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Thread: External Hard Drive problem

  1. #1
    Araval's Avatar Protector Domesticus
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    Default External Hard Drive problem

    Hi, the issue began about a year ago, so I don't remember everything 100% but I had this HD connected and put the PC to sleep. When I opened it up again (I don't remember if the system resumed or had crashed in the mean time) I had lost acces to the HD (couldn't read and didn't open when I wanted). I thought it was broken and restored files to another HD with one software and then with another one when I saw it found more files. But I knew some specific files were still missing. Then I scanned the HD for bad sectors but the scan found none. Then I found a tutorial that showed how to get access back to the HD which worked and I could access it again but the specific files are still missing. The files that I'm referring to are videos from my grandfathers 80th birthday that I put a lot effort into filming and that I later re-encoded to save some space and put into this HD.

    Any ideas what happened with the HD and what to do next with it?

  2. #2

    Default Re: External Hard Drive problem

    Well any evidence of physical damage aren't there; as there weren't any bad sectors on it. Did you check the HDD health using CrystalDiskInfo?

  3. #3
    Araval's Avatar Protector Domesticus
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    Default Re: External Hard Drive problem

    Seems to be good according to this too:
    Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

  4. #4

    Default Re: External Hard Drive problem

    Kinda suspicious if specific files are missing; usually during recovery they'd be marked as corrupted and unrecoverable, or at least not in state that would be accessible.

    If it's an actual hard drive, you'd still should be able to find traces.
    Eats, shoots, and leaves.

  5. #5
    Araval's Avatar Protector Domesticus
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    Default Re: External Hard Drive problem

    There is kind of a trace left, the folder which has a subfolder which has some files. There are also two folders that I had sorted and stored photos into but they are now empty and recovery softwares didn't find these files either. So I'd say empty folders are the trace.

  6. #6
    Gaius Baltar's Avatar Old gods die hard
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    Default Re: External Hard Drive problem

    Is your security software active here? I have had several instances where I have lost access to a flash drive when I clicked the wrong box in my security interface.

    ​​
    Pillaging and Plundering since 2006

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  7. #7

    Default Re: External Hard Drive problem

    Did you found any file marked as corrupted? Did you try the file recovery system for windows?

  8. #8
    Araval's Avatar Protector Domesticus
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    Default Re: External Hard Drive problem

    Quote Originally Posted by Nicholas Rush View Post
    Is your security software active here? I have had several instances where I have lost access to a flash drive when I clicked the wrong box in my security interface.
    Security software has almost always been active and I have never noticed it doing such things with any drives.
    Quote Originally Posted by AoRun View Post
    Did you found any file marked as corrupted?
    I noticed some videos turn into 0-byte.
    Did you try the file recovery system for windows?
    No, I don't know how to use it.

  9. #9

    Default Re: External Hard Drive problem

    I'm beginning to suspect that your drive has malware and have made your files invisible or renamed by some ransomware. Make sure in your Windows 10 settings these settings are enabled:

    If the drive's storage memory is still the same as you left it, then most likely files are still there.
    In addition, i would recommend you install Malwarebytes and run a scan on the drive as well.

  10. #10
    Araval's Avatar Protector Domesticus
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    Default Re: External Hard Drive problem

    I applied these settings and scanned with Malwarebytes. It found some potentially unwanted program files. But these things didn't solve the problem.

  11. #11

    Default Re: External Hard Drive problem

    try doing the file recovery in windows. Just search Google how to use it.

  12. #12
    Araval's Avatar Protector Domesticus
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    Default Re: External Hard Drive problem

    I can't get it to work.
    Does this look ok to you?
    Code:
    winfr G: D: /r /n 2019 Inge pool\ *.jpg
    All it gives is this:
    Attached Thumbnails Attached Thumbnails cmd.JPG  

  13. #13

    Default Re: External Hard Drive problem

    Generally speaking, I know when I screw up by either accidentally deleting stuff, dropping the hardware, frying it, and altering it in some way that does irreparable harm.

    Outside the usual advice to back up anything you feel is important, like pictures of Belle Delphine, the only other thing that sounds out of the norm is re encoding your video file, assuming that was the only thing unrecoverable.
    Eats, shoots, and leaves.

  14. #14
    Araval's Avatar Protector Domesticus
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    Default Re: External Hard Drive problem

    As I mentioned earlier, there are also photos from two folders missing and some videos became 0-byte (while most didn't) in a folder for example. My grandfathers 80th birthday videos were just the most important ones for me and I remembered them the most vividly.

  15. #15
    Veteraan's Avatar TATW Local Moderator
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    Default Re: External Hard Drive problem

    Perhaps this will help although I don't know if you actually used an external drive. It seems to work for both internal as external files. As far as I can tell this is legit software, and it has a free version. However, you can only recover 500mb:


    Last edited by Veteraan; January 16, 2021 at 12:17 PM.

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  16. #16

    Default Re: External Hard Drive problem

    you can search "Recovery Options" in windows. try that option.

  17. #17
    Araval's Avatar Protector Domesticus
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    Default Re: External Hard Drive problem

    I've tired this Disk Drill tool that Veteraan suggested and looked through some 2000+ files that it found. It was able to recover those 0-byte video files and some photos that I knew were missing. However, still no luck with my grandfather's 80th birthday videos.

    Quote Originally Posted by AoRun View Post
    you can search "Recovery Options" in windows. try that option.
    Nothing helpful in there.


    What do you guys think, should I wait more and try to recover with more softwares or deem the files lost forever and start using the drive again? And if to start using the drive again, should I format it? Or should I not use it ever again for important stuff?

  18. #18
    King Athelstan's Avatar The Wheel Weaves
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    Default Re: External Hard Drive problem

    One option would be to visit someone who specialises in recovery of lost data. I found these guys, but I'm sure looking around knowing the local lingo will provide better results.
    https://www.recovery-estonia.ee/
    https://drl.ee/
    Last edited by King Athelstan; February 19, 2021 at 09:57 AM.
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  19. #19
    Araval's Avatar Protector Domesticus
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    Default Re: External Hard Drive problem

    I don't know what to think about these companies. Maybe they're just running "these same tools that people can find by themselves" and this specialisation is actually a bluff?

  20. #20

    Default Re: External Hard Drive problem

    There are only 2 methods of Data retrieval.
    Method 1: Software level. Which scans full sectors of HDD and tries to retrieve all deleted data. Data is stored and never really deleted. It's just that after deleting it, those sectors are allocated by the drive to be rewritten with new data. After that it gets lost forever if overwritten.
    Method 2: When you have physically damaged the drive and the ports\spindle\arm\actuator etc got damaged. In this scenario, they open up the HDD platters in clean environment and fix\replace the mechanical parts or just copy the individual platters. All of this is expensive and only done by professionals who can't afford to lose sensitive data. Such labs charge a high premium.

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