ACHI to RAID Mode Lost of Files

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jimbo328

Honorable
Apr 17, 2014
9
1
10,515
Hi all,

I have two problems:

When it was operational, I had Windows 7 installed on my SSD, 2 2TB Hard Disks set for Raid1, 2 4TB Hard Disks set for Raid1.

I defaulted on my bios settings that had the Sata drives in RAID1 and all the disks became independent of each other. I went into Bios and turned Raid Mode back on, in hopes that I can recreate the disks using Intel's RST.

First problem - My 2 2TB Disks are able to sync back up as 1 disk (because no changes were written when it was in ACHI mode) , but most of the files are not showing. I would think that they are still there because the amount of used space is the same as before. I read somewhere that Windows Diagnostic test has a tendency to mess up system files, rending most of the files to disappear. How can I save this data?


Second Problem - While I was in ACHI mode, I made changes to one of the 4TB hard disk, and now it doesn't sync back up as one after turning RAID mode back on. How can I rebuild the array to the newer-written disk?


I greatly appreciate any insights, and thanks in advance.


 
Solution
popatim
best answer I got for you is to get a backup drive big enough to hold all your data then backup the data you do see and then recover all the missing data you can (to the backup drive).

Once backed up then you can try rebuilding the mft but checkdisk will only copy in the backup mft which sometimes is not a complete copy. If that doesnt fix it then its likely beyond easy repair and it would probably be way easier to just delete and recreate the arrays and copy in your backed up data. I use testdisk to check/restore the mft. Its in the advanced ntsf & mft section: http://www.cgsecurity.org/wiki/TestDisk
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13thmonkey

13thmonkey

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Jan 10, 2006
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I'm not sure I can help, and sorry that this is after the fact, but to anyone else... raid is not a backup. Given the drives that you have, you could have had 1x2TB backing up to the other 2TB and 1x4TB backing up to the other 4TB. That would have given you the same capacity, speed and better recovery opportunities, the only thing it wouldn't have given you is dynamic recovery from a drive failure (you'd have to actively do something).

Back to your problem:
I've been able to use file recovery programs (in the C2D days), to recover a broken raid1 array, but I can't recall what it was. I found that my raid1's were more stable than my 0's in matrix raid.
 
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J

jimbo328

Honorable
Apr 17, 2014
9
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10,515
It seems to me that the files are missing their MFT table because I am able to use a recovery program and see all my files exist, but it's just not showing inside Windows. Can someone shed a light?
 
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popatim

popatim

Titan
Moderator
Dec 2, 2009
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best answer I got for you is to get a backup drive big enough to hold all your data then backup the data you do see and then recover all the missing data you can (to the backup drive).

Once backed up then you can try rebuilding the mft but checkdisk will only copy in the backup mft which sometimes is not a complete copy. If that doesnt fix it then its likely beyond easy repair and it would probably be way easier to just delete and recreate the arrays and copy in your backed up data. I use testdisk to check/restore the mft. Its in the advanced ntsf & mft section: http://www.cgsecurity.org/wiki/TestDisk
 
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Merle682

Reputable
Apr 17, 2014
1
0
4,510
Yeah, it is right! Keep this drive away from any new file in case of data loss and take chances with some data recovery tool like Recuva, Power Data Recovery and 4Card Recovery, etc.
Always carefully choose a wanted tool after searching enough information.
Back up all important data on separate drives or locates next time.
 
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