letter.

[broberts]

I went to use my RHD when I plugged it in no prompting window open, when I found it in my files it had a new name, and none of my old pictures were there, I was able to save 6 months of photos under the new name of the RHD but can't find the old photos listed under the old name. I'm scared 7 years of photos are gone...and more annoying I thought I was being so safe saving them on a RHD. Am I a lost cause? If I bring it to a pro could they be found? What's a good way to save data safely?

Thanks

 

DO NOT DO WRITE ANYTHING ELSE TO THE DRIVE. Don't erase anything, rename anything, etc. Don't let your system do anything to the drive. Do not let it attempt a repair or even a scan (chkdsk on Windows systems).

 

If you have another computer you can try the RHD in it to see what comes up. If your old files appear the first thing I would suggest is making a backup of those files on to another hard drive.

 

Unless you understand words like NTFS, FAT, partition, and boot records I would urge you to find someone who does. There are a number of disk recovery programs that a knowledgeable user may be able to use to determine what went wrong and what can be done to recover your files, if anything.

 

There are also data recovery services that can actually piece together files from a disk surface if it is readable. Unlikely that you would need to go that far.

 

Hard drives are mechanical devices and do fail. In fact there is no reasonably affordable technology that can be used to store very large amounts of digital data. Even recordable CD/DVD/BD have limited life spans - typically less than a decade, can be as little as 2 years.

[dileep]

Open up the directory for the drive and type in a file name that you might remember was backed up to the drive in the SEARCH field. When you find it, right click on the file and select "Open File location".

You can navigate from there.

 

PilotDane is right. If you used it as a backup drive the files are in some folder several levels down.

 

The drive name is assigned by the computer and can change even when you unplug and plug in to the same computer after connectiong other devices.

[cruisingbooboo]

I made arrangements to drop off the RHD and the laptop to the tech guy tomm.

I am BEATTING myself up for deleting the pics from the computer once they were saved to the RHD. I think I was so caught up on saving space on my computer I never clearly thought backing up means more than 1 copy! My own stupid fault, if they are gone it lesson learned, if they are recovered big lesson learned. Thanks for your support....

Should I give the tech guy some of the file names??? Or it's not necessary???

[broberts]

I made arrangements to drop off the RHD and the laptop to the tech guy tomm.

I am BEATTING myself up for deleting the pics from the computer once they were saved to the RHD. I think I was so caught up on saving space on my computer I never clearly thought backing up means more than 1 copy! My own stupid fault, if they are gone it lesson learned, if they are recovered big lesson learned. Thanks for your support....

Should I give the tech guy some of the file names??? Or it's not necessary???

 

Initially it probably isn't necessary, but it wouldn't hurt to let him/her know that you could provide that information if needed.

[johneeo]

I feel your pain. Been there done it. It will only happen once (where you don't have multiple backups).

 

As a techie, I tell everyone, there are two kinds of computers / hard drives.

 

1. Those that have lost all of your data.

2. Those that someday will.

 

As for my pictures, besides multiple back ups, I also put them on Shutterfly AND Photobucket. Having been in your situation once, I am beyond paranoid. It will take a nuclear holocost to lose all my photos.

[cruisingbooboo]

Johneeo, glad to see I'm not alone....lesson learned. Wish me luck today!

[broberts]

Johneeo, glad to see I'm not alone....lesson learned. Wish me luck today!

 

Good luck. Please let us know the outcome.

[cruisingbooboo]

Seven years of photos GONE :( he said the RHD went corrupt , he recommended getting the brand Mirror.... So sad :(:(

[johneeo]

Seven years of photos GONE :( he said the RHD went corrupt , he recommended getting the brand Mirror.... So sad :(:(

 

OK, the pix were on a computer, and you deleted them from the computer after you moved them to the RHD.

 

Were they .jpgs?

 

I suggest you take that computer to someone that knows what they are doing, and tell them what happened. Many of your pix should still be there, and with the right recovery program, you might be able to recover a lot of them.

 

A good recovery program can do a search on that computer and find deleted .jpg files.

 

Just so you know, when you delete anything on a computer, it is NOT deleted. It becomes "unprotected", so when you add stuff to the computer, that stuff can "take the place / overwrite" a deleted file.

 

So, if you go this route, stop using the computer, as you will be overwriting those deleted files.

[broberts]

OK, the pix were on a computer, and you deleted them from the computer after you moved them to the RHD.

 

Were they .jpgs?

 

I suggest you take that computer to someone that knows what they are doing, and tell them what happened. Many of your pix should still be there, and with the right recovery program, you might be able to recover a lot of them.

 

A good recovery program can do a search on that computer and find deleted .jpg files.

 

Just so you know, when you delete anything on a computer, it is NOT deleted. It becomes "unprotected", so when you add stuff to the computer, that stuff can "take the place / overwrite" a deleted file.

