Need data recovery...where to go? Suggestions?

[jeninny]

First off, I'll come clean and admit I am one of those horrible do-it-yourself-ers I just read about on the forums.

I know enough about computers to "get by" but not enough to recover data. I just didn't want to go to store like Staples and get ripped off. Little did I know how complex this was and I wish I had seen this forum earlier, I would stopped long ago!!
Now, after reading how much I probably screwed up my drive, I am stopping and asking for help before all hope is lost (if not already).

Feel free to scold me, I deserve it, but here is my situation:

I have a WD 500gb external drive. I was in the process preparing to backup my data by copying it to another drive (I learned this was a bad idea too...after the fact. I'll tackle that issue after I figure this one out, I promise!). The external drive is now saying there are no files, but it spins and the computer recognizes the drive. It even recognizes that there is ~70gb of data used on the disc, it just can't "see" it.

This is where I did some bad things
I panicked and ran ckdsk/f
I plugged it into my mac, to see if it could see it. It couldn't.
I went online and was told it might be the enclosure. I ordered a new one and switched it out. It wasn't that.
Drive still shows no folders when viewed in explorer. When viewed in disk manager, it shows a 465gb drive with 392gb used. I think this is about right...I had between 65-80gb of data on the drive the last time I checked.

The forum I was on then suggested Recuva. I ran that, obtained a bunch of files (mainly ones I didn't want) and then stalled. Ran another data recovery program (GetDataBAck or PC Inspector, i forget which one) and was told there were a bunch of bad sectors and it was non-responsive.

At the advice of the forum, I downloaded HDDregenerator, but it won't work. It says "hard drive now ready".
Now, after reading for about 2 hours on this site, I realize I am so far over my head in this and I am slowing just running my drive into the ground.

So, I give up. I need a good data recovery service, if you think it is possible to recover the data.

No clicking or whirring. I went on one site that had a bunch of the noises made my different drives that were failing and so far, my drive does not sound like that. It just can't see the files. It was suggested that my index of files was corrupted, but I have no clue.

So...please, help. I don't trust any of the local "data recovery" places in my area...

Thanks,
Jen

[poehere]

OK wait you are not that bad and this is not the end of the world. I agree chkdsk was not a good idea on this one but there is still hope for you.

I think with Rstudio or Get Data Back for NTSF you have a good chance on this one. I think this is not such a dying problem on this one.

But if you need a good person close to you in Florida is someone here on the forum who would come highly recommanded on this one.

Before you panic any more try this one.

1. Make a clone of your HDD using ddrescue it is a linux based program and it is free. You can do this one and only work with the clone after it is done. Do not run anything else on your HDD now. OK

2. You can try Rstudio free version to see what it gives you on this one. If you see your files on it after it is done then purchase it and go from there.

3. If you can not find your files which should not normally happen unless you did something else you are not saying you can try Get Data Back for NTSF to see your files.

4. This seems like a partition problem right now it is hard to really say but if you see your disk and see the size used and unused normally it has to do with some logical errors on your disk that caused this one. So all hope is not lost as of yet on it. But stop with chkdsk and clone it now. Then get trial version of Rstudio and go from there. You should be able to get back your data and at last hope for you would be raw data where you would have to rename it and put it back the way you want it. But raw data is good and at least you have back your data.

[jeninny]

Thanks for the kind words, but the drive seems prettIy messed up

I will make a clone - it would be good to have anyway. I've never used a linux based program, but it'll be a good learning experience (especially if it will not be doing any more damage to the drive).

I would like a recommendation, but I am in NY. I am very willing to send my drive out somewhere. I was hoping to learn more about how bad I screwed it up.

The only thing I did was unplug the drive and plug it back in - I don't think I did that while the drive was in use, but if the table structure is corrupt, I was told that is probably what happened. Again, I have no clue. All I know is that it doesn't work. I did try Get Date Back (NTSF didn't work for me, needed to use FAT version) and it stalled and wasn't able to recover anything.

