Lost data on WD external hard drive

[ydoby]

I was using an western digital external hard drive to store (not back up process) images, video, music etc from a windows XP machine. I upgraded to windows 7 machine and could see the files on the wd external hard drive. I then used windows 7 back up facility and now can't see my old files although the memory size indicates they are still there. I've tried Recuva but it just sees the windows 7 back up files and ignores the files I want. I've tried plugging the wd into an xp machine but that only sees the windows 7 back up files. Any suggestions as to how I can see the old files or recover them without paying too much?

 

[osholt]

Hi and welcome to the forums.

There is a small chance that your files and folders have just hidden themselves. To view hidden folders follow the tutorial at http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/394-hidden-files-folders-show-hide.html.

At the very least this is a good place to start.

If you have any questions feel free to ask; post back with any results.

Oli

 

[ydoby]

Thanks for your prompt help.
I've tried the folder options without success- not sure about using the reg download just in case I get problems with registry- I'm not that confident I'm afraid.

Will this change the registry in any way?
There must a simple way of seeing these files
Thanks

 

[osholt]

As long as you have a system restore point in place that you've made recently, changing some registry values can't hurt your computer even if you accidentally delete everything.

I would try the registry method and see if it works.

Oli

 

[whs]

My guess would be that there is a problem with your MFT - especially since Recuva cannot see the files. They comb thru the MFT to locate e.g. deleted files. You can try TestDisk to fix it.

 

[ydoby]

Thanks guys I'm still looking at any options you can provide, others are saying that windows 7 must have created a partition and so its just getting around this. Recuva for some reason doesn't go into the partition with my files just ignoring them and it does state that. I've tried basic disk management to try and manage partition but didn't work unless there are advanced methods.
Open for any suggestions still and I'll try TestDisk.
Thanks
Trevor

 

[astrajingga]

Dear ydoby,

have you check your files are already in your ext hD before you upgrade?

astrajingga

 

[madmansam]

In the property can you check the driver size

 

[astrajingga]

Try use searching box,

astrajingga

 

[ydoby]

I'm wary of formatting a drive when the files are there somewhere as I may loose them for good. Thanks for the suggestion and if all else fails then I will try this. I'm trying to find some time to try the other suggestions but will get back- still open for suggestions to add to list. Thanks to all.

 

[Tepid]

Seriously,, WHS is correct. You are going to need to learn how to use the app,,, but Testdisk is what you need. If the data exists on that drive, Testdisk will recover it.
Oh,, and yeah,, it's free.

It is not a very user friendly app. but it's not too difficult either.
It takes a while to run,, I will try to write up some quick instructions......

Off the top of my head..,,,.

Get the Testdisk and extract it to some location
Open it and find testdisk_win.exe and (just to be safe) right click and run as admin
Hit Enter to Create a log,, not important really

Use arrow keys to select the correct drive,, you will see it....
Hit enter to Proceed
Hit enter to Select Intel
Hit Enter to select Analyse
Hit Enter to select Quick Search
Select Yes or No as to the next question.
It will wither start scanning, or you will need to hit enter again.
If you can,, hit cancel,, if you get the option at the bottom to do a Deeper Search (this is the option you want) select that and hit enter...

The search is going to take a while to run, so relax and let it do it's thing.
You will need another location to copy the itmes that it does find to, as You do not want to try copying them back to the drive they are on as you are recovering them.

Testdisk is what you need. It has saved my data more than twice.

During the recovery process,, you will need to use the arrow keys and enter to move around and copy files,, just follow the on screen prompts.

 

[ydoby]

Thanks for the instructions and I will try this and get back to let you know how I get on- worth a try if its free-

 

[ydoby]

Thanks to all that assisted especially WHS and Tepid with good instructions. I have now recovered most if not all of the data using TestDisk. i used the photo recovery element but it did recover my music, docs and movie files. Ask it to search the whole drive - it did take a while but worth it. If you like me and made the mistake of putting too much on the external drive then I would buy another just to write the found files onto the new drive as Testdisc will finf loads of broken files too. Thanks again.

 

[wsilver]

I found my data!!

I realized the properties on my external drive were still showing a large portion was still used despite the apparent deletion. My files were not on my C: drive in $INPLACE. However, I found there was a $INPLACE folder hidden on the external drive too! Everything is in there.