How to recover files on hard drive (files seem corrupted)

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first2bomb

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My desktop PC (Dell Studio M35T) was turned off one day and then next morning would not turn on it was still insured at PC world so I took there they said the "data" would wiped and they would charge £80 ($124) to back up the files. So i then decided to take out the hard drive and do it my self so i took out the hard drive used a usb 2.0 to sata connector and used EaseUS recovery to try and recover somes files but the files it recovered were corrupt and some even missing.How would i fix this issue and what caused the files to be corrupt could the hard drive have been damaged due to windows locking the file system (volume information). Would be really appreciative if you could help as have a huge graphics pack which contains alot of work which is the main thing i need of the thing.
 
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D_Know_WD

D_Know_WD

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Jul 30, 2014
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Hi there first2bomb,

After the data is really important and the data recovery tool recovered corrupted files, it may be a good idea to consider the data recovery proposal.
Apart from that, my suggestion would be to just try some more data recovery tools and hope that some of them may do the job. Just keep in mind to save any recovered data on another drive in order not to overwrite the data. Also, while trying to recover the data, you could further damage it.

D_Know_WD
 
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first2bomb

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Solandri

Solandri

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I wouldn't trust a computer store with data recovery. They'll probably just do what you did, and hand you back a bunch of "recovered" files which are all corrupt. They'll also have wiped the disk making any further recovery impossible. If your data is as important as you say, you're going to have to pay a few hundred quid to a real data recovery service. And next time keep a backup so a single drive failure doesn't wipe out years of work.

If you have a friend (or know a friend of a friend) who is good with computers, maybe have them take a look at it first.

I'm scratching my head trying to figure out how your files could have been corrupted. Mass corruption of files is very unusual in a modern filesystem. It'll happen sporadically, but it's very unusual for all files to be corrupted. Modern filesystems are designed to avoid the things which caused partially-written or corrupt files in older filesystems. Were you running any kind of encryption? Or could you possibly have been hit with an encrypting virus and you shut down before it could complete its dirty work?
 
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D_Know_WD

D_Know_WD

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Solandri is right. Your safest bet of recovering your data is to use the services of a data recovery company. Most of the HDD manufacturers have some data recovery partners, which(I guess) you can find on their website.
Regarding the file corruption, my guess would be that a mechanical issue could cause that.

D_Know_WD
 
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fzabkar

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Sep 22, 2010
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@first2bomb, what is the capacity of your HDD? If it larger than 2TB, then that may explain your difficulties in recovering your data via USB.

In any case I would first determine whether your drive has physical problems, eg bad sectors. This could also explain the file corruption.

To this end I would examine the SMART report with a tool such as CrystalDiskInfo.

http://crystalmark.info/software/CrystalDiskInfo/index-e.html

Look for reallocated, pending, or uncorrectable sectors.

Otherwise, if the drive is physically OK, then there is nothing that the data recovery professionals can do that can't be done by a competent DIY-er. In fact the gold standard amongst the pros is R-Studio.

http://www.r-tt.com

A good "free" tool is DMDE:

http://dmde.com/
 
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fzabkar

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Sep 22, 2010
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@first2bomb, what is the capacity of your HDD? If it larger than 2TB, then that may explain your difficulties in recovering your data via USB.

In any case I would first determine whether your drive has physical problems, eg bad sectors. This could also explain the file corruption.

To this end I would examine the SMART report with a tool such as CrystalDiskInfo.

http://crystalmark.info/software/CrystalDiskInfo/index-e.html

Look for reallocated, pending, or uncorrectable sectors.

Otherwise, if the drive is physically OK, then there is nothing that the data recovery professionals can do that can't be done by a competent DIY-er. In fact the gold standard amongst the pros is R-Studio.

http://www.r-tt.com

A good "free" tool is DMDE:

http://dmde.com/
 
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F

fzabkar

Judicious
Sep 22, 2010
9,328
724
36,390
@first2bomb, what is the capacity of your HDD? If it larger than 2TB, then that may explain your difficulties in recovering your data via USB.

In any case I would first determine whether your drive has physical problems, eg bad sectors. This could also explain the file corruption.

To this end I would examine the SMART report with a tool such as CrystalDiskInfo.

http://crystalmark.info/software/CrystalDiskInfo/index-e.html

Look for reallocated, pending, or uncorrectable sectors.

Otherwise, if the drive is physically OK, then there is nothing that the data recovery professionals can do that can't be done by a competent DIY-er. In fact the gold standard amongst the pros is R-Studio.

http://www.r-tt.com

A good "free" tool is DMDE:

http://dmde.com/
 
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first2bomb

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Oct 19, 2014
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The hardrive is a samsung 500gb hardrive i dont think it could be an pyhsical error although it could be thanks alot for your reply it is really apericated i will try check out the software you have recommended and report back if it worked
 
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first2bomb

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Oct 19, 2014
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Thats what i was thinking how could have the hard drive become corrupted i was planning to build a new pc so i thought transfer all the data at once the dell probbley has bad PSU as it has extended warranty i thought i would give it them but they could not guarantee the hard drive would not be formated. I was not running any encryption i don't think i had a virus. i also booted in to ubunto to see if the hard drive would be recognized in the file explorer which is wasent. I am normally the computer who builds fixes etc but this issue has me baffled why the files are corrupted unless the volume is or is something to with mbr or partion i doubt that. i thought maybe PC world would do something that normal users couldnt like a data recovery service but i guess not. Thanks alot for the reply

 
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first2bomb

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Oct 19, 2014
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I used Crystal diskmark and the report came of the hard drive as good and then I used R studio it scanned the files but could not find some and the files it did find were corrupt. The hard drive also shows up as allocated in computer management. Do you have any ideas or do you think the hard drive data is just gone i also ran HD tune and all sectors where correct.
 
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edwardhosoda

edwardhosoda

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£80 ($124) is really too expensive. and recovery software is a good option. however, some recovery software is not effective enough to restrieve lost data. so you have to spend time on selecting the proper software. The good idea is that the Internet provides many such programs.
http://download.cnet.com/Eassos-Recovery-Free/3000-2248_4-75718351.html
http://www.r-tt.com
PS. corrupted files can't be repaired
 
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first2bomb

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Oct 19, 2014
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I will try that program that you suggested already tried R-STUDIO and it didnt seem to find all the files and the ones it did find were corrupt. Thanks alot for your reply will update if the software worked
 
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