 

So, if you go this route, stop using the computer, as you will be overwriting those deleted files.

 

I agree.

 

Depending on the file system on the drive it will be recoverable to a greater or lesser degree. It really boils down to how much you are willing to pay for the recovery.

 

One can download "unerase" or "disk recovery" programs that will take a look at the drive and tell you what might be recoverable. Don't let them make any changes to the drive, but if they can see one or more partitions they may be able to see files on those partitions. The fact that you did write files to the drive means that you've likely lost some stuff, but not necessarily all of it.

 

First thing I'd suggest doing is back up the files you copied to the drive most recently. REMEMBER DO NOT WRITE TO THE DRIVE, i.e. don't erase the files. Then you can download one or more of these unerase programs and see if they can find anything. Most of them are free to use for just looking at a drive. If they find recoverable files then find a better tech. Or, if you feel lucky give it a shot yourself - not for the faint of heart and prone to error.

 

(A quick very superficial outline of had disk structures. Generally at the front of each drive is a master boot record or on more modern/larger drives a GPT that provides information on how a drive is organized. This data includes a partition table that describes the logical divisions on the disk. Each partition holds a file system which is the folders and files you read and write. There are many different types of file systems and partitions. In modern times NTFS is the most common file system, but it has several different types of partitions. With the correct tools files on NTFS partitions are often recoverable if they have not been physically overwritten.

 

A "corrupted" drive likely means that the MBR/GPT has been damaged. The tools I mentioned can scan an entire drive (it takes a while for a large drive - typically over 10 hours for 2 GB, depending on interface) and reconstruct the MBR/GPT that what was corrupted/lost. This means that files, if not an entire file system can often be recovered.)

 

If these programs can't find any partitions and/or files then if the lost files are worth several hundred dollars, up to around $1,000 or more (depending on the damage) to you, you can send the drive to a "data recovery" specialist. There are several companies that provide this service. They will manually go through the entire drive structure and piece together the files that are recoverable. It's a labor intensive process and tends to be expensive. A number of unerase programs are able to do much the same thing if the entire drive is readable, i.e. it is not physically damaged. Most of these programs will recover up to 2MB for free, then they want you to buy the commercial version (typically $60 - $100). You would need another drive to store any recovered files.

[cruisingbooboo]

Feeling overwhelmed and totally defeated! The man I took it to is very knowledgeable and he knows what these files mean to me. I. Afraid they are gone. I made a few slide shows saved to DVD so I have a few of those trips, and I often vacation with my family so I can get copies of their pictures but I'm still without mine. I'm going to look at the Mirror brand RHD, please people learn from me!!!!

[donaldsc]

Is the person that you took the drive to a lost files recovery specialist or just a knowledgeable computer person. It makes a difference. If the former, you are probably out of luck. If the latter and you are willing to spend the money to get your files back (maybe), send the drive off to a specialist. They will tell you if you can fix it.

[cruisingbooboo]

[

 

Well the man I took it to owns his own fix it shop, and I've used him with great luck in the past. I may investigate a recovery specialist ( would I google that???) see how un techie I am??? No wonder I'm in this pickle...:(

I thought my fix it man recommended a Mirror brand RHD but when I googled it I see it isn't a brand name, rather than a style. I recently got a Mac, can anyone recommend a good RHD? My old one was a Verbatim which I don't want to get...

Thanks

 

 

QUOTE=donaldsc;37212409]Is the person that you took the drive to a lost files recovery specialist or just a knowledgeable computer person. It makes a difference. If the former, you are probably out of luck. If the latter and you are willing to spend the money to get your files back (maybe), send the drive off to a specialist. They will tell you if you can fix it.

[broberts]

Using the search term "unformat external hard drive mac" produced:

 

http://www.easeus.com/resource/unformat-external-hard-drive.htm

http://www.anysoftwaretools.com/how-to/mac-unformat.html

http://www.icare-recovery.com/free/unformat-drive-format-recovery-free.html

http://www.unformatmac.com/

 

among many other programs. I'm not making any recommendation or suggestion as to suitability for purpose, just providing resources. The first link is a bit of a tutorial which may help.

 

While the above software all talk about unerase they typically have a mode that will scan a drive for partition damage, often called something like "deep scan", or "partition recovery".

 

A search of the term "data recovery expert external hard drive" should turn up listings and ads for local experts.

