This morning while merely moving content from one folder to another within an external hd,
(a mybook western-digital that I use for storing stuff sourced either the pc or mac) Finder has stopped working.
The freeze was at the manager level, so I had to restart the computer. To my surprise the entire folder has gone, not even a trace of 300 GB of music tuts (several years collecting them ! GONE! )

The data must be there, because the size of the stored data is the same.So, I tried to make visible all files and folders with not success, also I run a search but nothing came up. Then I tried to repair the disk using disk utility, but again the disk utility says that the HD is corrupted; therefore what I should do is to backup all the visible content and reformat the thing.
My question is : Is there any option to recover that folder?

Pls help me.

 

run linux first and see if you can read/copy/paste the files / folders

download a linux iso, just something very basic, burn it to disc and start your pc with the disc inserted

linux iso reference http://distrowatch.com/

 

The content table probably got corrupted. I had fixed a drive with TestDisk some time ago and it was perfect after that (Windows was asking to format it because it appeared to be RAW and stuff like that). There was a good tutorial but it was for Win... Search around and try it. (Also, run a diagnostic tool)

 

Check out Knoppix, download the CD or DVD (depending on what kind of discs you have available for burning), burn it to disc and put it in your disk drive and restart. Boot from the CD and It will load everything and then check if you can see your files through the file explorer equivalent. We have some external hard drive repair threads up also so use search. When I have more time I will prepare a concise guide. It's on my task list but I need to clone myself because I can't keep up with everything.

 

What kind of data recovery tool you tried? Use this one...I recovered data of several corrupted hard disk with it.
Corrupted partitions, corrupt FAT, Bad Sectors..No quaratnty to recover everything but its really effective.

http://www.krollontrack.co.uk/data-recovery/recovery-software/data-recovery-software/

If you wanna try, write me an PM

Greetz

 

I think that the first is to clone as rasputin has suggested...

 

I think you should try the recovery tool I mentioned. Its really easy to use. OK, you have to have a Windows PC to install it (I dont have the mac version), but believe me, this will do its job.

 

Knoppix is read from the CD/DVD and unless you delete something there shouldn't be any issues unless the hard drive is failing in which case you should clone it as soon as possible. I would do that first because cloning may not even be necessary and it won't be that much extra wear on the drive to see if you can see your files. I've saved data that way before getting any deeper. If not then I would consider cloning the disk and working on the copy. I think that's the exact advice I gave to someone else so check out some of the other stuff we have up.

 

maybe try running ubuntu on usb flash drive might help?

 

My thoughts:

Depending on OS, There are plenty of recovery tools depending on the source of the issue. For OSX: Data Rescue is good. But if your hard-drive is destoryed (crashed platters or broken heads) then connecting it to another system and recovering what you can.

Linux, you have tons of tools in backtrack or kali, mint too.

Windows, i have no idea.

I have a dead WD drive on my desktop. WD Black. OR maybe the red. I dont know. Im not a fan of WD. I like Seagate and hitachi. And SG owns WD who owns HGST (hitachi). Go figure.

 

Before doing anything else, it's suggested to do a backup of your HD. And then,

Try this : http://www.alsoft.com/diskwarrior/ < it fixes directory information, which was apparently what was lost when you moved/crashed your folders.

If that doesn't work, try file salvage utilities like Data Rescue from Prosoft.

 

For Mac: Have you tried "ShowAllFiles" to see if the files are there? Maybe they are hidden because of the PC Restart. Or you can try Disk Utility, repair permissions etc...

good luck!

cheers

 

Hi sorry to hear about your hard drive
this is the best tool i have used
and has never let me down its pc only.

ill send you a pm as well


http://www.active-undelete.com/

 

I got a problem too.I am on mac and my internal HD 1.5 TB Crashed.Not showing up on the desktop.Drive is filled to capacity but shows only 3.6GB when i scanned using Stellar Phoenix Data Recovery.No idea what to do as all my data is on this drive.Feeling sort of down and dejected as I use it for my work and now will be jobless unless I get the data.Any help/ideas would be sincerely appreciated.

 

Don't run anything like a recovery software yet.

If something on the disk is corrupted and you try and go for an automatic repair etc, it's likely you send your data to eternal damnation.

Try and do nothing destructive on the data!

If the partition is displayed with the correct size but no content, or doesn't show up in your file manager, it's likely that the partition is corrupted, or even worse: the partition table is corrupted.

What I would do:

- unhook it, grab my laptop, run my special rescue live cd and plug the disk to my laptop using an sata-usb connector.
- try to get access to the disk. There are several tools I've made good experiences with, especially the captain nemo file system mounter. Works great if the data is ok but something like the partition table is destroyed.

But again, dont' do an automatic recovery or stuff like this until you got what you need from your disk!!!

 

I guess you`re through with it, meanwhile. I agree on 1. clone it, 2. mount it in Linux and 3. rescue/recovery tools.
If it`s "vital" data you lost and you can afford it ... yeah, not an option, just not mentioned yet.
Fucking aweful moments ... a dying drive and the sudden cognition of haven`t done a back up. I had this experience 2 times and still can`t manage a "back up discipline", in fact just a money issue or a "download issue"? lol
Good luck and let us know if could save/restore your collection of tut`s.

 

I had a harddrive go at the beginning of the year, overheating / errors / bad sectors / windows warning pop ups / etc etc. I bought a new one and re-installed everything. I am still able to read files off the old drive, I place it into an external enclosure and just pull files / folders off it as and when required. At the moment the drive is still readable, but I am not saving anything to it. and I only power it up when I need something off it

 

Not helping Rolma & Beatroot, but anyone else who's reading is doing what?

Right, they're making a BACKUP!


@beatroot: Below is a screen of my Mac recovery software, do try more then one from that list. I had my share of problems, but for some, only Windows software could help me out.
@Rolma, If nothing works, I think I and the rest of the community over here can help you with those tuts.

 

This is the original 1957 episode of Superman where he actually divides himself in two in order to save a benevolent South American president who uses the countries vast resources for the good of the people (total propaganda lie as the US took everything they could out of the continent and installed horrible men to do horrible things to innocent freedom loving people) from being killed by some nastys. Anyway, he is weaker and vulnerable because of his split. With today's reach in science and physics maybe you can find a way to maintain your strength while split as to be able to tackle all the things that you would like to achieve. We have a vast array of members here that might specialize in these areas and help out with their knowledge to enable you to reach your goals. Just sayin'.
Superman Episode #94: Divide and Conquer

 

Well, I decide to clone. After several suggestions what Im doing now is to wait for a new HD ( I haven't any other remaining space)
The drive in question is unplugged and I wont touch a thing till the moment.
In two days or so I will be cloning. After that, depending on the damage I will see how I face the entire crisis!

Talking about crisis superliquid23: your message is very cryptic!

Yes lisapower: the first thing I did but no luck, that was when my concern has grown coz that usually shows all you get!

boom : I take the offering if it´s the case (The Music Theory collection took me years! ), but on there there is also a suppa collection of Premiere and Houdini stuff, that is costly to get back.

Thank to all for your suggestions!

God my writing gets as faulty as my disk ...bloody hell!

I'm going to concentrate on other back-ups, right now I'm paranoid! besides Im very behind in something I should have done.