External Hard Drive problem

[Condottiere 40K]

1. I think you can reckon with two thousand bux per drive to have it done professionally in a fully equipped workshop; I hear that for some you only have to pay if they're successful.

2. As regards to further use, that depends on your viable options: preferably buy two more new hard drives, using one to back up the other; if you need the space, and don't want to buy more, run a diagnostic check to see that the hard drive values remain within normal values, and after saving what you want to save, reformat it.

[AoRun]

Is this fixed already?

[Araval]

No, it's not.

[Twilight Esker]

It may have been an interfacing issue. That is, a program was run on the drive that brought havoc (or even Windows itself, known for occasional bad behavior) which had nothing to do with the drive integrity. You would probably see hints via SMART tools and data errors if it was a hardware or software issue on the drive. I consider malware low on the checklist once basic scans are run. What causes an interface error is case by case. I've experienced the '0 byte' issue with media when using a flawed, older software that encounters errors and wipes out images/related files. If you have an unusual program that isn't windows explorer regularly touching it, suspect that. If you were just using the video editing tool, possibly suspect that. If absolutely nothing was out of the ordinary or just Explorer, it may have been a one off - rare, but it does happen. I'm afraid it might be a freak incident. It is probably worth trying to recover data with credible software tools you can find online, hoping the data was not overwritten.

This assumes a complete health check was run. If it was not, do so first and ensure that is not the issue.

Aside from the above, options are limited. Proper recovery tools and health checks should not compromise potential recovery. If you're especially concerned/technically challenged and have the money, find someone to do this check and tell them not to worry about a hardware level inspection. Cheap is the best risk-reward option for this case I believe since it is something you 'could' do yourself, and the behavior is unlikely to be related to hardware failure. The real lesson I believe is backups. Get another drive, save sensitive material to it on occasion and otherwise keep it out of use. When this path is done I would probably use the drive, but keep an eye on windows or software behavior that feels similar to this event. Never hurts to keep a weary eye on hardware and have more options. It always works until it doesn't.

Just a path to think of, not backed by certainty. I can look deeper into the appropriate recovery tools if desired; mention of that was based on vague memory.

[Araval]

I doubt any program that was running would have been any that's not running always on background or often. For encoding the videos, I used Handbrake which isn't anything abnormal for me either. I can't exactly remember if it was opened when it went down but I'm leaning towards it wasn't. But I'm pretty sure that Firefox was running, for example.

I did run CrystalDiskInfo as I wrote earlier. Don't know if there's point in trying more similar tools.

I've got to this point with three different data recovery tools. Everyone of course claims to be the best one. Do you know whic one's actually the best one?

What is an interfacing issue?

Don't know if it's related in any way but there have been a few occasions when starting the PC Windows has told that there's a problem with a drive and then fixes it by itself before starting up.

[Twilight Esker]

Nothing seems out of place at a glance.

I call an 'interfacing issue' something that happens when a 'system' interacts with another 'system' and either has an error out of hand or is incompatible and causes problems, such as a Linux computer running a program from a Windows formatted drive. In this case it is when something is interacting with your external drive, has an error and produces unexpected and dangerous results. It is trying to interface with your drive, but something is wrong and it causes an error. It is not an industry term, just something I made up to try and suggest an alternative cause for what happened. If you don't run something out of the ordinary, it may likely be a one-off event and there's not much you can do to try and prevent it.

I must apologize for not fully reviewing the thread before posting as I covered some redundant ground. You've attempted recovery and made some progress; I'm not sure looking at more tools is actually a good way to proceed. Video is especially vulnerable in my experience, given how much goes into it and how funky things can come back if it has been damaged in some way. Using the tools is good education, but my confidence isn't high that your time would be well spent. As I am not a recovery expert, the best I could do is review your list of tools in question and check them for credibility. Even then I've come to lean towards a professional look; you've done due diligence as an individual, perhaps a professional opinion in that field is the best next step. I still would avoid the most pricy options and secure an agreement to look and see what is possible before committing to an expensive recovery.

Alternatively I would take the matter to a dedicated support forum, along with a summary of the questions and answers in the thread so far. You may then get a range of more dedicated support likely to be suited to what you're asking, and a more specific series of questions and answers related to the symptoms you mention (0 bytes, files disappearing). Unfortunately my experience on that issue is limited and unlikely to apply, but I would stress the detail as it is unique in the troubleshooting process. I believe the above 'interfacing issue' is the most likely reason for that symptom with reportedly good drive health. As for your last line, it would be interesting to know which drive comes up in those errors. They rarely mean anything long term, but could be dangerous if they have been persistent over time. It may be a good time to check all your drives (the tool you mentioned should suffice + windows utilities), especially the main one. In my experience it is most often caused by sloppy shutdown (held down power button, unplug, outage) which creates bad data sectors if they were being used.

Either way, I suggest getting one more opinion from a summary of what's been discussed so far out of a person credible with data recovery. It could be in person or a well regarded user with far more history to look through than me on a technology forum. As for issues in the future, I see little reason to actively worry about it, especially if you keep backups in mind and have an eye out for other strange behavior. This would precede your own effort to do another recovery, even if I was to review the tools you mention.