I was trying to download something on an external hard drive, which was also where I kept some of my family photos. It told me that I had to format my drive, but the data on the files would be erased. I pressed cancel, but the download proceeded anyways, and when I opened it up later, it only showed the newly downloaded things. Is there a place, like stores or facilities to recover hard drives, or are those photos lost?
Place to recover a hard drive
- Thread starter Hudson4
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Solution
photonboy
Titan
- Jun 20, 2006
- 21,567
- 13
- 85,015
You should first:
a) do NOT use the drive any more, then
b) SCAN the drive with a program like EASEUS Data Recovery Free: http://www.easeus.com/datarecoverywizard/free-data-recovery-software.htm
You probably need a PAID version to recover the files but this should SCAN to look for them. When you RECOVER the files you need another drive with enough capacity to COPY the files over.
(no need to buy the new drive first. SCAN first. as long as you aren't WRITING you won't overwrite any file data. Also, once you scan it should tell you how much data it found)
If it can find them (which it probably can unless the drive is physically malfunctioning) they won't likely be in the proper folders so you may need to reorganize everything.
If you recover them successfully you should then:
a) do a LOW LEVEL FORMAT on the problematic drive, then
b) do a FULL FORMAT (NTFS), then
c) run a low level diagnostic on that drive
If the last part is confusing, just wait and ask later. (Basic NTFS format doesn't wipe everything so there can be PROBLEMS that remain. A low level format wipes everything off the drive so you end up REBUILDING the file table etc.)
a) do NOT use the drive any more, then
b) SCAN the drive with a program like EASEUS Data Recovery Free: http://www.easeus.com/datarecoverywizard/free-data-recovery-software.htm
You probably need a PAID version to recover the files but this should SCAN to look for them. When you RECOVER the files you need another drive with enough capacity to COPY the files over.
(no need to buy the new drive first. SCAN first. as long as you aren't WRITING you won't overwrite any file data. Also, once you scan it should tell you how much data it found)
If it can find them (which it probably can unless the drive is physically malfunctioning) they won't likely be in the proper folders so you may need to reorganize everything.
If you recover them successfully you should then:
a) do a LOW LEVEL FORMAT on the problematic drive, then
b) do a FULL FORMAT (NTFS), then
c) run a low level diagnostic on that drive
If the last part is confusing, just wait and ask later. (Basic NTFS format doesn't wipe everything so there can be PROBLEMS that remain. A low level format wipes everything off the drive so you end up REBUILDING the file table etc.)
photonboy
Titan
- Jun 20, 2006
- 21,567
- 13
- 85,015
I'm confident the above should work since your drive appears undamaged.
To explain better what's going on:
Your HDD has physical platters like a record turntable. They have a metal dust coating that can record data. This is FORMATTED so that the data can be located. If you FORMAT again then the previous data appears missing however it's physically still there.
Program like the one I linked take many HOURS but they scan every BIT of information. It looks for patterns, specifically the EXTENSION (i.e. "jpg") then is able to look for other indicators to know exactly WHERE the different files are.
It does NOT WRITE any data do the drive but it will tell you what files are available to recover. When you have another drive to use it can COPY these files over, though it probably will make up its own folders such as "Pictures" so you will likely have to reorganize the data.
Once that's done, the drive is still good so as I said do a LLF, then a normal Full NTFS Format and finally a diagnostic just to be sure.
(you should of course FORMAT the new drive. I would do a FULL FORMAT once you get it, or use an existing drive even if it's already USED as long as it has enough space for the data you need to copy over)
To explain better what's going on:
Your HDD has physical platters like a record turntable. They have a metal dust coating that can record data. This is FORMATTED so that the data can be located. If you FORMAT again then the previous data appears missing however it's physically still there.
Program like the one I linked take many HOURS but they scan every BIT of information. It looks for patterns, specifically the EXTENSION (i.e. "jpg") then is able to look for other indicators to know exactly WHERE the different files are.
It does NOT WRITE any data do the drive but it will tell you what files are available to recover. When you have another drive to use it can COPY these files over, though it probably will make up its own folders such as "Pictures" so you will likely have to reorganize the data.
Once that's done, the drive is still good so as I said do a LLF, then a normal Full NTFS Format and finally a diagnostic just to be sure.
(you should of course FORMAT the new drive. I would do a FULL FORMAT once you get it, or use an existing drive even if it's already USED as long as it has enough space for the data you need to copy over)
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