Help in recovering my data WD MB 3TB Lost partition & data
Last response: in Storage
Hi,
WD my book essentials 3TB (was used as one partition 2.7 TB), the card in its rack started to fail (the card had some black smoke on it like something was burned, it was working on & off so I could not copy my data from it which was about 2.2 TB the data was sometimes there and sometimes most of the directories are empty), so:
1- I attached it to the PC internally, the disk was not recognized by Win7 in my computer, but was visible from the win disk management in the control panel.
2- I have used it to unpartition then repartition to MBR (but found that it had split to 2 disks - Max partition size was 2TB in MBR so then I repartition it to GPT (probably done this step twice) then formatted it.
3- Normally I thought that I can retrieve the data from Linux boot disk with ddrescue or recuva but it failed, because I have never done it with a HD that was that large and didn't know that the disk was formatted in a different way.
4- I did not write anything on the file ever since.
5- I have tried to recover the partition & the files via Hanyrecovery, R-Studio, EASEUS Data Recovery, Stellar Phoenix, EasyRecovery, photorec and Test Disk, but all failed to see the old partition & they see only the data from the new one, and get gibberish results (like an image with 1.5 GB, which I know that was originally an ISO file).
Note: the program TestDisk had so many promising options but I didn't want to mess with something I did not know so that I would not reduce my probability in getting my data more than it is.
I've been trying for the part 3 weeks, can someone please help (The HD contained very essential data for my & I know it is till there but the problem is getting it out).
Thanks
WD my book essentials 3TB (was used as one partition 2.7 TB), the card in its rack started to fail (the card had some black smoke on it like something was burned, it was working on & off so I could not copy my data from it which was about 2.2 TB the data was sometimes there and sometimes most of the directories are empty), so:
1- I attached it to the PC internally, the disk was not recognized by Win7 in my computer, but was visible from the win disk management in the control panel.
2- I have used it to unpartition then repartition to MBR (but found that it had split to 2 disks - Max partition size was 2TB in MBR so then I repartition it to GPT (probably done this step twice) then formatted it.
3- Normally I thought that I can retrieve the data from Linux boot disk with ddrescue or recuva but it failed, because I have never done it with a HD that was that large and didn't know that the disk was formatted in a different way.
4- I did not write anything on the file ever since.
5- I have tried to recover the partition & the files via Hanyrecovery, R-Studio, EASEUS Data Recovery, Stellar Phoenix, EasyRecovery, photorec and Test Disk, but all failed to see the old partition & they see only the data from the new one, and get gibberish results (like an image with 1.5 GB, which I know that was originally an ISO file).
Note: the program TestDisk had so many promising options but I didn't want to mess with something I did not know so that I would not reduce my probability in getting my data more than it is.
I've been trying for the part 3 weeks, can someone please help (The HD contained very essential data for my & I know it is till there but the problem is getting it out).
Thanks
More about : recovering data 3tb lost partition data
Somehow, when you formatted the drive, you missed the part that says, "WARNING: Formatting will erase ALL data on this disk. To format the disk, click OK. To quit, click CANCEL."
Formatting removes all of the labels of where everything is on the drive. If you had stopped there you may have been able to recover some of your data. However you then created a new partition which wrote to the drive a new space for labels that was completely blank. so you not only removed the labels but then you created a drive with new labels that all say, 'there is nothing here'. That is why you cannot recover any of the data on your drive manually.
Yes, the 0s and 1s of your data are probably still mostly intact however you will need to use professional recovery services to get any of the data back, which are very costly. The only other problem you may have is that using all of the data recovery software that you did may have hurt your chances for recovering the data even more.
Formatting removes all of the labels of where everything is on the drive. If you had stopped there you may have been able to recover some of your data. However you then created a new partition which wrote to the drive a new space for labels that was completely blank. so you not only removed the labels but then you created a drive with new labels that all say, 'there is nothing here'. That is why you cannot recover any of the data on your drive manually.
Yes, the 0s and 1s of your data are probably still mostly intact however you will need to use professional recovery services to get any of the data back, which are very costly. The only other problem you may have is that using all of the data recovery software that you did may have hurt your chances for recovering the data even more.
Thanks for both of your opinions & support, I'm aware of what i have done (i have already recovered data from formatted partitions like this before but not after repartitioning it). and i didn't have anything else in mind to make the drive visible again.
& I'm aware that the last resort is using a professional data recovery company that uses a clean room to recover the data.
However if there is still possibilities to try especially with TestDisk options, i would like to try them any other idea's?
for example: when i tried to recover the boot sector & file system i got the following msg before choosing the advanced option.
