Data Access

[captainfearless]

I have an external hard drive which is ticking and inaccessible.

Regrettably I have not made a record of its contents.

I was wondering if there was a database file I could access which would show a list of its files and folders? Then I could at least reaccquire them.

 

[richc46]

If you hear ticking from a hard drive it is most likely gone. The best thing to do is to turn off the hard drive and take it to a professional. If your stuff is not that important, and you do not want to pay it is gone. The less you try to use it at this point the better the chance that your stuff can be recovered. In the future, back up your stuff with the free Macrium Reflect.

 

[LMiller7]

The only record of the contents of an external drive is in the directory structure of the drive itself. Windows does not maintain any records of the contents of external drives anywhere else.

All files of any importance should have at least one backup copy. Files of particular importance should have 2 or more backup copies. Recovery methods after an incident cannot be relied on. Any drive, new or old, can fail at any time and often without warning or apparent cause.

 

[captainfearless]

Thanks for that chaps, it's not irreplaceable stuff, that I back up! Just a hassle!