[skibozo]

Before doing anything further, you have to decide how valuable those 7 years of photos are to you. If you MUST have them AND you have money STOP working on it and send it to a specialist. Google 'hard drive recovery services' and start making calls. It will cost hundreds and possibly thousands depending on how big your drive was. A good sign is apparently the RHD still works since you got some files off of it so it may be on the cheaper side of recovery. These services can scan the drive surfaces for data, and probably will disassemble the drive in a clean room and use specialized equipment. But if you start mucking around with software solutions noted above without knowing what you are doing then you could jeopardize recovery efforts by the pros. Be careful of what you say to them though, someone I know got quotes running from $500 to over $1500 (IIRC about 200gb HD). The $1500 was the first company and she was literally crying about how she lost her 2 year old's pictures. Unscrupulous scumbags taking advantage? Nah, no one would do that, right? :( Ultimately she decided not to recover, and just live with what she printed and other photos other relatives took. (HD had 'click of death' mechanical problem)

 

If money is a problem, then start using the software recovery solutions. But they may not work, especially if something mechanical is out of whack. My impression is you are not too computer literate, find someone who knows what they are doing to help you.

 

It was bad to keep only 1 copy. Working with computers and support for 30 years, I've seen this happen hundreds of times, including myself. BACKUP BACKUP BACKUP! Why multiple times? I've had multiple backups go bad. Lost many a file.

 

New computer, probably means larger HD. Don't be afraid to use it. Copy pictures from camera. Sort out good ones and put copies into 'keep' or 'print' folder. Now copy that folder somewhere else on drive. Now you have 3 copies in case you accidently delete one. But what if that HD goes bad and all your photos go poof?

 

Burn the keep folder to DVD or CD. DVD's and CD's can and do go bad but it is a common form of backup on many computers. Backup files to RHD. Now you have 5 copies. Now think about what happens if a fire, theft, water damage, or other disaster strikes. Keep the DVD/CD/RHD somewhere else in the house, fireproof safe, or off premises. Paranoid? Yes, but that is how to keep data safe®. I know someone who had all their computer equipment stolen from his desk.

 

I've been lazy but I need to look into storing photo's in the cloud. But I wouldn't use it as my only backup method, there have been stories about people losing their stuff because of issues with cloud companies hardware.

[cruisingbooboo]

My friends SIL is a data specialist and he is looking at it. I didn't touch it after the initial fail so I wouldn't do more damage.... Here's hoping!!!!

[skibozo]

Any luck with the photo recovery?

[Paul S]

When I am travelling I back up my photos every day onto a photo bank (rechargeable stand alone hard drive with card slots for direct backing up without a computer). I accidentally held down a button too long and inadvertently ended up deleting all photos on the card instead of transferring them. I put the card to one side and bought another to see out the holiday. When I got home I downloaded a couple of file recovery programmes, and was able to recover almost all of my photos (mix of raw and jpegs), albeit with new file names. I also bought a different photo bank!

 

Just purchased a high end Lexar compact flash card. It comes with free access and passcode for Image Rescue 4. Scandisk, Kingston, etc. may provide access to other recovery programmes.

 

Mirror is a form of RAID for multi-hard drive setups. I back up to a twin drive server. I'm sufficiently nervous of fire, theft, etc. that the server is in a separate building linked by ethernet cable (the computer is in a home office at the bottom of the garden, the server is in the house). Options include mirroring so that whatever is backed up on one drive is duplicated to the other to get an extra backup. An alternative is striping across both drives so that the data is shared across both and together they act as one larger drive.Some servers have a USB/Firewire connection for an external drive to back up the server, and my latest photo bank also has a USB connection so the card can be backed up to the photo bank and simultaneously to a laptop/external drive.

 

Paul

[cruisingbooboo]

My friends SIL is looking at it but he is a slow worker, w/ 2 young kids so his time is precious, but it's ok I can wait, no news is good news. I'm still hoping!

[awboater]

This is why I always have multiple backups of my photos. I store my photos on 3 USB hard drives and a NAS.

 

For a USB drive, I would recommend one of the Transcend Ruggedized drives.

 

Transcend Ruggedized Drive

 

They are built to Mil-STD-810 I think, which includes a 4ft drop test (or maybe higher). At any rate, they are more rugged (and perhaps safer) than your standard external hard drive.

 

There are a couple of other brands out there as well, but this is what I use. Buy a minimum of two, and make two copies of your photos - one on each drive.

[broberts]

This is why I always have multiple backups of my photos. I store my photos on 3 USB hard drives and a NAS.

 

For a USB drive, I would recommend one of the Transcend Ruggedized drives.

 

Transcend Ruggedized Drive

 

They are built to Mil-STD-810 I think, which includes a 4ft drop test (or maybe higher). At any rate, they are more rugged (and perhaps safer) than your standard external hard drive.

 

There are a couple of other brands out there as well, but this is what I use. Buy a minimum of two, and make two copies of your photos - one on each drive.

 

For long term backup one should periodically (every year or so) refresh the backups. Regardless of media, digital recordings degrade over time. The media can also be degraded by environmental and mechanical factors. Media retention periods vary from as little as two years for some CD-R to 5-10 years for a memory stick/card; hard drives have a highly variable life span. (There are widely varying reports on media lifetimes, but all the real life analysis tend to report shorter life spans than the theoretical ones.)