HDD file recovery?

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Svart

Well-known member
Joined
Jun 4, 2004
Messages
5,134
Location
Atlanta GA USA
I found an pair of old hard drive that I thought had disappeared some time ago. They should have a lot of audio data on it but when I boot a computer with them installed, I see two partitions on each(just like I had them) but only one partition is accessible on each. The other partition on each drive claims to not be formatted however, I know it was working at the time of storage. the OS has been large drive enabled so there is no size limitation.

Anyone know of software apps that I could use to possibly recover the files without resorting to expensive data recovery companies?
 
Yes, the partitions are present, but when I attempt to access the partition I get an error message: "the partition you have selected is not formatted, would you like to format it now?..."

The partitions also show RAW format as well as 0mb space..

The strange thing is that I have two different drives that had identical data on them and BOTH of them show the same error. They were not part of a RAID system, one was just copied over to the other as backup.
 
ERD Commander Recovery Software

it's what some pros use. And can be found in unsavory places.

google PC File Recovery
 
So I've tried a bunch of different programs. Some were demos, some were freeware and some were shareware.

None of which worked except for one.

Seagate file recovery for windows.

It found every single file I was looking for as well as every single file that was on the HDD through a couple formats too... :shock:

I haven't purchased the program yet so I still can't save my files.

130$.. :mad:

At least it found them! I repeat, none of the others I tried found the files from the "missing" partition. They did find files that were not accessible by windows but could still be seen.
 
been there svart. the index table has been erased, i think. i don't know the exact translation for it...

there should be software to at least get your data out...



in my case, i installed a new OS for the primary partition... well, the second partition was encrypted so that was the end of that. i was 18, i think, working as a summer helper...
 
If you're a Linux-y kind of guy, try burning an image of the latest Ubuntu. It'll let you boot up straight off the CD, and you might be able to force mounting the partition as NTFS. I've recovered many files from machines too spywared-out to boot that way.
 
The partition is present and widows sees it, it just thinks it's not formatted for some reason. I might just bite the bullet and get the software, I found out another friend of mine needs the same type of file recovery as well.

Thanks for your help!
 
Svart,

You may not need to spring for that software.

Occasionally what can happen is that either the boot sector of the hard disk or the Master File Table can become corrupted (power surge, bad shutdown, etc). NTFS partitions rely on that data to determine the file structure on the disk, among other things.

I would try TestDisk, which can recover the boot sector and MFT from their respective backups (which are stored automatically on the disk). Check it out here. More specifically, you can get information on the process I'm talking about here. I actually just performed a repair on my main XP system drive because of a lost boot sector and this is about the best program out there for it. Mind you, it's a little scary looking (reminds me of fdisk in the old DOS days), but it is competently programmed and should have you back up in no time if that is indeed the issue.
 
I'll definitely look into that. I just don't want to attempt to rewrite anything on the disk unless I know that the data will be safe, now that I know it can be recovered somehow.
 
In this case, you wouldn't be writing to any area that contain the files themselves, so they would still be recoverable with your software should the boot sector/MFT recovery fail.
 
I was having a similar problem recently with a Lacie Firewire drive. Every other machine apart from my laptop would read it & see the files on it. The lappy saw the drive but similar to you saw it as unformatted & then later RAW formatted.

Then for some reason one time when I booted up the lappy with the drive plugged it decided to run scandisk which found some errors, fixed them & now the laptop can see the files no probs.

Maybe you could try running scandisk ???
 
still more good options! thanks!

EDIT:

I'm going to put the drives back into the original setup that they came out of and see if I can see the files again.
 
I wouldn't try Scandisk or chkdsk. They probably won't do anything, but there is a small chance they could make things worse here.

I think your only option left is to use the software that you found previously, as it seems the mft copy was corrupt as well. Doesn't happen often, but I've seen it happen.

Sorry that route was a no go. :sad:
 
Get Data Back from runtime.org. Saved my butt numerous times. You can scan without paying for the program. If it can't find files, no money lost. If it does, you pay for the software and get your files back.

I've recovered pictures from SD cards with it, as well as entire harddrives that Windows couldn't even see.
 
I tried that program and it did indeed find the files, once they were found it told me that they were corrupted.

I am able to actually play them with the seagate program so it looks like I will still be buying it..
 
Ok so I forgot to update this thread..

I got the seagate program and I now have all my files again.

This program is pure magic. It found everything and recovered most everything. there were a few files that had glitches from having parts overwritten but it got them anyway.

:thumb:

The price is excessive I think but it does the job that no other program could do.
 
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