Missing files on unplugged drive

Clearcut · 13 May 2018 at 17:33

Hi, I unplugged an internal storage drive containing 700gb of data whilst tidying case.

When I plugged it back in, the computer is showing it as a blank drive.

Any idea what has happened to the data? I never formatted anything? Appreciate any help as I have lost a lot of stuff.
Thanks

bledd · 13 May 2018 at 19:58

Restore from your backup.

Clearcut · 13 May 2018 at 22:19

I did a System Restore prior to my screenshot.

PiKe · 13 May 2018 at 22:39

Run Recuva and see what it brings up.

zola25 · 14 May 2018 at 19:03

I know this helps little now but system restore is not a backup, it protects core operating system files rather than user files on a separate disk. As above, try Recuva before doing anything else.

Sasahara · 14 May 2018 at 21:32

Do an error check on the drive first, it could just be a basic file system error due to not begin shut down correctly.

postmanfw · 14 May 2018 at 21:37

Sasahara said:
Do an error check on the drive first, it could just be a basic file system error due to not begin shut down correctly.

+1....run chkdsk on it

Clearcut · 15 May 2018 at 08:00

Thanks for the replies, I ran Recuva and it returned thousands of files scattered to the wind, it's a shame it doesn't return them as the full programs.

I recovered a lot of photos, will I still be able to run chkdsk on the drive if I have put photos on it and get all my other stuff back?

zola25 · 15 May 2018 at 08:36

Personally I'd not run chkdsk until you have backed up the files you've recovered so far. Once those files are safe, then definitely worth proceeding with the chkdsk.

Clearcut · 15 May 2018 at 10:27

Thank you.

Clearcut · 16 May 2018 at 06:06

chkdsk just told me the disk was fine but didn't reveal or restore anything - unless there was something else I should have done.

zola25 · 16 May 2018 at 08:12

I think you've taken the best approach, the odds of recovering everything are far from certain. Running chkdsk before Recuva may have made even more files unrecoverable. It's generally best to run a recovery tool prior to making ANY changes that will write to the disk.

I appreciate this is an odd situation in that the disk appears otherwise fine, but unfortunately this highlights why a robust backup strategy is required for anything you'd rather not lose.

APM · 16 May 2018 at 08:44

Do you have access to a linux system?

If yes plug it in and see what you get,if not maybe try running ubuntu from a usb stick.

Clearcut · 17 May 2018 at 06:49

zola25 said:
I think you've taken the best approach, the odds of recovering everything are far from certain. Running chkdsk before Recuva may have made even more files unrecoverable. It's generally best to run a recovery tool prior to making ANY changes that will write to the disk.

I appreciate this is an odd situation in that the disk appears otherwise fine, but unfortunately this highlights why a robust backup strategy is required for anything you'd rather not lose.

Somebody kindly provided me with some good recovery software last night but alas it only yielded about 1gb of nothing (out of 800gb of data). One thing listed in the result was indeed chkdsk so I think you are right.

Habakkuk · 27 May 2018 at 05:33

That's unfortunate - there are latching sata cables that will prevent accidental removal if you'd like to prevent this.