Posted on 01/06/2018 7:42:50 AM PST by pabianice
I use an external hard drive to backup the files on my C drive. Have had it for years. Turned it on this AM and it is blank. It is formatted but all the saved files (about 100GB) are gone. Poof. Can anyone help explain what happened? Thanks.
I had a video file stored on three different and unconnected drives and a copy stored on a cloud backup service. ALL were zeroed out. Nothing else was touched. The file? A file I had from my days at NASA from a downlink from the Space Shuttle. Coincidence? I think not. My hat is off to the people who did it... and I got the message.
I have two external hard drives with the same backed up data so if one goes down I still have my data.
btw, try plugging your external into a different computer.
I want to get the DVD collection onto servers and store the physical copies offsite.
There are so many here. Amazing what a move yields.
I would guess that it’s a Seagate. Been there done that. Twice. Stupid, takes a while to learn. If you are able to boot a Linux distro, you may be able to save the files if the file system is intact, otherwise it’s really a long shot if it have a “raw” filesystem. The only recovery tools that might work are not free and my experience is, they don’t work either.
OK I got to ask.
Was the File one that had some footage of things that are “ catagoricly Denied to exist” ?
Inerested minds want to know.
Piriform Recuva is free. Worth a shot. I’ve used to recover data.
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Doesn’t sound like your problem BUT...
Data from a failing mechanical hard drive can often be recovered by putting the drive in the freezer.
It’s worked for me.
“btw, try plugging your external into a different computer.”
THIS ^^^
...or even different ports on the same computer. Try this after restarting the computer.
Sometimes a drive will not be recognized by one hard drive controller (or USB or SATA controller) but will be recognized by another or especially the original controller to which it was attached when last formatted.
This used to happen more often in the age of PATA HDD controllers and there were more frequent firmware and driver updates. Get a firmware/driver updade and the drive seems to disappear—yikes!
As others have stated, THE DATA IS STILL THERE. DO NOT FORMAT.
Unfortunately, hard drives have to be treated like car tires - you have to replace them every so often whether you think they are worn out or not.
I'm sure your data is still there and a recovery service can get it back for you.
I seat my fat guests at the same table as everyone else. Making them sit at a different table is insulting.
It was ... something. What it was I don’t know. I do know that the Air Force came in to Mission Control a day later and removed all copies. Later they called it “space debris.” LOL, space debris that changed orbit several times.
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My rule is at least three archived copies, each in a different physical location & medium. Right now I’ve got a pile of dvd’s, a backup hard drive, & some stuff in the cloud, a copy of work-related dvd’s backed up at my job. Plus my working copies on my regular drive.
Had a major drive failure several years ago and was able to recover relatively well, but I had gotten lazy about updating backups and did lose some stuff.
What brand drive is it ?
I run a data recovery group, if you’re interested.
I am also backed by a special relationship with Drivesavers for their clean room and physical equipment. Hit me up if you need anything !
Oh, I have a website and stuff, but I don’t know if it counts for pimping. Freepmail me if you want info !
It may still be recoverable. You may ahve just erased the master file table reference, which tells the operating system where files are located, not the files themselves. Send it ot a data recovery specialist.
It may still be recoverable. You may ahve just erased the master file table reference, which tells the operating system where files are located, not the files themselves. Send it ot a data recovery specialist.
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