Thanks
Jen

[poehere]

OK please contact Quasimodo out of florida send him a PM here on forum. Sort of sounds like a MFT problem and needs some expert help on this one. He is excellent person and highly recommanded for this job. Please contact him and ask him where you can send your HDD to. He will help you out on this one.

[jeninny]

Thank you, I will try and find him on the boards. I'm new here - so I just want to be sure. Do others agree that making a duplicate and then sending the drive to Quasimodo is the way to go? I was led astray by a different board and I don't want to mess my computer up any more by doing anything else to it...

Thanks!
Jen

[lcoughey]

You can make a clone, but always send the original drive to the lab. They will make their own copies from which they will try to recover your data.

[jeninny]

Thank you, Luke.

I will definately work on that when I get home tonight. I don't know linux and I got overwhelmed when I checked out the site this morning. Probably very simple to you guys, but l like I said earlier, I have reached my limits of computer knowledge and I really don't want to make any more mistakes!

How do I know if I'm sending my drive to a good data recovery person? I'm guessing that quasimodo is good, but I just don't know what questions to ask...it seems there are a lot of data recovery people out there and I don't know the difference

Thanks you both of you for your help. I appreciate it!
Jen

[Vulcan]

I don't know linux and I got overwhelmed when I checked out the site this morning.

Beware - you will cause unrecoverable data loss if you accidently swap the source & target of cloning software (e.g. ddrescue, which is common Linux cloning software). So if you're not sure about something, I politely suggest you don't do it - until you are sure.

[jeninny]

Thanks for the advice, vulcan. It is probably smart not to do any more damage, so I called my brother in law. He is a programmer that knows linux well. I'll bring it to him on the weekend and have him make a copy for me. He said he already has ddrescue.

If anyone has any ideas, I'm still looking for recommendations for a place to ship or bring my drive for DR. Quasimodo was recommended but I am unable to PM since I am new here and not on the boards long enough. He doesn't have a website posted. I would also be interested in learning of other places to check out.

Thank you so much!
Jen

[poehere]

I sent him a message to contact you. If you are new I asked him to send you a PM and then you can have the informaiton from him on this one.

[jeninny]

He got in touch - thank you!
I actually contacted someone else from this board prior to getting in touch with quasimodo. I'm going to check out both options and see what works best for my situation. I think it's going to be the same - it sounds like everyone thinks this is fairly straightforward (even though I'm totally lost).

Thank you for your help!
Jen in NY

[jeninny]

Hi everyone,

I just wanted to post an update. Based on some recommendations and comments on the boards, I reached out and was able to get in touch with Jon over at Data Savers and sent him my drive. Even though I ended up with a bigger issue than I originally thought, it's fixed and I'm extremely happy with how everything went!!

My drive arrived at Data Savers on Tuesday and a new drive with the recovered data is already on it's way back to me! Apparently, not only did I have bad sectors, but one of the heads was bad. If I understood the next steps correctly, I believe they imaged the drive, swapped out the heads and copies the remaining data from the remaining platter. They noticed that the ramp was damaged, but I don't know of it dropping, falling, bumping, etc. Maybe I did some kind of damage when I was in my DIY-psychosis?

They said that it looks like all my data is there but the directory structure was badly corrupted (again, possibly due to my DIY-frenzy) but the files themselves look good. The drive isn't here yet, but my fingers are crossed that all I have is organizing to do...

I'll update after I get a chance to look at the drive again. I don't know if this was an easy job or not for all you gurus out there, but I am ridiculously pleased with the results (and I don't even have the drive back yet).

Thank you everyone for your help. I really really appreciate it

Jen

[drc]

They said that it looks like all my data is there but the directory structure was badly corrupted

chkdsk may be to blame for this

[loki]

Glad you got your dara recovered & kudos to Jon

Loki

[northwind]

Well done Jon, once again

[truemate]

who is Quasimodo & jon ?
plz help me i have problem with my Seagate HD

[SquaL]

One of the pros here. Where are you located? We can point to to someone close to help you.