"Warning: number of heads/cylinder mismatch 240 <NTFS> != 255 <HD>
Status: OK"
& I'm aware that the last resort is using a professional data recovery company that uses a clean room to recover the data.
However if there is still possibilities to try especially with TestDisk options, i would like to try them any other idea's?
for example: when i tried to recover the boot sector & file system i got the following msg before choosing the advanced option.
"Warning: number of heads/cylinder mismatch 240 <NTFS> != 255 <HD>
Status: OK"
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You could try Vimx Partition Recovery, which specializing in recovering data after accidentally deleting or removing a partition.
Actually, a false or bad recovery tool sometimes cannot recover your data. Oppositely, it may damage your original data again. Therefore, even though this partition recovery tool may need some money, it is worth that.
Note for you:
1. Do not store any new data on the same drive to avoid original data overwritten by new data, which can make your data gone forever.
2. Do not save the recovered data on the same drive, which can cause recovery failure.
3. Do not forget to create a new partition, if you need. (Here are the ways for you: Right click“My Computer” to select “Manage”=> Choose “Disk Management” => Right click the deleted or removed partition and hit “New Logical Drive” on the list => format it.)
4. Do not forget to back up your important data regularly in the future.
Actually, a false or bad recovery tool sometimes cannot recover your data. Oppositely, it may damage your original data again. Therefore, even though this partition recovery tool may need some money, it is worth that.
Note for you:
1. Do not store any new data on the same drive to avoid original data overwritten by new data, which can make your data gone forever.
2. Do not save the recovered data on the same drive, which can cause recovery failure.
3. Do not forget to create a new partition, if you need. (Here are the ways for you: Right click“My Computer” to select “Manage”=> Choose “Disk Management” => Right click the deleted or removed partition and hit “New Logical Drive” on the list => format it.)
4. Do not forget to back up your important data regularly in the future.
No data recovery software will be able to recover even a single byte of your data ... until you reinstall the drive in its external enclosure. This is because your data are encrypted by the USB-SATA bridge firmware, even if you have not set a password, or explicitly chosen to encrypt your data.
Moreover, WD's 3TB My Books are configured with 4KB LBAs. When you remove the drive from its enclosure and install it inside a PC, you expose the drive's 512e LBAs. This means that sector 0 is still in the same place but every other sector is out by a factor of 8.
The original partitioning scheme was MBR, not GPT. A 4KB sector size allows for a maximum MBR partition size of 16TiB whereas the traditional 512-byte sector size limits the partition to 2TiB.
Moreover, WD's 3TB My Books are configured with 4KB LBAs. When you remove the drive from its enclosure and install it inside a PC, you expose the drive's 512e LBAs. This means that sector 0 is still in the same place but every other sector is out by a factor of 8.
The original partitioning scheme was MBR, not GPT. A 4KB sector size allows for a maximum MBR partition size of 16TiB whereas the traditional 512-byte sector size limits the partition to 2TiB.
fzabkar said:
No data recovery software will be able to recover even a single byte of your data ... until you reinstall the drive in its external enclosure. This is because your data are encrypted by the USB-SATA bridge firmware, even if you have not set a password, or explicitly chosen to encrypt your data.Moreover, WD's 3TB My Books are configured with 4KB LBAs. When you remove the drive from its enclosure and install it inside a PC, you expose the drive's 512e LBAs. This means that sector 0 is still in the same place but every other sector is out by a factor of 8.
The original partitioning scheme was MBR, not GPT. A 4KB sector size allows for a maximum MBR partition size of 16TiB whereas the traditional 512-byte sector size limits the partition to 2TiB.
Ok what you say seems a reason why I have been not able to get any file with all the software i used.
now, i can get a new board & put it back with the HD in the rack of WD but should i do anything with it or just try to recover as is?
i believe if i connected it windows might not see the drive OR it will see it as raw and needs to be formatted, what shall i do then proceed with format or try to recover as is?
thx
The new board needs to be matched, otherwise it won't be able to decrypt your data.
The problem now is that you have trashed the start of the user area. These data will show up as garbage, whether or not the PCB is a match, so you could still be scanning your drive from start to finish without finding anything.
To avoid wasting your time and thrashing your drive, I would start by using a disc editor (eg DMDE) to scan for boot sectors. There should be a backup NTFS boot sector at the end of the user area. If you can see this, then the replacement board will be a match, and you can then try to recover your data.
The problem now is that you have trashed the start of the user area. These data will show up as garbage, whether or not the PCB is a match, so you could still be scanning your drive from start to finish without finding anything.
To avoid wasting your time and thrashing your drive, I would start by using a disc editor (eg DMDE) to scan for boot sectors. There should be a backup NTFS boot sector at the end of the user area. If you can see this, then the replacement board will be a match, and you can then try to recover your data.
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